News

• Wildflower Colors Tell Butterflies How To Do Their Jobs:: This interesting article from TTKN News discusses the unique relationship between butterflies and their pollinator plants and how color factors in.
• Guerilla Birdhouses Going Up Around Town:: From the Uptown Almanac in San Francisco is an observation of yellow birdhouses appearing randomly throughout the city.
• A blur of blue:: From the Nature urbaine blog is a sighting of a beautiful Kingfisher in the heart of London.
• Salamanders Go Deep:: From the Audubon Guides blog is an article that discusses where salamanders go during the winter months.
• “10,000 by 2010” goal met in the 25th year of WDFW Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary program:: From the Woodland Park Zoo’s Backyard Habitat blog comes a detailed look into how the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife succeeded in their goal to certify 10,000 backyards as habitat by the year 2010.

This is the third and final post in a series looking at wildlife movement, corridors and roads. Read the first post, Ecology Lesson: Population Movements, which was followed by Corridor Ecology and Planning.

Roads

Roads crisscross the entire country covering much of the land. Highways take us through states or across the whole country, streets cover cities and dirt roads link rural areas to cities. They traverse over rivers, lakes, mountains, valleys, deserts and forests. Some highways are many lanes wide and some bridges are modern engineering marvels. They bring us commercial goods, foods and fuel across great distances. There are over 4 million miles of roads in the United States alone.

Road Ecology

Road ecology is a field that addresses the relationship between roads, wildlife and the environment. The topic has received a lot of attention over the past 30 years with a lot of focus on roads and wildlife….

News

• BiodiverCITY:: A community blog that features the nature in New York City.
• Seattle Urban Wildlife Experiences:: Inspired by BiodiverCITY (above) the Seattle Urban Wildlife Group started a similar community blog about the urban wildlife of Seattle.
• Maryland aims to curb wildlife carnage on roads:: This article from the Baltimore Sun describes a large project consisting of 10 wildlife crossings over an 18-mile stretch and how it’s already working for wildlife despite not yet being completed.
• Wildlife on Bridges:: This is a Flickr set from Washington State DOT that features the variety of wildlife found on the bridges in Seattle.
• Sunday Snapshots: Log Pile:: This post from the blog The Marvelous in Nature, shows the many wildlife species, including spiders, caterpillars, moths, beetles, snakes and more that made use of a log pile. It’s a really diverse set of photos.
• Huge Housing Project…
  

News

• Stalled on the Bloomingdale Trail:: From Chicago Reader comes this article about the trials and problems creating a new open space in Chicago using an old rail line, similar to the High Line in New York. Once in motion, this could provide a great deal of habitat through the city.
• Finalists named for Vail Pass wildlife crossings:: This story from the Vail Daily offers another look at the finalists that were featured here, ARC Wildlife Crossing Finalists.
• New “bird cities” announced:: This article highlights the efforts of six communities in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin metro region, and others throughout the state, to be designated as “bird cities.” Structured in the model of Tree City, “communities must show how they improved bird habitat, manage woodlands, limit hazards to birds, and educate residents about birds and environmental health.”
• 60…