San Diego Management & Monitoring ProgramProposed road improvements to SR 94 provide an opportunity to mitigate the potential barrier effects of the highway. This project identifies where improvements to existing infrastructure on SR-94 could improve connectivity across the South County preserves, using Best Management Practices from the scientific literature; recommends wildlife movement monitoring to identify where new crossings are needed; and identifies where additional conservation would enhance the integrity of South County linkages. The review prioritizes infrastructure improvements of 35 existing undercrossings inspected by wildlife experts in the field along 14.6 miles of SR-94 where the highway bisects conserved lands. The majority of the recommendations for infrastructure improvement focus on increasing the diameter, and thus the openness ratio (cross-sectional area divided by length), of the undercrossing itself, removing vegetation and debris blocking the undercrossing, restoring habitat in the approach to the undercrossing, and installing fencing to both (1) keep animals off the highway and (2) funnel wildlife to the undercrossings.
County: San Diego
General: South-central, South-west
MU: 3
Project type: Monitoring
Target species: American badger, Arroyo toad, Black-tailed Jackrabbit, Blainville's horned lizard, Bobcat, Cactus Wren, California Gnatcatcher, California ground squirrel, Coyote, deer mice, desert woodrat, Encinitas baccharis, Golden Eagle, Gray fox, Greater Roadrunner, Harbison's Dun Skipper, Hermes copper, Jerusalem Cricket, Kangaroo rats, Least Bell's vireo, Mountain lion, Northern harrier, Orange-throated Whiptail, Orcutt's bird's-beak, Otay tarplant, Pallid bat, Quino checkerspot butterfly, saltmarsh bird's-beak, San Diego pocket mouse, Southern mule deer, Southwestern pond turtle, Southwestern willow flycatcher, Townsend's big-eared bat, Western burrowing owl, Western spadefoot, willowy monardella
Investigator: Patricia Gordon-Reedy
Main implementing entity: Conservation Biology Institute
Partner: California Department of Fish & Wildlife; District 11, Department of Transportation, State of California; San Diego Management and Monitoring Program; San Diego National Wildlife Refuge; U.S. Geological Survey
Point of contact: Patricia Gordon-Reedy
SDMMP lead: Sarah McCutcheon
Study lead: Patricia Gordon-Reedy
Budget year: FY15-16; Work plan objectives number: 3.1