Carnivores cross irrigation canals more often through overpasses than through culverts.

Azedo, R., Ilhéu, A., Santos, S. y Vaz, P.G. Carnivores cross irrigation canals more often through overpasses than through culverts. Basic and Applied Ecology. [s.l.]: Elsevier. 2021, Vol. 61, pags. 53-67. DOI 10.1016/j.baae.2022.03.004

As rainfall becomes scarcer or more erratic, we rely more on irrigation systems for agricultural and human water provision. Impacts of irrigation canals such as the barrier effect on wildlife movements are poorly documented. Although canal culverts and overpasses can be used by wildlife, little is known about their crossing behavior to guide barrier effect mitigation efforts. Over seven years, we recorded medium-sized carnivore crossings by video-surveillance through 30 culverts and 28 overpasses in a large irrigation project in south-central Portugal. We examined the influence of the structures’ features and landscape context on the likelihood of canal crossing. Culvert crossings were positively influenced by the proportion of nearby montado, a high nature value farming system. Overpass crossings were more likely in areas away from paved roads and with more nearby wetlands. Overpasses increased the crossing rates by about 11% relative to culverts and both were crossed more often in landscapes with evenly distributed land uses. In the project area, 20% of the montado has recently transitioned to irrigated agriculture, and wetlands have increased by 43%. It is therefore plausible that the increase in the crossing rate of overpasses relative to culverts will be accentuated. Our study produced the first evidence of a contrast in crossing rates among irrigation canal crossing structures. We have shown that the landscape can be a driver of animal crossings but irrigation projects can in turn be transformative of the landscape. Broadly, the fact that the deployment of irrigation canals may favor some land uses over others creates a conundrum that needs careful consideration when planning barrier effect mitigation interventions.

Datos y Recursos

Metadatos
Descargar
DCAT-AP/NTI-RISP

Información básica
Tipo de recurso Texto
Fecha de creación 17-09-2024
Fecha de última modificación 17-09-2024
Mostrar histórico de cambios
Identificador de los metadatos 685c4eaa-7b14-5d7c-b823-c9cc1e32f6c1
Idioma de los metadatos Español
Temáticas (NTI-RISP)
Categoría del conjunto de alto valor (HVD)
Categoría temática ISO 19115 biota
Identificador alternativo
URI de palabras clave
Codificación UTF-8
Información espacial
Identificador INSPIRE ESPMITECOIEPNBFRAGM719
Temas INSPIRE
Identificador geográfico España
Sistema de Referencia de Coordenadas
Tipo de representación espacial
Extensión espacial
"{\"type\": \"Polygon\", \"coordinates\": [[[-18.16, 27.64], [4.32, 27.64], [4.32, 43.79], [-18.16, 43.79], [-18.16, 27.64]]]}"
Resolución espacial del dataset (m)
Procedencia
Declaración de linaje
Perfil de Metadatos
Conformidad
Conjunto de datos de origen
Frecuencia de actualización
Fuentes
  1. Basic and Applied Ecology. Vol. 61
  2. pags. 53-67
Propósito
Pasos del proceso
Cobertura temporal (Inicio)
Cobertura temporal (Fin)
Notas sobre la versión
Versión
Vigencia del conjunto de datos
Parte responsable
Nombre del autor Azedo, R., Ilhéu, A., Santos, S. y Vaz, P.G.
Nombre del mantenedor
Identificador del autor
Email del autor
Web del autor
Identificador del mantenedor
Email del mantenedor
Web del mantenedor