Look at nature: drive down the highway

William Atkins
Saturday, 15 December 2007 20:11

Science - Biology

According to a study performed by U.S. biologist Dale Sparks, highway medians are full of wildlife, contradicting the accepted view that areas along highways were devoid of most wildlife.                

In fact, Sparks stated, "Biologists have often considered roadways as useless or worse for wildlife. The traditional view is that these areas are too badly damaged to serve as effective habitat. However, any birdwatcher and many bored drivers know that hawks spend a lot of time sitting on the roadside staring at the ditches, medians and highway triangles, so there must be something out there." [MSNBC]

The Sparks team found the median and roadside areas teeming with wildlife, especially rodents.

His preliminary conclusion shows that the medians are wonderful habitats for small mammals, with a varied population of many different species of rodents including deer mice, voles, shrews, and white-footed mice. The research also found that the medians seem to hold a denser and more diverse population that ditches and triangles (areas where highway exits lead into other highways).

Sparks got interested in such research after performing a previous study in Kansas that showed a distinct mammal population around highways as opposed to areas away from highways.

Sparks is looking for additional support in these studies from the Indiana Academy of Science and the Illinois Department of Transportation. Such research can lead to further research as to desirable and undesirable habitats for animals.

Already, Sparks' research has discovered an animal, a species of a shrew, living along the highway that was on an Indiana watch list (for endangered animals) but not on an Illinois watch list, two states located next to each other.

His studies may also help to explain why so many animals are found dead along highways from collisions with speeding motorized vehicles.