WILDLIFE
CORRIDOR LAB
1. Select
a target species, an animal species you would like to see better able to roam
naturally in your region or another region with which you are familiar. Name that animal with both binomial
designation and common name. Jackrabbit, Lepus
californicus
2. Identify
and describe the habitat areas the corridor is designed to connect. (2 points)
a.
Include at least two natural and two
human-imposed features. One natural feature is the rolling hills of Dewey Arizona,
mostly the Fain land I believe and the other is the grass/dessert land in the
front of the Quailwood subdivision, and the goal is to not geographically isolate them. One human imposed feature is the Quailwood
subdivision and the other is the Quailwood golf course. Hopefully those areas can be the core habitats for the Jackrabbits instead of residents back and front yards. I
think with adaptive management the rabbits will rather like these areas as their
new homes, this is also known as habitat
fragmentation.
3. Explain
why your species needs a corridor. (3 points)
b.
Include at least one current condition
and one future condition that impede the species’ movement. (1 point)
There are a ton of jackrabbits all over our development. They eat
the plants in my front yard and they sometimes choose to live in the bigger
bushes I have out there. There wouldn’t be a problem with them living there if
they didn’t eat my tomato plants all the time. I have tired to keep them out
using my dog but he ends up scaring them to death and I don’t want them to die,
I just need them to move on. My neighbors have also have a lot of trouble with
the rabbits in the area and also want them to move on to a better home. There
are not a lot of bushes or trees around since they cleared most of the plots to
be prepared for future home building and I feel the bunnies would be safer in
an area where they can hide from predators. If the bunnies are to safe in their
new home and become geographically isolated the birth rates will go up to quickly and then those areas will be overrun with
rabbits. Also because this could cause inbreeding between the rabbits in the area.
4. Design
a corridor. Use ideas from your research. (2 points)
I think the best kind of wildlife corridor is to
make the golf course a little bit wider and have more trees and bushes added to
the outsides so that the rabbits can travel along the sidelines without finding their way into people’s homes or
bother the golfers in the middle of their game. With adding to the golf course
and planting things to attract the rabbits there this should mitigate the rabbits move from my home to their core habitat.
5. Explain
two ways the corridor area will accommodate movement by this species. (2 points)
c.
This change of pace should
keep the rabbits from crossing roads and getting hit by cars. It will also
protect them from being out in the open and able to be picked up by a bigger
bird predator. These are the two biggest
impediments that these creators face in the area. At night another impediment they face in the area is
coyotes, they come down to hunt around the golf course, which is bad for the
rabbits, but it is also great population control, which then in turn keeps the birth rate steady.
6. Draw a
map of the corridor and describe how your corridor will look and operate.
(2 points)
7. Design
a public watchdog campaign poster and add to your blog site. (1 point each part
= 4 points)
Works
Cited
"Probing Question:
What Are Wildlife Corridors? | Penn State University." Probing
Question: What Are Wildlife Corridors? | Penn State University. Web. 10
Nov. 2015.
"Jackrabbits,
Jackrabbit Pictures, Jackrabbit Facts - National Geographic." National
Geographic. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.
"Teaching an Old
Jackrabbit New Acceleration Tricks - Ecodriving Solutions." Ecodriving
Solutions. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.
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