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Gila Bend - Sierra Estrella Linkage Design

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Gila Bend - Sierra Estrella Linkage Design ARIZONA MISSING LINKAGES Gila Bend - Sierra Estrella Linkage Design Paul Beier, Emily Garding, Daniel Majka 2008 GILA BEND - SIERRA ESTRELLA LINKAGE DESIGN Acknowledgments This project would not have been possible without the help of many individuals. We thank Dr. Phil Rosen, Matt Good, Chasa O’Brien, Dr. Jason Marshal, Ted McKinney, and Taylor Edwards for parameterizing models for focal species and suggesting focal species. Catherine Wightman, Fenner Yarborough, Janet Lynn, Mylea Bayless, Andi Rogers, Mikele Painter, Valerie Horncastle, Matthew Johnson, Jeff Gagnon, Erica Nowak, Lee Luedeker, Allen Haden, Shaula Hedwall, Bill Broyles, Dale Turner, David Brown, Jeff Servoss and Martin Lawrence helped identify focal species and species experts. Robert Shantz provided photos for many of the species accounts. Shawn Newell, Jeff Jenness, Megan Friggens, and Matt Clark provided helpful advice on analyses and reviewed portions of the results. Funding This project was funded by a grant from Arizona Game and Fish Department to Northern Arizona University. Recommended Citation Beier, P., E. Garding, and D. Majka. 2008. Arizona Missing Linkages: Gila Bend – Sierra Estrella Linkage Design. Report to Arizona Game and Fish Department. School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University. Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................................ I LIST OF TABLES & FIGURES ............................................................................................................................. III TERMINOLOGY ....................................................................................................................................................... V EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................................... VI INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................... 1 NATURE NEEDS ROOM TO MOVE ............................................................................................................................... 1 A STATEWIDE VISION ................................................................................................................................................. 1 ECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE AND EXISTING CONSERVATION INVESTMENTS IN THE REGION ...................................... 2 THREATS TO CONNECTIVITY ...................................................................................................................................... 3 LINKAGE DESIGN & RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................... 5 TWO LINKAGES PROVIDE CONNECTIVITY ACROSS A DIVERSE LANDSCAPE ............................................................... 5 LAND OWNERSHIP, LAND COVER, AND TOPOGRAPHIC PATTERNS WITHIN THE LINKAGE DESIGN ............................. 5 REMOVING AND MITIGATING BARRIERS TO MOVEMENT ......................................................................................... 10 IMPACTS OF ROADS ON WILDLIFE ............................................................................................................................ 10 Mitigation for Roads ............................................................................................................................................ 11 Existing Roads, Rail Lines, and canals in the Linkage Design Area ................................................................... 14 Recommended Crossing Structures in the Gila Bend-SDNM Linkage ................................................................ 15 Recommended Crossing Structures for highways and railroads in the SDNM-Estrella Linkage ........................ 15 IMPACTS OF CANALS ON WILDLIFE .......................................................................................................................... 18 Canals in the Gila Bend Mountains-Sonoran Desert National Monument Linkage ............................................ 18 Mitigation for Canals .......................................................................................................................................... 18 URBAN DEVELOPMENT AS BARRIERS TO MOVEMENT .............................................................................................. 21 Urban Barriers in the Linkage Design Area ........................................................................................................ 22 Mitigation for Urban Barriers ............................................................................................................................. 25 IMPEDIMENTS TO THE GILA RIVER ........................................................................................................................... 26 Importance of Riparian Systems in the Southwest ............................................................................................... 26 Stream Impediments in the Linkage Design Area ................................................................................................ 26 Mitigating Stream Impediments ........................................................................................................................... 26 APPENDIX A: LINKAGE DESIGN METHODS .................................................................................................. 28 FOCAL SPECIES SELECTION ...................................................................................................................................... 28 HABITAT SUITABILITY MODELS ............................................................................................................................... 29 IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL BREEDING PATCHES & POTENTIAL POPULATION CORES .................................................. 30 IDENTIFYING BIOLOGICALLY BEST CORRIDORS ....................................................................................................... 31 PATCH CONFIGURATION ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................................... 32 MINIMUM LINKAGE WIDTH ...................................................................................................................................... 33 FIELD INVESTIGATIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 34 APPENDIX B: INDIVIDUAL SPECIES ANALYSES .......................................................................................... 35 BOBCAT (LYNX RUFUS) ............................................................................................................................................. 37 DESERT BIGHORN SHEEP (OVIS CANADENSIS NELSONI) .............................................................................................. 41 DESERT TORTOISE (GOPHERUS AGASSIZII) ................................................................................................................ 45 GILA MONSTER (HELODERMA SUSPECTUM) .............................................................................................................. 49 JAVELINA (TAYASSU TAJACU) .................................................................................................................................... 53 MOUNTAIN LION (PUMA CONCOLOR) ........................................................................................................................ 57 MULE DEER (ODOCOILEUS HEMIONUS) ..................................................................................................................... 61 APPENDIX C: SUGGESTED FOCAL SPECIES NOT MODELED................................................................... 65 Arizona Missing Linkages i Gila Bend – Sierra Estrella Linkage Design APPENDIX D: CREATION OF LINKAGE DESIGN .......................................................................................... 66 APPENDIX E: DESCRIPTION OF LAND COVER CLASSES .......................................................................... 68 APPENDIX F: LITERATURE CITED ................................................................................................................... 71 APPENDIX G: DATABASE OF FIELD INVESTIGATIONS ............................................................................. 77 Arizona Missing Linkages ii Gila Bend – Sierra Estrella Linkage Design List of Tables & Figures List of Tables TABLE 1: FOCAL SPECIES FOR THE GILA BEND – SIERRA ESTRELLA LINKAGE ............................................................ VII TABLE 2: APPROXIMATE LAND COVER IN THE LINKAGE DESIGN .................................................................................... 6 TABLE 3. CHARACTERISTICS WHICH MAKE SPECIES VULNERABLE TO THE THREE MAJOR DIRECT EFFECTS OF ROADS (FROM FORMAN ET AL. 2003). .............................................................................................................................. 10 TABLE 4: MAJOR ROADS AND CANALS IN THE LINKAGE DESIGN ................................................................................. 15 TABLE 5: HABITAT SUITABILITY SCORES AND FACTOR WEIGHTS FOR EACH SPECIES. SCORES RANGE FROM 1 (BEST) TO 10 (WORST), WITH 1-3 INDICATING OPTIMAL HABITAT, 4-5 SUBOPTIMAL BUT USABLE HABITAT, 6-7 OCCASIONALLY USED BUT NOT BREEDING HABITAT, AND 8-10 AVOIDED.
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