Williams et al. HERPETOFAUNA AND ROADS: HOW CAN WE GET ALONG? Lead Author: Kevin B Williams MEB, P Eng ((519) 622-7144, kwilliams @ail.ca ) Senior Design Engineer, Atlantic Industries Limited, 395 Waydom Drive, Ayr, Ontario, N0B 1E0 Co-Author: Denise Cologna MEB (
[email protected]) Williams et al. 1 ABSTRACT Biodiversity provides us with irreplaceable ecosystem services such as clean air and water, productive soils, food, timber and renewable energy. Ontario’s people are healthier and their quality of life is better because of its biodiversity (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, 2012). Ontario’s 53 herpetofauna species provide essential services such as helping maintain wetland health (Ontario Nature, 2013) which subsequently improves Ontario’s water quality (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, n.d.), limiting diseases such as Lyme’s disease by helping control rodent and insect populations (Crowley, 2014), and serving as a vital food source for species such as birds and mammals (Biolinx Environmental Research Ltd. and E. Wind Consulting, 2004). Sixty percent of Ontario’s herpetofauna species are at risk of disappearing and face many threats including deliberate killing, poaching/pet trade, loss/fragmentation of habitat, pesticides/contaminants, and road mortality (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, 2013). Roads are either directly or indirectly related to all of these threats. Current road design and construction practices are placing unnecessary stress on many herpetofauna species (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, 2013) and removal of significant negative road impacts on herpetofauna population and habitat is needed. Ontario’s herpetofauna population is in a critical state and there needs to be a co- ordinated strategic push from all directions to tackle the threat of road mortality on these species (Gunson K.