Partially buried conveyor belt to allow vehicular access across wildlife fencing

ABSTRACT Researchers and managers often need vehicular access into areas fenced to protect wildlife, but commonly used vehicle crossings often are cumbersome, cost‐prohibitive, or inadequate at restricting target taxa. We describe a cost‐effective method using partially buried conveyor belt, which i...

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Main Authors: Zachary C. Adcock, J. Steve Godley, Andrew R. MacLaren, Shashwat Sirsi, Michael R. J. Forstner
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2018-09-01
Series:Wildlife Society Bulletin
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.906
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author Zachary C. Adcock
J. Steve Godley
Andrew R. MacLaren
Shashwat Sirsi
Michael R. J. Forstner
author_facet Zachary C. Adcock
J. Steve Godley
Andrew R. MacLaren
Shashwat Sirsi
Michael R. J. Forstner
author_sort Zachary C. Adcock
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Researchers and managers often need vehicular access into areas fenced to protect wildlife, but commonly used vehicle crossings often are cumbersome, cost‐prohibitive, or inadequate at restricting target taxa. We describe a cost‐effective method using partially buried conveyor belt, which is flexible and sturdy enough to allow convenient and frequent vehicular passage across wildlife fencing while not compromising the integrity of the barrier or harming the target species. We have no evidence of any target taxa (i.e., tortoises, freshwater turtles, toads) breaching a conveyor belt barrier from projects in central Florida (2005–2012), Guadalupe County, Texas (2014–2018), or Robertson County, Texas (2014). The proposed technique is unlikely to prevent large‐bodied, saltatory, climbing, or arboreal taxa from crossing a wildlife barrier. However, this technique is applicable to many small vertebrates and any taxa for which silt‐fencing or other similar semipermanent barriers are appropriate. © 2018 The Wildlife Society.
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spelling doaj-art-b78b1e539b224786882de0aeaeb56ccd2025-08-20T01:57:49ZengWileyWildlife Society Bulletin2328-55402018-09-0142352853310.1002/wsb.906Partially buried conveyor belt to allow vehicular access across wildlife fencingZachary C. Adcock0J. Steve Godley1Andrew R. MacLaren2Shashwat Sirsi3Michael R. J. Forstner4Department of BiologyTexas State University601 University DriveSan MarcosTX78666USACardno3905 Crescent Park DriveRiverviewFL33578USADepartment of BiologyTexas State University601 University DriveSan MarcosTX78666USADepartment of BiologyTexas State University601 University DriveSan MarcosTX78666USADepartment of BiologyTexas State University601 University DriveSan MarcosTX78666USAABSTRACT Researchers and managers often need vehicular access into areas fenced to protect wildlife, but commonly used vehicle crossings often are cumbersome, cost‐prohibitive, or inadequate at restricting target taxa. We describe a cost‐effective method using partially buried conveyor belt, which is flexible and sturdy enough to allow convenient and frequent vehicular passage across wildlife fencing while not compromising the integrity of the barrier or harming the target species. We have no evidence of any target taxa (i.e., tortoises, freshwater turtles, toads) breaching a conveyor belt barrier from projects in central Florida (2005–2012), Guadalupe County, Texas (2014–2018), or Robertson County, Texas (2014). The proposed technique is unlikely to prevent large‐bodied, saltatory, climbing, or arboreal taxa from crossing a wildlife barrier. However, this technique is applicable to many small vertebrates and any taxa for which silt‐fencing or other similar semipermanent barriers are appropriate. © 2018 The Wildlife Society.https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.906avoidanceconveyor beltdrift fencefreshwater turtlegopher tortoiseHouston toad
spellingShingle Zachary C. Adcock
J. Steve Godley
Andrew R. MacLaren
Shashwat Sirsi
Michael R. J. Forstner
Partially buried conveyor belt to allow vehicular access across wildlife fencing
Wildlife Society Bulletin
avoidance
conveyor belt
drift fence
freshwater turtle
gopher tortoise
Houston toad
title Partially buried conveyor belt to allow vehicular access across wildlife fencing
title_full Partially buried conveyor belt to allow vehicular access across wildlife fencing
title_fullStr Partially buried conveyor belt to allow vehicular access across wildlife fencing
title_full_unstemmed Partially buried conveyor belt to allow vehicular access across wildlife fencing
title_short Partially buried conveyor belt to allow vehicular access across wildlife fencing
title_sort partially buried conveyor belt to allow vehicular access across wildlife fencing
topic avoidance
conveyor belt
drift fence
freshwater turtle
gopher tortoise
Houston toad
url https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.906
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AT andrewrmaclaren partiallyburiedconveyorbelttoallowvehicularaccessacrosswildlifefencing
AT shashwatsirsi partiallyburiedconveyorbelttoallowvehicularaccessacrosswildlifefencing
AT michaelrjforstner partiallyburiedconveyorbelttoallowvehicularaccessacrosswildlifefencing