Date of Completion

2022

Document Type

Honors College Thesis

Department

Environmental Studies

Thesis Type

Honors College, Environmental Studies Electronic Thesis

First Advisor

Stephanie Hurley

Second Advisor

James Murdoch

Third Advisor

Caitlin Drasher

Keywords

Vermont, Landscape Connectivity, Green Mountains, Circuitscape, Interstate 89, Overpass

Abstract

Landscape connectivity, which has historically been important for maintaining wildlife populations, allowing for dispersal, seasonal movements, and facilitating gene flow, will become more important as climate change continues to shift species ranges. This project aimed to evaluate the current state of landscape connectivity between the Camel’s Hump and Mount Mansfield areas within the Green Mountains of Vermont, with special attention paid to the impact of the Interstate 89 and Route 2 road corridor. This project reviewed the relevant literature on enhancing wildlife connectivity, evaluated the state of connectivity in the study area using GIS methods, and proposes a design strategy for increasing the mobility of large native fauna.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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