By Schyler Brown, Houston Audubon Conservation Specialist
Besides humans, other animals need to travel in order to go places, see things, and enjoy an enriching life. It is true that some animals do not travel very far, like the Brown Tube Sponge (Agelas conifera) which, after attaching itself to the sea floor, spends most of its life feeding by letting water simply pass through its body. Other animals, however, can travel many miles in their lifetimes, or even in a single day. With so much native habitat lost to our own roads and buildings, these animals are becoming confined to smaller pieces of land in a process called “habitat fragmentation.”
Unfortunately, habitat fragmentation is one of the leading causes of the loss of biodiversity on our planet, and surprisingly, lack of food and shelter is not the only symptom of this loss. The inability of closed off populations of animals to reproduce with other populations of the same species is leading to a loss of genetic diversity. This is called genetic drift, and is leading to serious biological maladies such as prions and viruses.
Fortunately, governments and non-governmental agencies have been investigating ways to re-connect habitats so that individuals in different populations of animals can expand their gene pool through reproduction. Houston Audubon participates in a coalition of organizations that hopes to create large contiguous land corridors for animals to move freely through the Houston–Galveston area. Typically, this is done by connecting smaller, undeveloped parcels of land together in natural highways. Another clever way to help the flow of animals is through wildlife corridor land bridges. These bridges are usually found over vehicular highways in urban areas, and not only connect two wilderness or green spaces, but provide a safe crossing for animals that would otherwise get hit by a moving vehicle. If you are interested in learning more about genetic drift, land corridors, or corridor bridges, check out the resources below!
Khan Academy Lesson on Genetic Drift: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRTn0iNkAHI
American Prairie Foundation goal of connecting 3.2 million acres of prairie: https://americanprairie.org/land-acquisition-and-access/
Memorial Park’s Land Bridge: https://www.memorialparkconservancy.org/discover/master-plan/land-bridge-prairie-restoration-project/
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