Let them Roam

As urban sprawl continues to become a larger problem for wildlife, scientists have found that leaving small corridors of natural areas can be greatly beneficial for those animals that need to spread out.

Animals are born to roam. So when they find themselves living on small patches of land surrounded by housing developments or cornfields, their movement is unnaturally confined. They may never find that other patch a mile down the road that is full of food, nesting grounds, even mates with differing genes (a very good thing for the health of a species.) What’s more, the plant seeds and pollen that naturally hitchhike with them are also stuck.

When you are clearing your land, or your field, think about how the natural areas is affected. Maybe leave a corridor.

“The spillover effect with corridors gives a larger conservation bang for the buck,” said study co-author Nick Haddad, associate professor of biology at North Carolina State University, in a statement. His team found that adding habitat corridors more than doubled the resulting area of improved plant biodiversity.

Read the rest here at 60 second science.