Terrestrial nature reserve design at the urban/rural interface

Abstract

Wisconsin had 28 nature reserves five years after the Wisconsin State Board for the Preservation of Scientific Areas was created in 1951. Iltis (1956) remarked that "time is running out," indicating that 280 or even 500 reserves were needed. By 1993, Wisconsin had a remarkable 276 dedicated nature reserves. However, for much of the Midwest and other parts of the United States, time is running out in spite of some remarkable achievements (Figs. 1-2). Awareness is increasing that terrestrial conservation efforts in some parts of the United States must by necessity be on small pieces of habitat, supporting small populations of species (e.g., Mitchell et al. 1990). Small reserves are important in areas where landscape alteration is very high and very low (Shafer 1995). The effects of people on any landscape can be either dramatic or subtle where human populations are dense (McDonnell and Pickett 1993). In California, documentation of the loss of biodiversity (e.g., Jensen et al. 1993) has resulted in endorsement of new planning approaches by the highest state government officials. Perhaps because urbanization is moving closer to our rural and wilderness areas, this interface is receiving more attention in research (e.g., McDonnell and Pickett 1990). Urbanization, with its accompanying loss of native habitat and creation of new habitat, has been correlated with a decreasing number of bird species, increasing avian biomass, and increasing dominance of a few species (Emlen 1974, Beissinger and Osborne 1982). Urban areas, however, are not necessarily a death knell for all wildlife. In fact, many opportunities for wildlife habitat or corridors in urban/suburban areas, like golf courses, are overlooked. (Terman 1994). Red foxes in Great Britain use railroad corridors to travel in and out of towns and cities (Kolb 1985, cited in Adams 1994), and Adams indicates that white-tailed deer, coyotes, and raccoons are thriving in some U.S. urban areas. Their presence may cause concern when deer browse on home shrubbery and gardens, coyotes attack pets, and raccoons transmit disease or raid home garbage cans. Gill and Bonnett (1973) document how many species occur in London and Los Angeles. "The wolves, mountain lions, bears, salmon, and oysters that were part of Manhattan are gone, but the red fox, opossum (a new resident), flying squirrel, gray squirrel, muskrat, raccoon, several species of bats, and a host of birds remain" (Ehrenfeld 1972, 182-183). (fiqure presented) © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.