ecoduct

plural ecoducts

1. biologyA type of wildlife crossing in the form of a bridge or tunnel, usually covered with foliage and turf, which animals may use to cross roads without the risk of being hit by vehicles; a wildlife viaduct.First known use late 20th c.

   An ecoduct was installed above the road to help wildlife cross safely.

   4 more examples

   Several measures can be taken to influence the circumstance for the badger in a positive way. Apart from protection and restoration of potential habitats, important measures are: restoration or development of dispersal corridors (woodlots, hedgerows), construction of tunnels or ecoducts for crossing roads, reduction of speed limits, and closure of roads for traffic at night.

   1994, J. P. Knaapen, H. C. van Engen, R. C. van Apeldoorn, P. Schippers, J. Verboom, “Badgers in the Netherlands: Evaluation of Scenarios with Models”, in Job F. Th. Schoute, Peter A. Finke, Frank R. Veeneklaas, Henk P. Wolfert, editors, Scenario Studies for the Rural Environment: Selected and Edited Proceedings of the Symposium Scenario Studies for the Rural Environment, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 12–15 September 1994 (Environment & Policy; 5), Dordrecht, South Holland; Boston, Mass.: Kluwer Academic Publishers, →ISBN, page 552

   [S]pecies preferred a particular type of passage: fox and rabbit used the pipes more than the culverts and roe deer, hare and red squirrel were only observed on the ecoduct; […] It appears that an ecoduct with a variety of habitat-types is better for a broader range of species. Design of an ecoduct is important and so is the context, […]

   1997, G. J. (Hans) Bekker, “Fragmentation and Road-infrastructure in the Netherlands: From History to Future”, in James Randy Williams, John W. Goodrich-Mahoney, Jan R. Wisniewski, Joe Wisniewski, editors, The Sixth International Symposium on Environmental Concerns in Rights-of-way Management, 24–26 February 1997, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, Kidlington, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Elsevier Science, →ISBN, part VII (Biodiversity), page 364, column 1

   A large budget was reserved for purchasing ground, developing new natural areas, and for making "ecoducts" (wildlife bridges or tunnels) under/over main highways that dissected natural areas.

   2004, Brian K. Miller; Kenli Schaaf; Robert K. Swihart; Chester L. Arnold, Jr., “Historical and Human Dimensions of Nature-based Planning: Is Time on Our Side?”, in Robert K. Swihart, Jeffrey E. Moore, editors, Conserving Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes: Model-based Planning Tools, West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press, →ISBN, page 231

   Not far from Brănișca [in Romania], an ecoduct crosses the motorway from the Apuseni mountains to the Retezat. Like bears, wolves have been known to travel enormous distances.

   2025, Nick Thorpe, “On Chicken Mountain”, in Walking Europe’s Last Wilderness: A Journey through the Carpathian Mountains, New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 322