GrainsWest Tech 2020

Tech 2020 Grains West 42 FEATURE So-called citizen science sees researchers enlist the public in data gathering. Andrew Jakes is a regional wildlife biologist with the National Wildlife Federation Montana office who has collaborated on one such project, the Pronghorn Xing website and app. The wildlife conservation initiative spans portions of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Montana and was developed with the participation of wildlife and government agencies across the three jurisdictions. Able to run almost 100 kilometres per hour, the pronghorn is camouflaged with tan and white patches with a diminutive stature of slightly more than a metre. In their seasonal grazing circuit they must cross roadways. Reducing the resulting collisions can save the lives of animals and humans as well as accident expenses. Pronghorn are reluctant to cross fenced, multi-lane highways such as the Trans-Canada. Delaying migration to forage areas, they can be subject to winter kill. Pronghorn Xing follows the lead of a mountain goat focused system developed for the Crowsnest Pass by the Miistakis AWIN FOR CONSERVATION AND ROAD SAFETY Citizen science app helps diminish wildlife collisions Institute, a Calgary research and conservation charity. An expert in the effects of man-made barriers upon animal movement, Jakes worked with Miistakis on the Crowsnest project and to reinvent the system for the prairie landscape. While the app supports digital modelling Jakes has developed on pronghorn migration patterns, it also tracks white-tailed deer, mule deer and elk sightings. In Alberta, the project’s central focus is the Trans-Canada Highway near Medicine Hat. App users record animal sightings as they travel southern Alberta roadways. With this information, scientists can devise solutions to aid their movement by determining the location of narrow pinch points where they cross roads. “Biologists can’t collect data everywhere,” said Jakes. “Utilizing a citizen scientist approach is a way to grow a large database. It can be incredibly useful, especially when we have people out on the landscape who know their specific community or road system well.” As the project’s three-year data-gathering phase is complete, certain results may be available as early as late fall. Its working group will submit proposed mitigation strategies to the pertinent environment and transportation departments. Potential fixes may include highway overpasses similar to those successfully used in Banff as well as culvert underpasses and modifications to highway-adjacent fencing. Jakes hopes the app’s scope will be expanded in Canada as in Montana where it will be rebranded Wildlife Xing to incorporate a range of animals. “I see this as a win-win for people and wildlife,” said Jakes. Photo:Courtesyof Andrew Jakes