Use of highway underpasses by bandicoots over a 7-year period that encompassed road widening

Published source details Taylor B.D. & Goldingay R.L. (2014) Use of highway underpasses by bandicoots over a 7-year period that encompassed road widening. Australian Mammalogy, 36, 178-183.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Install barrier fencing and underpasses along roads Action Link

Install barrier fencing and underpasses along roads

A before-and-after study in 2000–2008 along a highway through swamp and woodland in New South Wales, Australia (Taylor & Goldingay 2014) found that after being extended, underpasses beneath a newly constructed carriageway (in areas with roadside fencing), were used less by northern brown bandicoots Isoodon macrourus and long-nosed bandicoots Perameles nasuta. Bandicoot crossings through underpasses averaged 0.03/day after underpass extension, compared to 0.5/day during road widening and 1.1/day before widening. Construction of a single-carriageway by-pass finished in 1998. Six underpasses, 90–240 m apart, along 750 m of bypass, were studied. Underpasses were 2.4 m wide, 1.2 m high and 17–19 m long. In 2005–2006, an additional highway carriageway was constructed, with a 20–30-m-wide vegetated central strip. Four underpasses were extended, with an above-ground, enclosed section across the central strip, one underpass ran continuously under both carriageways and one linked with a creek bridge under the new carriageway. Crossings were 49–58 m long. Crossing entrances were separated from the road by 1.8-m-high fencing. Footprint sand pads were checked daily over 4–8 days to document tunnel passages. Underpasses were surveyed five times before widening (spring 2000 to autumn 2005), four times during widening (spring 2005 to spring 2006) and four time after widening (summer 2007 to autumn 2008). Not all underpasses were surveyed each time.

(Summarised by: Nick Littlewood)