1.6: Practicing with Data- Wildlife Corridors

Overview

In 1999 the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan was created to help wildlife populations and habitats. As a result of this plan, biologists were able to identify landscapes with wildlife barriers and get funding to install wildlife corridors. On State Route (SR) 77 two wildlife corridors were installed, one overpass and one underpass. These corridors were the first of their kind to be built in the Sonoran Desert so it was difficult to estimate what level of success they would have. As such, a monitoring plan was put in place to document which species used the corridors and how often they used it as time passed since their installation. The figure below illustrates the usage of the wildlife corridors 2+ years after their installation. 

How to read a graph: 

• Step 1: Read title.
• Step 2: Read axes.
• Step 3: Identify trend.
• Step 4: Explain trend.
• Step 5: Read any questions that follow and select the correct answer based on the graph. 
   

Questions

1. What is the independent (explanatory) variable and the dependent (response) variable?
2. What question(s) are the authors trying to answer with this graph?
3. Does this graph show a positive or negative relationship between the variables? Support your answer by referring to trends observed in the graph.
4. Do you think like the authors are satisfied with the results in the graph? Why?
5. How can we use the results of this graph to inform future wildlife corridor installations?
6. What information/patterns is not clear from this graph?

Raw Data For Above Graph(s)

Table \(\PageIndex{a}\): Raw data for total wildlife crossings after installation for overpass and underpass on SR 77. Graph by Rachel Schleiger (CC-BY-NC) modified from data in Santa Catalina - Tortolita Mountain Corridor Progress Report

Attribution

Modified by Erin Rempala (CC-BY-NC)

Rachel Schleiger (CC-BY-NC)