DEFINITION
Note: Special thanks to Taushia Copeland, whose paper forms the armature of this page.

The word “corridor” can be easily misused and improperly defined. Beier and Noss (1998) provide the defi nition of a habitat corridor as: a linear habitat, embedded in a dissimilar matrix, that connects two or more larger blocks of habitat and that is proposed for conservation on the grounds that it will enhance or maintain the viability of specific wildlife populations in the habitat blocks. The importance of a habitat corridor can only come from the core habitat that it is connecting. Corridors rely on a matrix of existing but discontinuous natural areas to realize their full potential (dechant).

In most urban areas, the wildlife habitat that does exist is rarely connected and therefore creates a dangerous environment for there are no opportunities for safe migration and little, if any biodiversity which is essential in creating any sustainable habitat.Corridors are essential to any species for every species is required to migrate for survival. This graph shows how when migration decreases, the extinction line increases. This graph was developed by Robert MacArthur and Edward O. Wilson as a tool to explain the importance of habitat corridors within their conception of landscape ecology. Without corridors and diverse landscape available to species, extinction rates increase exponentially. With natural disasters such as fl ood and fi res, wildlife need options if their current habitat is destroyed. The landscape is considered to be a sea of habitat islands and the only way to bring them together is through connectivity brought by corridors.




Fleury and Brown (1997) began initial work on developing spatial/structural pattern metrics to understand the needs of various species to move through corridors. Their studies were important. For example, width to length is more important than width alone, and design and quality can be just as important. While the size and dimensions of corridors have not been determined as an exact science, we have learned the rough understanding of what certain sizes and types of species require with a habitat corridor. Corridors are usually divided into two main categories: riparian corridors as in rivers and streams, and on hard surface as in a hedgerow or road verge.


Corridors have human function such as barriers for property lines and landscape elements. Tree lined sidewalks also create a safety environment for pedestrians and slows down traffic. Corridors are positive for humans directly with these previously stated reasons, and also indirectly by increasing biodiversity and helping wildlife survive. Implementation is easy as long as there is support for connecting two areas of green space for corridors already exist within our urban systems, they just have to be converted into habitat corridors and supported by the public.



AKA
Riparian Corridor, Greenbelt,

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
how is it measured? what are the criteria for its design or planning?

ILLUSTRATION

A habitat corridor through agricultural lands:





CASE STUDIES
links to separate pages documenting specific places or projects where this element is on display

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Fleury, A. M., and R. D. Brown.” A framework for the design of wildlife conservation corridors with specific application
to southwestern Ontario.” Landscape and Urban Planning 37:163-186: 1997.

MacArthur, Robert and Wilson, Edward O. The Theory of Island Biogeography. Princeton, N.J., Princeton University
Press: 1967.

Pickett, S. T. A., and M. L. Cadenasso. “Landscape Ecology: Spatial Heterogeneity in Ecological Systems.” Science
269:331-334: 1995.

www.de-chant.com
www.kottke.org
www.math.dundee.ac.uk
www.sciencemag.org
www.wildlands.org