摘要：Intuitively, wildlife crossing structures should enhance the viability of wildlife populations.Previous research has demonstrated that a broad range of species will use crossing structures, however,questions remain as to whether these measures actually provide benefits to populations. To assess this,studies will need to determine the number of individuals using crossings, their sex, and their geneticrelationships. Obtaining empirical data demonstrating population-level benefits for some species can beproblematic and challenging at best. Molecular techniques now make it possible to identify species,individuals, their sex, and their genetic relatedness from hair samples collected through non-invasive geneticsampling (NGS). We describe efforts to pilot a method to assess potential population-level benefits ofwildlife crossing structures. We tested the feasibility of a prototype NGS system designed to sample hairfrom black bears (Ursus americanus) and grizzly bears (U. arctos) at two wildlife underpasses. The pilotedhair-sampling method did not deter animal use of the trial underpasses and was effective at sampling hairfrom more than 90% of the bear crossing events at the underpasses. Hair samples were also obtained fromnon-target carnivore species, including three out of five (60%) cougar (Puma concolor) crossing events.Individual identification analysis revealed that three female and two male grizzly bears used one wildlifeunderpass, whereas two female and three male black bears were identified as using the other underpass.Of the 36 hair samples from bears analyzed, five failed, resulting in an 87% extraction success rate, andsix more were only identified to species. Overall, 70% of the hair samples from bears collected in the fieldhad sufficient DNA for extraction purposes. Preliminary data from our NGS suggest the technique can bea reliable method to assess the population-level benefits of Banff wildlife crossings. Furthermore, NGScan be an important tool for the conservation value of wildlife crossings for other taxa, and we urge othersto carry out evaluations of this emerging methodology
