ROAD ECOLOGY AND ROAD DENSITY IN DIFFERENT LANDSCAPES, WITH INTERNATIONAL PLANNING AND MITIGATION SOLUTIONS

Understanding spatial pattern of the broad landscape is essential for addressing the ecological impacts of roads. Most important are flows and movements, e.g., in wildlife corridors, across the land. Landscape ecology provides a useful theoretical framework for such a transportation analysis. Road density (e.g., mi/sq mi) is a useful summary index, because it integrates so many ecological impacts of roads and vehicles. A road density effect on wildlife is illustrated. Suburban, open, and forested landscapes are shown to have markedly different road effects on species, habitat, water, soil, and atmosphere. Roads cause more effects and have a greater cumulative effect than vehicles. A planning framework used in Holland is outlined, which maps the landscape ecological network, superimposes the road network, identifies bottlenecks, examines stretches of road and landscape in detail, and uses an array of ecological and technological solutions for avoidance, mitigation, and compensation. Major mitigation techniques, including diverse tunnels, overpasses, and landscape connectors are outlined, along with animals using them. Very little of this ecological technology yet exists in the United States. A brief opportunity remains to lead the public, by concurrently implementing successful existing technology, researching road ecology, and educating the public.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Also published by Florida DOT as a paper in FL-ER-58-96, "Trends in Addressing Transportation Related Wildlife Mortality: Proceedings of the Transportation Related Wildlife Mortality Seminar (June 1996).
• Corporate Authors:

  Florida Department of Transportation

  Haydon Burns Building, 605 Suwanee Street
  Tallahassee, FL  United States  32301

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Forman, RTT
  • Hersperger, A M
• Conference:
  • Transportation and Wildlife: Reducing Wildlife Mortality and Improving Wildlife Passageways Across Transportation Corridors
  • Location: Orlando, Florida
  • Date: 1996-4-30 to 1996-5-2
• Publication Date: 1996-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 1-23

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Ecology; Education; Environmental impacts; Habitat (Ecology); Highways; Planning; Research; Traffic mitigation; Wildlife
• Uncontrolled Terms: Mitigation; Road density
• Geographic Terms: Netherlands; United States
• Subject Areas: Design; Environment; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Research; I21: Planning of Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00745651
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-PD-96-041
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jan 30 1998 12:00AM