An Approach Toward Understanding Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions

Among the most conspicuous environmental effects of roads are vehicle-related mortalities of wildlife. Research to understand the factors that contribute to wildlife-vehicle collisions can be partitioned into several major themes, including (i) characteristics associated with roadkill hot spots, (ii) identification of road-density thresholds that limit wildlife populations, and (iii) species-specific models of vehicle collision rates that incorporate information on roads (e.g., proximity, width, and traffic volume) and animal movements. We suggest that collision models offer substantial opportunities to understand the effects of roads on a diverse suite of species. We conducted simulations using collision models and information on Blanding’s turtles (Emydoidea blandingii), bobcats (Lynx rufus), and moose (Alces alces), species endemic to the northeastern United States that are of particular concern relative to collisions with vehicles. Results revealed important species-specific differences, with traffic volume and rate of movement by candidate species having the greatest influence on collision rates. We recommend that future efforts to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions be more proactive and suggest the following protocol. For species that pose hazards to drivers (e.g., ungulates), identify collision hot spots and implement suitable mitigation to redirect animal movements (e.g., underpasses, fencing, and habitat modification), reduce populations of problematic game species via hunting, or modify driver behavior (e.g., dynamic signage that warns drivers when animals are near roads). Next, identify those species that are likely to experience additive (as opposed to compensatory) mortality from vehicle collisions and rank them according to vulnerability to extirpation. Then combine information on the distribution of at-risk species with information on existing road networks to identify areas where immediate actions are warranted.     

上海外环线道路声屏障的施工及降噪效果

上海外环线交通噪声污染十分突出,通过安装大型声屏障取得了较满意的效果。本文介绍了外环线两段道路声屏障的施工安装以及实测降噪效果,可供类似工程参考。     

Determining contamination level of heavy metals in road dust from busy traffic areas with different characteristics

This study identified the levels and sources of heavy metal contamination in road dust from busy traffic areas in a typical industrial city in Korea. This study compared the total concentrations, as determined by aqua regia digestions and atomic absorption spectroscopy, of cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn) and nickel (Ni) in the road dust from areas with different characteristics such as traffic rotaries, downtown areas, circulation roads, and asphalt and concrete highways. The contamination levels of the heavy metals in the road dust were evaluated using the contamination factor and the degree of contamination. The contamination levels of the heavy metals in the road dust were highly dependent on traffic volume and atmospheric dispersion from traffic rotaries. Industrial emissions and the frequency of brake use and vehicles coming to a complete stop were additional factors that affected the contamination levels in downtown areas. The concrete highway had higher contamination levels of the heavy metals than the asphalt highway. Vehicle speed was also a strong contributing factor to the degree of contamination of heavy metals in the road dust from the circulation roads and highways.     

Characterization and prediction of highway runoff constituent event mean concentration

Highway stormwater runoff quality data were collected from throughout California during 2000-2003. Samples were analyzed for conventional pollutants (pH, conductivity, hardness, and temperature); aggregates (TSS, TDS, TOC, DOC); total and dissolved metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn); and nutrients (NO(3)-N, TKN, total P, and ortho-P). Storm event and site characteristics for each sampling site were recorded. A statistical summary for chemical characteristics of highway runoff is provided based on statewide urban and non-urban highways. Constituent event mean concentrations (EMCs) were generally higher in urban highways than in non-urban highways. The chemical characteristics of highway runoff in California were compared with national highway runoff chemical characterization data. The results obtained in California were generally similar to those found in other states. The median EMC for Pb measured in studies conducted in previous decades was much higher than the current median Pb EMC in California. The lower Pb EMC in California compared to previous highway runoff monitoring is believed to be due to the elimination of leaded gasoline. An attempt was also made to identify surrogate constituents within a general family of water quality categories using Spearman correlations and selected pairs with Spearman coefficients greater than 0.8. The strongest correlations were observed among parameters associated with dissolved minerals (EC, TDS, and chloride); organic carbon (TOC and DOC); petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH and O & G); and particulate matter (TSS and turbidity). Within the metals category, total iron concentration was highly correlated with most total metal concentrations. The correlations between total and dissolved concentrations were all less than 0.8, even between total and dissolved concentrations of the same metals. Multiple linear regression (MLR) analyses were performed to evaluate the impact of various site and storm event variables on highway runoff constituent EMCs. Parameters found to have significant impacts on highway runoff constituent EMCs include: total event rainfall (TER); cumulative seasonal rainfall (CSR); antecedent dry period (ADP); contributing drainage area (DA); and annual average daily traffic (AADT). Surrounding land use and geographic regions were also determined to have a significant impact on runoff quality. The MLR model was also used to predict constituent EMCs. Model performance determined by comparing predicted and measured values showed good agreement for most constituents.     

Road effects on abundance and fitness of Galápagos lava lizards (Microlophus albemarlensis)

Vehicle collisions with wildlife have the potential to negatively impact species everywhere roads divide natural habitats; this is especially true in areas where roads are a recent addition to the landscape (e.g., in the last decade) and/or where expansion of a road network is underway. This study addresses the impact of traffic fatalities on lava lizards, Microlophus albemarlensis, on the island of Santa Cruz, Galápagos. The main road bisecting the island north to south was added to the island beginning in 1974 but not fully paved until 2000. We assessed impacts occurring due to traffic and vehicle speeds on the island. This study adds impacts to lizard populations to those conducted on birds on Santa Cruz, providing a means to create multi-species recommendations. To quantify impacts to lizard populations, we assessed lizards on randomly chosen transects perpendicular to the road. We used Poisson regression to analyze those data and found a 30% increase in lizard abundance per 100 m distance from the road across vegetation zones. We compared incidence of prior tail loss of road-killed lizards and live animals to comment on additional energetic costs of occupying near-road territories. Tail condition could not be assessed in some road-killed lizards; among those that we could assess, 29% showed evidence of prior tail loss. That rate declined to apparent baseline conditions of only 1% beyond 200 m from the road. By traveling the length of the 40-km road, we identified hot spots for fatalities of both lizards and birds to provide necessary information for developing management and remediation strategies. We offer guidance on Best Management Practices, such as testing overpasses, fencing and underpasses, which might reduce vehicle impacts to lizards from drivers on the current road. This information is essential because of a planned increase in the Santa Cruz road network in areas where lava lizards are most abundant.     

Traffic-related air quality assessment for open road tolling highway facility

Open road tolling (ORT) design has been considered as an effective means of smoothing highway traffic and reducing travel delay on toll highways. In this paper it is demonstrated that ORT can also achieve significant air quality benefits over the conventional toll plaza design. The near roadside carbon monoxide (CO) concentration levels can be reduced by up to 37%, and diesel particulate matter (DPM) emissions can decrease by as much as 58%. These large expected air quality benefits have great implications to the regional efforts of reducing mobile source air pollution toward achieving attainment status and healthier living environment.     

An Assessment of Road Impacts on Wildlife Populations in U.S. National Parks

Current United States National Park Service (NPS) management is challenged to balance visitor use with the environmental and social consequences of automobile use. Wildlife populations in national parks are increasingly vulnerable to road impacts. Other than isolated reports on the incidence of road-related mortality, there is little knowledge of how roads might affect wildlife populations throughout the national park system. Researchers at the Western Transportation Institute synthesized information obtained from a system-wide survey of resource managers to assess the magnitude of their concerns on the impacts of roads on park wildlife. The results characterize current conditions and help identify wildlife-transportation conflicts. A total of 196 national park management units (NPS units) were contacted and 106 responded to our questionnaire. Park resource managers responded that over half of the NPS units’ existing transportation systems were at or above capacity, with traffic volumes currently high or very high in one quarter of them and traffic expected to increase in the majority of units. Data is not generally collected systematically on road-related mortality to wildlife, yet nearly half of the respondents believed road-caused mortality significantly affected wildlife populations. Over one-half believed habitat fragmentation was affecting wildlife populations. Despite these expressed concerns, only 36% of the NPS units used some form of mitigation method to reduce road impacts on wildlife. Nearly half of the respondents expect that these impacts would only worsen in the next five years. Our results underscore the importance for a more systematic approach to address wildlife-roadway conflicts for a situation that is expected to increase in the next five to ten years.     

Benefits and Challenges of Linking Green Infrastructure and Highway Planning in the United States

Landscape-level green infrastructure creates a network of natural and semi-natural areas that protects and enhances ecosystem services, regenerative capacities, and ecological dynamism over long timeframes. It can also enhance quality of life and certain economic activity. Highways create a network for moving goods and services efficiently, enabling commerce, and improving mobility. A fundamentally profound conflict exists between transportation planning and green infrastructure planning because they both seek to create connected, functioning networks across the same landscapes and regions, but transportation networks, especially in the form of highways, fragment and disconnect green infrastructure networks. A key opportunity has emerged in the United States during the last ten years with the promotion of measures to link transportation and environmental concerns. In this article we examined the potential benefits and challenges of linking landscape-level green infrastructure planning and implementation with integrated transportation planning and highway project development in the United States policy context. This was done by establishing a conceptual model that identified logical flow lines from planning to implementation as well as the potential interconnectors between green infrastructure and highway infrastructure. We analyzed the relationship of these activities through literature review, policy analysis, and a case study of a suburban Maryland, USA landscape. We found that regionally developed and adopted green infrastructure plans can be instrumental in creating more responsive regional transportation plans and streamlining the project environmental review process while enabling better outcomes by enabling more targeted mitigation. In order for benefits to occur, however, landscape-scale green infrastructure assessments and plans must be in place before integrated transportation planning and highway project development occurs. It is in the transportation community’s interests to actively facilitate green infrastructure planning because it creates a more predictable environmental review context. On the other hand, for landscape-level green infrastructure, transportation planning and development is much more established and better funded and can provide a means of supporting green infrastructure planning and implementation, thereby enhancing conservation of ecological function.     

Predicting deer-vehicle collisions in an urban area

Collisions with deer and other large animals are increasing, and the resulting economic costs and risks to public safety have made mitigation measures a priority for both city and wildlife managers. We created landscape models to describe and predict deer-vehicle collision (DVCs) within the City of Edmonton, Alberta. Models based on roadside characteristics revealed that DVCs occurred frequently where roadside vegetation was both denser and more diverse, and that DVCs were more likely to occur when the groomed width of roadside right-of-ways was smaller. No DVCs occurred where the width of the vegetation-free or manicured roadside buffer was greater than 40 m. Landscape-based models showed that DVCs were more likely in more heterogeneous landscapes where road densities were lower and speed limits were higher, and where non-forested vegetation such as farmland was in closer proximity to larger tracts of forest. These models can help wildlife and transportation managers to identify locations of high collision frequency for mitigation. Modifying certain landscape and roadside habitats can be an effective way to reduce deer-vehicle collisions.     

Distributed travel time savings of a multiscale transportation access management program

Access management in transportation planning can save travel time, reduce crashes, and increase route capacities. The planning literature suggests a need for performance metrics and a decision-aiding framework to guide access management programs across large corridor networks and diverse time horizons. This paper describes a quantitative framework to support access management programs, applying multicriteria analysis and cost-benefit analysis with parameter uncertainties. The metrics used to assess relative priorities at existing access points include the following: travel time delay index, traffic exposure, value of time, and costs of typical access management activities. Uncertain parameters that influence the estimates of the potential benefits and costs are identified and treated via a numerical interval analysis. The framework is demonstrated at several geographic scales and locations including 7,000 km of highway arterials of a 110,000 square-kilometer region and several sub-regions. The results assist decision makers to identify route segments that should be addressed sooner by eliciting additional information, reserving right-of-way, closing access points, planning new alignments, facilitating development proffers, etc. The approach is transferable to other topics involving resource allocation for preservation and improvement of multiscale infrastructure systems.     

Understanding resident satisfaction with involvement in highway planning: in-depth interviews during a highway planning process in the Netherlands

This study investigates resident satisfaction with provided involvement activities during highway planning processes, with particular attention given to the planned Southern Ring Road highway project in Groningen, the Netherlands. In-depth interviews with 38 residents living in the project area reveal important themes contributing to satisfaction. Satisfaction with passive information activities is motivated by the extent to which information addresses concerns, but (dis)trust in government and other information sources also plays a role. For residents preferring to obtain additional information, perceived access to such information and the extent to which it reduces concerns are also important to satisfaction. Finally, for residents who would rather participate actively, satisfaction is motivated by their perceived access to participation activities and the sense of being heard. Study results show how residents’ evaluations of the themes underpinning involvement satisfaction are based on their perceptions of actual project team activities and contextual factors.     

Evaluating Aggregate Terrestrial Impacts of Road Construction Projects for Advanced Regional Mitigation

This study presents a GIS-based database framework used to assess aggregate terrestrial habitat impacts from multiple highway construction projects in California, USA. Transportation planners need such impact assessment tools to effectively address additive biological mitigation obligations. Such assessments can reduce costly delays due to protracted environmental review. This project incorporated the best available statewide natural resource data into early project planning and preliminary environmental assessments for single and multiple highway construction projects, and provides an assessment of the 10-year state-wide mitigation obligations for the California Department of Transportation. Incorporation of these assessments will facilitate early and more strategic identification of mitigation opportunities, for single-project and regional mitigation efforts. The data architecture format uses eight spatial scales: six nested watersheds, counties, and transportation planning districts, which were intersected. This resulted in 8058 map planning units statewide, which were used to summarize all subsequent analyses. Range maps and georeferenced locations of federally and state-listed plants and animals and a 55-class landcover map were spatially intersected with the planning units and the buffered spatial footprint of 967 funded projects. Projected impacts were summarized and output to the database. Queries written in the database can sum expected impacts and provide summaries by individual construction project, or by watershed, county, transportation district or highway. The data architecture allows easy incorporation of new information and results in a tool usable without GIS by a wide variety of agency biologists and planners. The data architecture format would be useful for other types of regional planning.     

四川省高等级公路环保现状与存在问题

自1990年以来，四川省高等级公路发展迅速，已建成近2000公里，同时，公路环保也取得了很大成就，所有高等级公路都编制了环评报告书，边坡，中央分隔带和互通式立交区的绿化率达70％以上，路边30m范围内重要敏感点或迁移或受到保护，服务区污水处理后达标排放，取弃土场施行绿化或复耕，水土流失得到治理，但建设期的环境管理还有待加强，环保绿化技术尚须进一步提高，环境监理要尽快开展。     

Conservation Opportunities for Securing In-Stream Flows in the Platte River Basin: A Case Study Drawing on Casper,Wyoming’s MunicipalWater Strategy

The Platte River Basin consists of tributaries largely in Wyoming, Colorado and Western Nebraska, with the main stem in Central Nebraska. Critical wildlife habitat on the main stem requires additional in-stream flows. The watershed is one hosting multiple resources, a variety of users, and managed by an array of state and federal agencies. This study proposes a basis for securing in-stream flows for the Platte River. Candidate water supply mechanisms are suggested based on the way in which Casper, Wyoming secured water for its municipal needs. Canal lining is compared to a dam project, increasing reservoir storage, and purchasing water rights, with consideration also made for water pricing to reduce municipal use. Comparisons are based on economic efficiency, potential water conservation, and property rights criteria. Canal lining, coupled with demand management, is shown to conserve water best, given the set of efficiency and cost criteria for in-stream flow enhancement. The approach offers an opportunity to organize the water supply choice context in a transboundary watershed when quantitative information is limited.     

Cautious but Committed: Moving Toward Adaptive Planning and Operation Strategies for Renewable Energy’s Wildlife Implications

Wildlife planning for renewable energy must cope with the uncertainties of potential wildlife impacts. Unfortunately, the environmental policies which instigate renewable energy and those which protect wildlife are not coherently aligned—creating a green versus green dilemma. Thus, climate mitigation efforts trigger renewable energy development, but then face substantial barriers from biodiversity protection instruments and practices. This article briefly reviews wind energy and wildlife interactions, highlighting the lively debated effects on bats. Today, planning and siting of renewable energy are guided by the precautionary principle in an attempt to carefully address wildlife challenges. However, this planning attitude creates limitations as it struggles to negotiate the aforementioned green versus green dilemma. More adaptive planning and management strategies and practices hold the potential to reconcile these discrepancies to some degree. This adaptive approach is discussed using facets of case studies from policy, planning, siting, and operational stages of wind energy in Germany and the United States, with one case showing adaptive planning in action for solar energy as well. This article attempts to highlight the benefits of more adaptive approaches as well as the possible shortcomings, such as reduced planning security for renewable energy developers. In conclusion, these studies show that adaptive planning and operation strategies can be designed to supplement and enhance the precautionary principle in wildlife planning for green energy.     

Component modeling for the spatial representation of wildlife movements

This paper has two main objectives: (1) to discuss the basics of component modeling and its conceptual implications in environmental modeling; and (2) based on this discussion, to present a component-based design to support the simulation of wildlife movements. Components are independently developed, ready-to-use software units that can be assembled together to construct a modeling system. The conceptual implications of component modeling for the representation of environmental phenomena are discussed. A comparison is made between these conceptual implications and those of the more familiar object-oriented approach. A component-based design for supporting the simulation of wildlife movements is presented in this paper in order to illustrate how component modeling can be used to support the spatial representation of ecological phenomena and processes.     

项目环评在化工企业厂区平面布置优化中的作用

以河南某化工企业为例,从厂区功能区划分、主要污染源分布、排水路线制定、卫生和安全防护等方面对其进行厂区平面布置合理性分析,通过分析评价各关键因素对周围环境及敏感点的影响程度大小对厂区平面布置进行适当调整和优化。由案例可知,项目环评不仅能够有效削减工业污染物排放对厂区人员和附近敏感点的影响,而且能够有效反馈厂区平面设计中存在的不足,通过优化调整降低铁路、高压线、环境敏感点跨辖区搬迁等限制条件对项目主要生产功能区布置的影响,提高企业生产中的卫生安全和风险防护水平,降低企业环保投入,实现经济和环保效益协调发展。     

Monitoring and environmental modeling of earthwork impacts: A road construction case study

This study presents the contributions of materials, earth engineering machines and construction techniques to potential environmental impacts from the main items of typical road earthworks. To achieve this goal, the overall activity at a 1.9-km long French earthworks project site for a heavily trafficked highway was surveyed during its 2007–2009 construction period. Using data collected and a numerical model of road life cycle assessment (LCA), i.e. ECORCE, six indicators could be evaluated, namely: energy consumption, global warming potential, acidification, eutrophication, photochemical ozone creation, and human chronic toxicity. When available, several life cycle inventories were implemented in order to appraise indicator sensitivity with respect to the considered panel of pollutants. Results also allowed estimating from an LCA point of view: (i) the conservation of both aggregates and soil as induced by quicklime treatment and (ii) the duration necessary for projected traffic levels to offset the potential environmental impacts of the earthworks stage.     

A Comparison of Data Sets Varying in Spatial Accuracy Used to Predict the Occurrence of Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions

Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) pose a significant safety and conservation concern in areas where high-traffic roads are situated adjacent to wildlife habitat. Improving transportation safety, accurately planning highway mitigation, and identifying key habitat linkage areas may all depend on the quality of WVC data collection. Two common approaches to describe the location of WVCs are spatially accurate data derived from global positioning systems (GPS) or vehicle odometer measurements and less accurate road-marker data derived from reference points (e.g., mile-markers or landmarks) along the roadside. In addition, there are two common variable types used to predict WVC locations: (1) field-derived, site-specific measurements and (2) geographic information system (GIS)-derived information. It is unclear whether these different approaches produce similar results when attempting to identify and explain the location of WVCs. Our first objective was to determine and compare the spatial error found in road-marker data (in our case the closest mile-marker) and landmark-referenced data. Our second objective was to evaluate the performance of models explaining high- and low-probability WVC locations, using congruent, spatially accurate (<3-m) and road-marker (<800-m) response variables in combination with field- and GIS-derived explanatory variables. Our WVC data sets were comprised of ungulate collisions and were located along five major roads in the central Canadian Rocky Mountains. We found that spatial error (mean ± SD) was higher for WVC data referenced to nearby landmarks (516 ± 808 m) than for data referenced to the closest mile-marker data (401 ± 219 m). The top-performing model using the spatially accurate WVC locations contained all explanatory variable types, whereas GIS-derived variables were only influential in the best road-marker model and the spatially accurate reduced model. Our study showed that spatial error and sample size, using road-marker data for ungulate species, are important to consider for model output interpretation, which will impact the appropriate scale on which to apply modeling results. Using road-marker references <1.6 km or GPS-derived data locations may represent an optimal compromise between data acquisition costs and analytical performance. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.