Life Sciences Commons^™

Mp: 766 Roadside Rights-Of-Way As Pollinator Habitat: A Literature Review, Brianne Du Clos

Miscellaneous Publications

Pollination of crops and naturally-occurring flowering plants is a critical ecosystem service provided by managed and unmanaged animal pollinators. Insects are the most studied pollinators, particularly managed honey bees, unmanaged wild bees, and butterflies. Bees and butterflies thrive in early-successional habitat featuring grasses, exposed soil, wildflowers, and shrubs, which is consistently found within transportation and utility rights-of-way (ROW). However, intensive management of ROW can reduce the amount of high-quality pollinator habitat; such practices include frequent mowing, broadcast herbicide use, and planting non-native cool season grasses. Here, we review peer-reviewed academic and non-peer reviewed gray literature describing ROW management practices and …

Metal Composition And Contamination Assessment Of Urban Roadway Dusts On The Abu Dhabi-Liwa Highway, Uae, Ahmed A. Al-Taani, Yousef Nazzal, Fares M. Howari, Jibran Iqbal, Muhammad Naseem, Manish Sharma, Cijo Xavier, Dimitrios Papandreou, Lina Maloukh, Lakshmi Ambika, Imen Ben Salem, Abeer Al Bsoul, Haitham M. Farok

All Works

The metal composition of road-deposited dust along the Abu Dhabi-Liwa Highway was investigated to provide insight into the contamination profile and levels of road dust. The average concentrations of metals decreased in the order Al (28668 ± 4631 mg/kg)> Fe (21461 ± 2594 mg/kg) > Mn (711.8 ± 76.3 mg/kg) > Zn (210.6 ± 51.6 mg/kg) > Cu (94.9 ± 15.8 mg/kg) > Pb (83.6 ± 5.3 mg/kg) > Cd (75.1 ± 1.6 mg/kg) > Co (62.6 ± 6.4 mg/kg) > As (4.7 ± 2.9 mg/kg) > Ni (0.10 ± 0.19 mg/kg) > Cr (0.08 ± 0.06 mg/kg). The spatial variations of metals suggest different sources and contributing factors …

Evaluation And Enhancement Of Carbon Sequestration Potential Of Existing Vegetation Along Roadsides, Vikram Kapoor, Jeffrey Hutchinson, Samer Dessouky

Publications

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the vegetative composition and carbon sequestration potential of vegetation along a major roadway in Texas. Soil and vegetation were evaluated along IH-35 within Bexar County for composition and carbon content. Three 20 m transects were placed at each site and percent vegetative cover was estimated and above ground plant biomass, and soil was collected from three 0.25 m2 subplots along each transect. Plant and soil samples were analyzed for carbon content. Two non-native grasses, bermudagrass and King Ranch bluestem, were the dominant cover at all sites accounting for > 90% coverage at several …

Efficacy Of Compost Amended Biofiltration Swales As Green Stormwater Infrastructure For Treatment Of Toxicants In Salish Sea Road Run-Off, Benjamin D. Leonard, Katherine T. Peter, Bowen W. Du, Edward Kolodziej, Nathaniel L. Scholz, John D. Stark, Jenifer K. Mcintyre

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Biofiltration swales, or bioswales, use vegetated soil substrates to filter contaminants from stormwater, decrease sediment load, and reduce erosion. Following a storm, runoff moves slowly through the swale at a shallow depth. While stormwater is retained in the bioswales, pollutants are removed by the combined effects of filtration, infiltration, settling, and biotransformation. The system currently being evaluated at the Washington State University (WSU) Puyallup Research and Extension Center (PREC) uses compost to further enhance the ability of bioswales to remove toxicants. WSDOT has created guidelines for constructing compost amended biofiltration swales (CABS) and implemented a field test for CABS along …

Effectiveness Of Chain Link Turtle Fence And Culverts In Reducing Turtle Mortality And Providing Connectivity Along U.S. Hwy 83, Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska, Usa, Marcel P. Huijser, Kari E. Gunson, Elizabeth R. Fairbank

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

We evaluated the effectiveness of existing turtle fences through collecting and analyzing turtle mortality data along U.S. Hwy 83, in and around Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska, USA. We also investigated the level of connectivity for turtles provided through the culverts that were originally designed to pass water through a capture-mark-recapture experiment. While fenced valley sections had 33.1% fewer turtle observations than unfenced valley sections, the difference was not significant. However, we think that the effectiveness of the fence can be improved through fence repairs, other modifications of the fences, vegetation maintenance, and extending the length of the fences. Four …

Performance Measures Of Road Crossing Structures From Relative Movement Rates Of Large Mammals, Adam Andis

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In recent decades, there has been an increase of engineering projects that seek to mitigate the barrier effect roads impose on wildlife by installing wildlife crossing structures that promote permeability of the road corridor. The 41 fish and wildlife crossing structures installed along a 90km stretch of US Highway 93 on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana, represent one of the most extensive of such projects in North America. As mitigation efforts are increasingly considered and implemented in road construction projects, the need to assess these structures’ effectiveness grows. This study is the first to compare observations of animal …

Effectiveness Of Earthen Escape Ramps In Reducing Big Game Mortality In Utah, Mary L. Hammer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

One-way escape gates and earthen escape ramps are structures used to enable deer to exit the highway right-of-way along fenced roads. I compared the use of one-way escape gates and earthen escape ramps by mule deer on two highways in Utah to determine if deer exhibited a preference for either structure. Results showed that earthen escape ramps were used by mule deer 8-11 times more frequently than one-way gates. Highway mortality data suggest that the installation of the escape ramps likely reduced mortality of mule deer in both study locations, because we could not attribute reductions in mortality to decreased …

A Method Of Identifying Hazardous Highway Locations Using The Principle Of Individual Lifetime Risk, Paul J. Ossenbruggen

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Dr. Ossenbruggen presents a scientific framework for identifying hazardous highway locations that may be more easily understood by non-scientists and has potential for comparing highway with other risks to health.

Environmental Mediation: An Assessment And Case Study Of The Logan Canyon Highway Controversy, Jared Glenn Parkinson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

For a little more than twenty years, alternative methods of dispute management have been employed to address various environmental conflicts in order to avoid the more traditional method of litigation. Mediation is a voluntary process which involves face-to-face negotiation among parties and the use of a neutral third-party negotiator. Environmental mediation has helped manage disputes related to land use, natural resource management, use of public lands, water resources, energy development, air quality and toxins (Bingham 1986).

Mule Deer Highway Mortality In Northeastern Utah: An Analysis Of Population-Level Impacts And A New Mitigative System, Mark E. Lehnert

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Rerouting highways to accommodate construction of the Jordanelle Reservoir in northeastern Utah caused a dramatic increase in vehicle collisions with mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). I evaluated the effectiveness of a new system of highway crosswalk structures installed to reduce deer losses and preserve seasonal migrations. In addition, I constructed computer simulation models to investigate how highway mortality has impacted the Jordanelle deer population.

The crosswalk system restricted deer crossings to specific, well-marked areas along highways where motorists could anticipate them. Subsequent to installation, mortality declined 42.3% and 36.8% along a four-lane and two-lane highway, respectively. I was unable …