impacts of road landscape treatments on biodiversity within road corridors and adjacent ecosystems -...
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Work Package 2:
Impacts of Road Landscape Treatments on Biodiversity within
Road Corridors and Adjacent Ecosystems
P. Whelan, ERI, BEES,
University College Cork
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Roads in the landscape
• Breaks in continuity of landscape features?
• Opportunity for creation of habitats and continuity?
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Road landscapes as ecosystems•Are the
species/communities on
roads different from
surrounding
communities?
•Do the
species/communities on
roads interact with
surrounding
communities.
•Provision of continuity
of habitats and
movement of fauna.
•Potential to enhance
biodiversity in a
landscape?
•Ecosystem services (predation, biocontrol,
carbon fixation, pollination, rainfall
attenuation, flood prevention, etc.).
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Roads - Biodiversity at three levels• Landscape diversity
creation,
restoration,
compensation and/
or replacement in
largely agricultural
landscapes (not
reported here).
• Species level. Plant
and animal
diversity along
roads.
• Gene level.
WhitethornDara Stanley
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•Biodiversity on roads
•Interactions between biodiversity on road and surrounding systems?
•Management of biotic and abiotic landscape treatments promote invasion resistance to aliens
•Impacts of road management on intra-specific genetic variation
•Guide to landscape treatments for national road schemes in Ireland (NRA, 2006)
Roads - Objectives
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A Guide to Landscape Treatments for
National Road Schemes in Ireland
(NRA, 2006)• Pre-Guidelines
• Standard agricultural grass
seed mixes
• Use of plants available in
the horticultural market
• Highly fertile topsoil with
added fertilisers
• High maintenance -
chemically & physically
• A horticultural outcome
• Post-Guidelines
• Ecological landscape design
• Verge fits with wider landscape
• Native species of local
provenance
• Natural recolonisation
• Subsoil where possible
• Low maintenance
• Increased sustainability
Both pre and post treatments in place in 2009
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New Approach to
Verge Treatments Standard Grass
Seed (Soil Slope) Planted
(Soil Slope)
Planted
(Rock/Scree)
SGSM
(Wider Verge)
Open Habitat Mosaic
(Soil Slope/Wider Verge)
Hay Strewing
(Soil Slope/Wider verge)
Natural
Recolonisation
(Rock/Scree)
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Distribution of study sites
300km transectTralee to Rosslare
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Wider Verge Area
Hedgerow/Fence-line
Adjacent Field
Road
Position of Quadrat and Pitfall Trap
Field Margin
Wider Verge Sand Bed
Field Margin Quadrat
adjacent Pitfall
Position of Sand Bed
Immediate Verge Area
Sampling of roaded landscapes
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• Pitfall traps
• Plant quadrats
• Hedgerow surveys
• Sand beds
• Mammal traps
• Bird surveys
• Soil seed bank
• Pan traps – (L. Mountsey)
• Grid references
• Hedgerow aspect
• Margin widths
• Slope
• Weather
• Soil nutrients
• Photographic record
Biotic sampling and abiotic
measurements taken at road sites
Biotic Abiotic
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Road Verge1= Pre-guidelines
Centre of adjacent field
Soil Slopes: Pre vs Post Guidelines and
Adjacent Field
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Below ground plant community• Soil seed bank (more later from R. Thompson)
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Further information
Carabid community structure & Road Landscaping
Carabid Community Structure &
Road Landscaping
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Invasion Resistance
(ongoing).
Japanese Rose Rosa rugosaPics. Wikimedia Commons
Thanks to Tracy Smith Kerry Co. Co.
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M7 – Castletown to Nenagh
Biodiversity resulting
from different treatments
(natural recolonisation,
hay strewing, standard
grass seed mix,
commercial wildflower
seed mix).
Major part completed in
Nov 2010
Atkins, Bowen-Somag (B.
Barron), J.Kelly (Laois
Co. Co.)
Long term, large scale, experiment
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Biodiversity at the genetic level
• Effect of road landscaping on
gene flow in Crataegus
monogyna (Whitethorn).
• All populations (from Ireland
and mainland Europe)
indicate that all samples
belong to a single gene pool.
• High levels of inbreeding
which could be a result of
founder effect.
Implications for discussion on local
provenance - Jones and Evans (1994),
Jones et al. (2001) – differences in
phenology, thorniness and resistance to
mildew. Not resolved.
C. Spillane team NUIG
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Implications – The future?• Early days!
• Preliminary findings
• Road communities are
different from those of
improved agric grassland.
• Of the groups processed,
pre vs post treatments vary
from group to group but
post shown to be as good
as, if not better than, pre for
biodiversity and is more
sustainable because of
lower inputs, so post is to
be preferred.
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Acknowledgments
• Declan Little
• Kevin Collins
• Pat Peters
• Landowners
• Local Authorities
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Thank you EPA
• Any Questions ?
St Patrick’s Cabbage, Rock Face, Macroom, Co. Cork.
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Improved Grassland GA1
Reference Sites
Semi-natural Grassland
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Carabid community structure & Road
Landscaping
• Multivariate analysis revealed significant differences in carabid community
structure according to treatment (F6,40 =1.9223, P=0.002)
• Pairwise tests revealed significant differences between in the carabid community structure of improved agricultural grassland (control) and all
other road treatments
• Carabid community structure of pre and post road treatments did not differ from each other
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Invasion ResistanceProposed experimental design:
1. Treatment applied
NR
sods
(low fertility)
2. Method of IntroductionSeed
3. Replication
SGSM
sods
(high fertility)
Rhizomes/Roots Stems (semi-ripe
cuttings)
R1………………….. R10
(A.) Polygonum sp. & (B.) Rosa rugosa
Continued…..
Topsoil
(high fertility)Subsoil
(low fertility)
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Invasion ResistanceProposed experimental design:
Subsoil
(low fertility)
Seeds Stems
R1………………….. R10
Total sampling
effort:
Polygonum sp. 120
Rosa rugosa 120
Buddleja 80
P. Fragrans 20
Grand Total 340
C. Buddleja
D. Petasites fragrans
Topsoil Subsoil
Rhizomes
R1…………………..R10
SGSM
sods
(high fertility)
NR
sods
(low fertility)
Topsoil
(high fertility)
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N7 Experimental Design
Natural Recolonisation
Hay Strewing
Standard Grass seed mix
Commercial Wildflower seed mix
Topsoil
Flora diversity
Pollinators
Natural Enemies
Birds and Mammals
Flora diversity Natural Enemies
Clover Carbon Rhinanthus Do-nothing
Pollinators
Landscape
Scale
3m x 800m
Road Segment
Scale
3m x 20m