The adverse effect of roads on the environment is observed both during their construction and use. Increasing areas of farmland and forestland are subjected to transformations disadvantageous for animals. It is connected with the loss of natural habitats, changes in water relations and fragmentation of forest complexes. The possibility of free migration of representatives of a given species is the basis for the sustainable functioning of a population. In order to provide ecological communication of an area divided by a road or railway more and more often crossings for animals are being build over or under this road or line. The aim of the investigations was to determine the acceptance level by migrating game of two overpasses built over communication routes: a road and a railway line. Investigations were conducted on a crossing for animals over trunk road no. 5 in the Wielkopolski National Park and on the two newly constructed crossings over a modernized railway line E 20 at the Rzepin – Kunowice section. The effectiveness of crossings over the railway line was assessed by tracking. The crossing over the road was monitored using a specially designed filming unit. Analyses of the operating crossings for animals over railway line ...
Road transportation causes chemical pollution which may affect health of forest stands. The assimilative organs of Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) are usu-ally considered as a sensitive indicator of the environment quality, since quality of pine needles is a factor strongly determining tree stand health as a whole. Accu-mulation and biosorption of toxic metal compounds e.g. chromium compounds concentration can often result in deformation of needle or shortening of needle length. Length and weight of needles were assigned as the benchmark factor of re-action to pollution cased by road transportation. Experimental plots were placed in sapling stands growing along state road no. 5 crossing the National Park of Wielkopolska (located in the western part of the Polish Lowland). The needles (one- and two-year specimen) were extracted from transects set in range of 20, 40 and 60 m distance from the road. Morphometric measurements were performed on scanned needles with application of digShape software. Two-factor variance analysis was employed (factor A age of needle and factor B distance from the road). The needles extracted from trees growing on transect located 60 m away from the road returned significantly higher mass and length values than the nee-dles extracted from the transects spreading ...
Increasing road traffic may destabilise the functioning of these animal populations that require large spaces. Animals that periodically dwell in the vicin-ity of roads may also be unfavourably impacted by the chemical contamination generated by vehicular traffic. Soils, ground cover and water in watering places are particularly susceptible to contamination. In order to enable free migration of wild animals, it is necessary to construct walkways above or under transport routes. To date there have been no attempts to develop appropriate guidelines for the optimisation of engineering parameters of aboveground walkways and ade-quate methods of managing ecoducts.The detailed scope of camera monitoring of the walkway included the fol-lowing:- analysis of the species and age structure of wild boars using the walkway,- analysis of the annual and daily seasonality of migration,- assessment of the impact of physical factors (noise and light) generated by vehicular traffic on the behaviour of wild animals on the walkway,Analyses of the registered film sequences have proven that a correctly de-signed, developed and managed aboveground walkway is accepted by animals and ensures continuity of the migration corridor bisected by a transport route with a considerable intensity of traffic. The walkway was used by both big game and small ...
