TRIEKOL – Applied Road and Rail Ecology

Both humans and wildlife are negatively affected by traffic noise. So far, this problem is dealt with mainly in the built environment. But also in natural environments technical noise is a serious disturbance factor. This subproject studied how traffic noise effects in valuable natural habitats can be identified.

Habitats created or emerged in connection with roads, railroads and other man-made environments, can be important in species conservation work. Many of these habitat types are otherwise rare or declining in the landscape, for example managed grassland, ponds, bare soil and trees along roads. This subproject studied these habitats and their biodiversity in several ways.

In order to better understand the effect of transport infrastructure in the natural environment, TRIEKOL developed a conceptual model. The model describes the effects of transportation infrastructure on biodiversity in a pedagogical and transparent way. This subproject describes the development of this conceptual model.

Work with biodiversity in transportation infrastructure means acting in the middle of several very different worlds. The fields of transport infrastructure and conservation of natural and cultural environments have different aims, vocabulary and organisation. Cooperation is the key to success. This subproject describes how cooperation can lead to successful projects.

Ecological impacts of roads and railways extend into the surrounding landscape, leading to habitat degradation and reduced wildlife densities within an area larger than the actual road or railway corridor. As a consequence, natural values within large areas may be jeopardized due to transport infrastructure. This subproject studied the effects of infrastructure on protected areas.

Some minor projects of importance for the transport sector to maintain and improve the ecological functions and qualities of the landscape were conducted during TRIEKOLs program period II: the importance of the convention on biological diversity and the concept of exclusion habitats was studied.