Effects of Roads and Traffic on Wildlife Populations and Landscape Function Road Ecology is Moving toward Larger Scales

Road ecology has developed into a significant branch of ecology with steady growth in the number of refereed journal articles, books, conferences, symposia, and “best practice” guidelines being produced each year. The main objective of this special issue of Ecology and Society is to highlight the need for studies that document the population, community, and ecosystem-level effects of roads and traffic by publishing studies that document these effects. It became apparent when compiling this special issue that there is a paucity of studies that explicitly examined higher order effects of roads and traffic. No papers on landscape function or ecosystem-level effects were submitted, despite being highlighted as a priority for publication. The 17 papers in this issue, from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and USA, all deal to some extent with either population or community-level effects of roads and traffic. Nevertheless, many higher order effects remain unquantified, and must become the focus of future studies because the complexity and interactions among the effects of roads and traffic are large and potentially unexpected. An analysis of these complex interrelations requires systematic research, and it is necessary to further establish collaborative links between ecologists and transportation agencies. Many road agencies have “environmental sustainability” as one of their goals and the only way to achieve such goals is for them to support and foster long-term and credible scientific research. The current situation, with numerous small-scale projects being undertaken independently of each other, cannot provide the information required to quantify and mitigate the negative effects of roads and traffic on higher levels. The future of road ecology research will be best enhanced when multiple road projects in different states or countries are combined and studied as part of integrated, well-replicated research projects

Richtlijnen voor het meten van het gebruik van faunapassages

Faunapassages zijn een veelgebruikt middel om de barrièrewerking van wegen en spoorwegen op te heffen en het aantal aanrijdingen met dieren te beperken. De vraag is nu: Hoe komen we te weten of deze voorzieningen werken

Design of an ecological network for Piano di Navelli (Abruzzo); networks for LIFEE

This report provides a design for an ecological network at Piano di Navelli, Abruzzo, Italy. The design is based on habitat and corridor requirements of five indicator species: green lizard (Lacerta bilineata), Italian crested newt (Triturus carnifex)water shrew (Neomys fodiens), hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) and red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris). Corridor dimensions, guidelines for habitat development within the corridors, and suggestions for wildlife passages at locations where the ecological network crosses roads are given. The ecological network is mapped for each species. An artist's impression visualizes the future situation of Piano di Navelli

Toets natuurontwikkelingsplan en natuurbrug in Zanderij Crailo; nut en noodzaak van de ecologische verbinding, effectiviteit van de natuurbrug en toetsing herinrichting sportpark

Het doel van de natuurbrug Zanderij Crailo is het creëren van een ecologische en recreatieve verbinding tussen de Bussumer- en Westerheide en de aangrenzende Utrechtse Heuvelrug enerzijds en het Spanderswoud met aansluitend de westelijk daarvan gelegen landgoederenzone en de Vechtstreek anderzijds. Dit rapport beschrijft nut en noodzaak van de verbinding en de effectiviteit van een natuurbrug als ecologische en recreatieve verbinding. Tevens wordt de voor de aanleg van de natuurbrug noodzakelijke ingreep in het beschermd natuurmonument Bussumer- en Westerheide getoetst

3D printed realistic finger vein phantoms

Finger vein pattern recognition is an emerging biometric with a good resistance to presentation attacks and low error rates. One problem is that it is hard to obtain ground truth finger vein patterns from live fingers. In this paper we propose an advanced method to create finger vein phantoms using 3D printing where we mimic the optical properties of the various tissues inside the fingers, like bone, veins and soft tissues using different printing materials and parameters. We demonstrate that we are able to create finger phantoms that result in realistic finger vein images and precisely known vein patterns. These phantoms can be used to develop and evaluate finger vein extraction and recognition methods. In addition, we show that the finger vein phantoms can be used to spoof a finger vein recognition system. This paper is based on the Master's thesis of Rasmus van der Grift

Faunabeheer: Waar is de wetenschap?

Fauna moet worden beheerd met behulp van de best beschikbare wetenschap. Zonder twijfel is er bij faunabeheerders veel ervaring en expertise. De wetenschap speelt in het huidige faunabeheer echter maar een marginale rol. Zowel bij het ontwikkelen, uitvoeren als evalueren van het faunabeheer. Positief kritisch gezegd: er is nog veel ruimte voor verbetering. het doel van dit artikel is een korte schets te geven van hoe de wetenschap beter kan worden benut in het faunabeheer. Het streven is hier niet om een volledig overzicht te geven, maar om een aantal duidelijke kansen te signaleren en de discussie over 'science-based' faunabeheer te initiëren

Документи Державного архіву Чернігівської області як джерело захисту прав жертв нацистського окупаційного режиму

The retention of phosphorus in surface waters through co-precipitation of phosphate with Fe-oxyhydroxides during exfiltration of anaerobic Fe(II) rich groundwater is not well understood. We developed an experimental field set-up to study Fe(II) oxidation and P immobilization along the flow-path from groundwater into surface water in an agricultural experimental catchment of a small lowland river. We physically separated tube drain effluent from groundwater discharge before it entered a ditch in an agricultural field. Through continuous discharge measurements and weekly water quality sampling of groundwater, tube drain water, exfiltrated groundwater, and surface water, we investigated Fe(II) oxidation kinetics and P immobilization processes. The oxidation rate inferred from our field measurements closely agreed with the general rate law for abiotic oxidation of Fe(II) by O₂. Seasonal changes in climatic conditions affected the Fe(II) oxidation process. Lower pH and lower temperatures in winter (compared to summer) resulted in low Fe oxidation rates. After exfiltration to the surface water, it took a couple of days to more than a week before complete oxidation of Fe(II) is reached. In summer time, Fe oxidation rates were much higher. The Fe concentrations in the exfiltrated groundwater were low, indicating that dissolved Fe(II) is completely oxidized prior to inflow into a ditch. While the Fe oxidation rates reduce drastically from summer to winter, P concentrations remained high in the groundwater and an order of magnitude lower in the surface water throughout the year. This study shows very fast immobilization of dissolved P during the initial stage of the Fe(II) oxidation process which results in P-depleted water before Fe(II) is completely depleted. This cannot be explained by surface complexation of phosphate to freshly formed Fe-oxyhydroxides but indicates the formation of Fe(III)-phosphate precipitates. The formation of Fe(III)-phosphates at redox gradients seems an important geochemical mechanism in the transformation of dissolved phosphate to structural phosphate and, therefore, a major control on the P retention in natural waters that drain anaerobic aquifers