Design of Roads in Harmony with Wildlife

Abstract‘Procedures for the Design of Roads in Harmony with Wildlife’ or ‘Harmony’ is a project that aims to develop sustainable solutions to road transport challenges that are in harmony with wildlife. This paper summarises Harmony's work in the areas of Environmental Legislation and Guidelines, Project Appraisal, and Procurement Practices. The project mainly focuses on practices in the eight reference countries of Ireland, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Hungary, Austria, Sweden and Denmark.A review of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Appropriate Assessment (AA) is carried out. As part of this review, a database of over 80 Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) and Appropriate Assessment reports is analysed to identify the similarities and differences between countries in the implementation of the duties required by EU Environmental Legislation. It is found that the degree of implementation under the headings considered varies greatly between countries. It is concluded that increased guidance on monitoring be provided in all countries.Project Appraisal for transport infrastructure is the process of assessing whether capital expenditure is justified for a project and ensuring that it is allocated to the best transport solution to achieve the objectives of that project whilst complying with planning policy and national and EU legislation. The project appraisal methodologies used in the reference countries are compared with the aim of identifying a set of tools to enable rational and sensible decisions to be made. The approach used in the UK is recommended for adoption by all Member States.This paper then examines existing approaches to the procurement of road constructions in the reference countries. The different types of contracts used for procurement are described and the benefits and disadvantages of different contract types are discussed. Recommendations are then made as to which contracts are the most favourable for ensuring the environmental commitments of the Environmental Impact Statement are carried out. Early contractor involvement as well as construction contracts that incorporate maintenance, with monitoring, for an extended period afterwards were cited as key recommendations to ensure a good outcome for wildlife

The influence of ambient temperature on diet in the Great Tit

In winter, Great Tits Parus major have a mixed diet of insect food and seeds. Field data suggest a dietary shift towards seeds with declining ambient temperatures. We hypothesised that Great Tits increase their preference for seeds with decreasing temperatures to raise their fat intake over time. An experiment was carried out to test whether this dietary shift with temperature exists. Six Great Tit females, held in captivity and acclimatized to winter conditions, had free access to two food types that differed in fat content. The ambient temperature was manipulated during the night, and for both food types the consumption and digestibility were estimated. During the night the energy expenditure was estimated using indirect calorimetry. Neither the digestibility of fat, nor the energy metabolization was related to ambient temperature. Evening weight, nocturnal energy expenditure, net food consumption and metabolizable energy intake were higher at lower temperatures. The proportion of fat in the diet was independent of the night temperature. There is no evidence that the preference for a fat-rich diet in Great Tits is affected by ambient temperatures.