A central goal of transportation is the delivery of safe and efficient services with minimal environmental impact. In practice, though, human mobility has flourished while nature has suffered. Awareness of the environmental impacts of roads is increasing, yet information remains scarce for those interested in studying, understanding, or minimizing the ecological effects of roads and vehicles.
Road Ecology addresses that shortcoming by elevating previously localized and fragmented knowledge into a broad and inclusive framework for understanding and developing solutions. The book brings together fourteen leading ecologists and transportation experts to articulate state-of-the-science road ecology principles, and presents specific examples that demonstrate the application of those principles. Diverse theories, concepts, and models in the new field of road ecology are integrated to establish a coherent framework for transportation policy, planning, and projects. Topics examined include:
- foundations of road ecology
- roads, vehicles, and transportation planning
- vegetation and roadsides
- wildlife populations and mitigation
- water, sediment, and chemical flows
- aquatic ecosystems
- wind, noise, and atmospheric effects
- road networks and landscape fragmentation
Road Ecology links ecological theories and concepts with transportation planning, engineering, and travel behavior. With more than 100 illustrations and examples from around the world, it is an indispensable and pioneering work for anyone involved with transportation, including practitioners and planners in state and province transportation departments, federal agencies, and nongovernmental organizations. The book also opens up an important new research frontier for ecologists.
RichardT.T. Forman is the PAES Professor of Landscape Ecology at Harvard University, where he teaches ecological courses in the Graduate School of Design and in Harvard College. His research and writing include landscape and regional ecology, road ecology, land-use planning and conservation, and spatially meshing nature and people in the land mosaic. Forman served on two National Academy of Sciences committees on surface transportation and the environment and began publishing road ecology articles in 1996. His books include Land Mosaics: The Ecology of Landscapes and Regions (Cambridge University Press, 1995) and Landscape Ecology Principles for Landscape Architecture and Land-Use Planning (Island Press, 1996). He is a fellow of the AAAS; served as vice president of the Ecological Society of America and the International Association for Landscape Ecology; has received medals and honors from Italy, Australia, France, the Czech Republic, China, and the United Kingdom; was named Distinguished Landscape Ecologist (USA); and received the Lindback Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching. He received a Haverford College B.S., a University of Pennsylvania Ph.D., and honorary degrees from Miami University, Harvard University, and Florida International University, and has taught at the University of Wisconsin, Rutgers University, and in Central and South America.
Dr. Daniel Sperling is the Blue Planet Prize Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and Policy and founding director of the Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS-Davis) at the University of California, Davis. He has held the transportation seat on the California Air Resources Board since 2007 (appointed by Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown) and served as Chair of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies in 2015-16. Among his many prizes are the 2013 Blue Planet Prize from the Asahi Glass Foundation for being "a pioneer in opening up new fields of study to create more efficient, low-carbon, and environmentally beneficial transportation systems." He served twice as lead author for the IPCC (sharing the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize), has testified 7 times to the U.S. Congress, and provided 40 keynote presentations in the past five years. He has authored or coauthored over 250 technical papers and 12 books; is widely cited in leading newspapers; has been interviewed many times on NPR, including Science Friday, Talk of the Nation, and Fresh Air; and in 2009 was featured on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
