Chapter 1
Railway Ecology
Luís Borda-de-Água, Rafael Barrientos, Pedro Beja
and Henrique M. Pereira
Abstract Railways play a major role in the global transportation system.
Furthermore, railways are presently being promoted by several governments thanks
to their economic and environmental advantages relative to other means of transportation. Although railways have clear advantages, they are not free of environmental problems. The objective of this book is to review, assess, and provide
solutions to the impacts of railways on wildlife. We have divided the impacts of
railways on biodiversity into four main topics: mortality, barrier effects, species
invasions, and environmental disturbances, with the latter ranging from noise to
chemical pollution. Railways share several characteristics with roads and with
power lines when the trains are electric. Therefore, much can be learned from
studies on the impacts of roads and power lines, taking into account, however, that
in railways, the two are often combined. Besides the similarities with roads and
power lines, railways have specific characteristics. For instance, railways have
lower traffic intensity but trains usually have much higher speeds than road vehicles, and the electric structures in railways are typically lower than in most power
lines. Thus, railways pose specific challenges and require specific mitigation
measures, justifying calling the study of its impacts on biodiversity “railway
ecology.”
Keywords Barrier effects Á Disturbances Á Invasions Á Linear infrastructures Á
Mortality Á Railway ecology
L. Borda-de-Água (&) Á R. Barrientos Á P. Beja Á H.M. Pereira
CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos,
Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas,
4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
e-mail: lbagua@gmail.com
L. Borda-de-Água Á R. Barrientos Á P. Beja Á H.M. Pereira
CEABN/InBIO, Centro de Ecologia Aplicada “Professor Baeta Neves”, Instituto Superior de
Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
H.M. Pereira
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher
Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
© The Author(s) 2017
L. Borda-de-Água et al. (eds.), Railway Ecology,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57496-7_1
3
Railway Ecology
Luís Borda-de-Água, Rafael Barrientos, Pedro Beja
and Henrique M. Pereira
Abstract Railways play a major role in the global transportation system.
Furthermore, railways are presently being promoted by several governments thanks
to their economic and environmental advantages relative to other means of transportation. Although railways have clear advantages, they are not free of environmental problems. The objective of this book is to review, assess, and provide
solutions to the impacts of railways on wildlife. We have divided the impacts of
railways on biodiversity into four main topics: mortality, barrier effects, species
invasions, and environmental disturbances, with the latter ranging from noise to
chemical pollution. Railways share several characteristics with roads and with
power lines when the trains are electric. Therefore, much can be learned from
studies on the impacts of roads and power lines, taking into account, however, that
in railways, the two are often combined. Besides the similarities with roads and
power lines, railways have specific characteristics. For instance, railways have
lower traffic intensity but trains usually have much higher speeds than road vehicles, and the electric structures in railways are typically lower than in most power
lines. Thus, railways pose specific challenges and require specific mitigation
measures, justifying calling the study of its impacts on biodiversity “railway
ecology.”
Keywords Barrier effects Á Disturbances Á Invasions Á Linear infrastructures Á
Mortality Á Railway ecology
L. Borda-de-Água (&) Á R. Barrientos Á P. Beja Á H.M. Pereira
CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos,
Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas,
4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
e-mail: lbagua@gmail.com
L. Borda-de-Água Á R. Barrientos Á P. Beja Á H.M. Pereira
CEABN/InBIO, Centro de Ecologia Aplicada “Professor Baeta Neves”, Instituto Superior de
Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
H.M. Pereira
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher
Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
© The Author(s) 2017
L. Borda-de-Água et al. (eds.), Railway Ecology,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57496-7_1
3