and at high-and-low frequencies. Wildlife collisions are invisible to passengers. The
rail corridor is typically narrow. Its linear and gentle-curve route repeatedly slices
through landscape patterns. Persistent herbicides are widely and intensively used.
Considerable vibrations alter soil structure and fauna. Little-used rail sidings and
short stretches connected to local industries support successional vegetation and
animals. Trains go faster, but stopping requires a long time and distance.
Yet road ecology concepts developed in the past three decades apply to many
aspects of railway systems. The first major road-ecology conference took place in
Orlando, Florida, in 1995, the same year that my book, Land Mosaics, appeared,
with 12 pages on road ecology, but only about seven sentences and seven references to railway ecology. Two decades later, in Urban Ecology: Science of Cities, I
wrote four pages with 46 references to railway ecology. Meanwhile, in 1998 we
wrote a 24-page Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics article on road ecology,
followed in 2003 by the first relatively comprehensive book (481 pages and 1,078
references), Road Ecology: Science and Solutions, written by 14 co-authors.
Twelve years later (2015), R. van der Ree, co-editors, and international leaders in
the field produced an updated synthesis, Handbook of Road Ecology, with
numerous mitigation and planning solutions.
Road ecology became mainstream for both scientists and government in only
three decades. The International Conference of Ecology and Transportation
(ICOET) and InfraEco Network Europe (IENE) provide a home base for both road
ecology and railway ecology. And today railway ecology is on a roll. Many early
papers appeared in the 1990s, but the most recent (in the last 5-10 years) show an
impressive increase in quality research articles published. This book, Railway
Ecology, is poised to spark the next growth phase.
Also, the book highlights and suggests many of the ecological research frontiers
awaiting us. Think of the role of rail corridors in urban areas, and in intensive
agricultural land: distinctive and predominant railway species; heterogeneous railside habitats; vegetation and fauna; railyards; freight trains and rails linked to local
industries; pollutant distributions from diesel, steam, and electric engines; train
noise and wildlife; interactions between the rail corridor and the sequence of
adjoining habitats/land uses; species movement and dispersal along railways; the
barrier effect and genetic variation on opposite sides of railways; diverse effects on
air, soil, and water; railway impacts on populations; and, finally, regional railway
networks rather than rail locations or segments.
This book will catalyze new ecological research, new mitigations, and better
planning, construction, and maintenance. Better government policies and company
practices will evolve.
Railway Ecology is a treasure chest, bulging with insights, many of them previously unseen. Relish the pages ahead, jump into the field, and increase the body
of research. Become part of the solution: put the mitigations to work for ecological
railways and for our land.
February 2017
Richard T.T. Forman
Harvard University
vi
Foreword
rail corridor is typically narrow. Its linear and gentle-curve route repeatedly slices
through landscape patterns. Persistent herbicides are widely and intensively used.
Considerable vibrations alter soil structure and fauna. Little-used rail sidings and
short stretches connected to local industries support successional vegetation and
animals. Trains go faster, but stopping requires a long time and distance.
Yet road ecology concepts developed in the past three decades apply to many
aspects of railway systems. The first major road-ecology conference took place in
Orlando, Florida, in 1995, the same year that my book, Land Mosaics, appeared,
with 12 pages on road ecology, but only about seven sentences and seven references to railway ecology. Two decades later, in Urban Ecology: Science of Cities, I
wrote four pages with 46 references to railway ecology. Meanwhile, in 1998 we
wrote a 24-page Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics article on road ecology,
followed in 2003 by the first relatively comprehensive book (481 pages and 1,078
references), Road Ecology: Science and Solutions, written by 14 co-authors.
Twelve years later (2015), R. van der Ree, co-editors, and international leaders in
the field produced an updated synthesis, Handbook of Road Ecology, with
numerous mitigation and planning solutions.
Road ecology became mainstream for both scientists and government in only
three decades. The International Conference of Ecology and Transportation
(ICOET) and InfraEco Network Europe (IENE) provide a home base for both road
ecology and railway ecology. And today railway ecology is on a roll. Many early
papers appeared in the 1990s, but the most recent (in the last 5-10 years) show an
impressive increase in quality research articles published. This book, Railway
Ecology, is poised to spark the next growth phase.
Also, the book highlights and suggests many of the ecological research frontiers
awaiting us. Think of the role of rail corridors in urban areas, and in intensive
agricultural land: distinctive and predominant railway species; heterogeneous railside habitats; vegetation and fauna; railyards; freight trains and rails linked to local
industries; pollutant distributions from diesel, steam, and electric engines; train
noise and wildlife; interactions between the rail corridor and the sequence of
adjoining habitats/land uses; species movement and dispersal along railways; the
barrier effect and genetic variation on opposite sides of railways; diverse effects on
air, soil, and water; railway impacts on populations; and, finally, regional railway
networks rather than rail locations or segments.
This book will catalyze new ecological research, new mitigations, and better
planning, construction, and maintenance. Better government policies and company
practices will evolve.
Railway Ecology is a treasure chest, bulging with insights, many of them previously unseen. Relish the pages ahead, jump into the field, and increase the body
of research. Become part of the solution: put the mitigations to work for ecological
railways and for our land.
February 2017
Richard T.T. Forman
Harvard University
vi
Foreword