Amount Of Roads Research Articles

Visualizing the road network topology differences of Istanbul city

This study aims at visualizing the spatial distribution of road network per person in the city of Istanbul, Turkey. As a world city, Istanbul connects two continents and has almost 15 million population. Therefore, the city has a tremendous road network consists of 713,634 edges and 242,545 nodes. The road network is mapped on an equal population distribution cartogram for displaying where the least and the most amount of roads per person exist. These feature graphs might help planners, geographers, decision makers etc. for improving their understandings regarding the network topology of the road network.

Natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale region: well pad densities and aquatic communities

Few studies have examined the relationship between natural gas development and surface water quality using well pad density (the number of well pads/km2) as an indicator of potential impacts to aquatic life, specifically fish, salamander, and crayfish assemblages. We tested the hypothesis that animal assemblages, assessed by densities of ecologically important species, will differ among groups of watersheds with different well pad densities. In 2011, sites were sampled in Pennsylvania between July 13 and September 14 (N = 28; 10 = no well pads, 8 = low density, 10 = moderate density). We did not detect evidence of impact on fish, salamander, and crayfish assemblages. It should be noted that this study primarily assessed infrastructure-related impacts. Watersheds under investigations in this study area included no stream withdrawals for drilling and relatively low well pad density (≤0.541 well pads/km2), which reduces the amount of roads and pipeline as well as sediment runoff reaching the stream from this and other infrastructure during development. In addition, setback and landscape limitations also kept well pads relatively far from surface waters, and these watersheds remained highly forested after development because most were in state forests. Therefore, these findings represent the least intrusive scenario for impacts to aquatic communities while extracting natural gas.

Mamíferos de Médio e Grande Porte Atropelados no Oeste de Santa Catarina, Brasil

This study aimed to identify the victimized mammal species by running over on five highways stretches , totalizing 110 km of extension, in the western region of Santa Catarina, Brazil . The seasonality variation, differences in the amount of road kill in different roads and different vegetation along these were analyzed. Monthly expeditions were conducted between June, 2013 and May, 2014 , and a total of 66 mammals were found dead, belonging to nine species, 0.05 ind./km/dia . The most frequent species were Didelphis albiventris with 25.75% of run over , followed by Cerdocyon thous with 16.66% , Nasua nasua with 9.10% , Dasypus novemcinctus with 7.57 % . There was no significant variation of run over animals on each season neither between the vegetation in roadkill place, but antropic vegetation had more roadkills. The difference in variance of run over mammals between highways was significant (H = 13.78, p < 0.01) . The amount of mammals run over was also significant based on the surrounding vegetation, with anthropic environment places, in the highway margins, having a greater roadkill number. The Cluster Analysis showed that the composition of run over mammals in dirty field, scrub zones and forest were similar to each other. This occurred also in the forest, Pinus sp. and agricultural areas. Keywords: Ecology of roads; Mortality ; Wild animals.

Landscape Structure and Plague Occurrence in Black-tailed Prairie Dogs on Grasslands of the Western USA

Landscape structure influences the abundance and distribution of many species, including pathogens that cause infectious diseases. Black-tailed prairie dogs in the western USA have declined precipitously over the past 100 years, most recently due to grassland conversion and their susceptibility to sylvatic plague. We assembled and analyzed two long-term data sets on plague occurrence in black-tailed prairie dogs to explore the hypotheses that plague occurrence is associated with colony characteristics and landscape context. Our two study areas (Boulder County, Colorado, and Phillips County, Montana) differed markedly in degree of urbanization and other landscape characteristics. In both study areas, we found associations between plague occurrence and landscape and colony characteristics such as the amount of roads, streams and lakes surrounding a prairie dog colony, the area covered by the colony and its neighbors, and the distance to the nearest plague-positive colony. Logistic regression models were similar between the two study areas, with the best models predicting positive effects of proximity to plague-positive colonies and negative effects of road, stream and lake cover on plague occurrence. Taken together, these results suggest that roads, streams and lakes may serve as barriers to plague in black-tailed prairie dog colonies by affecting movement of or habitat quality for plague hosts or for fleas that serve as vectors for the pathogen. The similarity in plague correlates between urban and rural study areas suggests that the correlates of plague are not altered by uniquely urban stressors.

SOURCE–SINK DYNAMICS OF FLORIDA KEY DEER ON BIG PINE KEY, FLORIDA

The endangered Florida Key deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium) is endemic to the Florida Keys, Florida, USA, with Big Pine Key (BPK) supporting most (approx 60%) of the population. Habitat loss and fragmentation have altered the amount of available habitat, creating areas of varying suitability; north BPK (NBPK) is believed to contain more optimal habitat than south BPK (SBPK), which is more developed and fragmented. We evaluated the source–sink dynamics of Key deer using a sex- and stage-structured, stochastic matrix model. Model results indicated that the NBPK population of Key deer was increasing (λ = 1.02), whereas the SBPK population was decreasing (λ = 0.87). Without dispersal from the north, the SBPK population has a 97% probability of falling below 25 individuals (quasi-extinction threshold) in the next 20 years. The higher risk to Key deer in SBPK can be explained by relative habitat-quality differences between the 2 areas. House density, amount of roads, number of fences, and amount of development were all greater in SBPK. Collectively, study results indicate that SBPK can be described as an ecological sink with a nonviable population supplemented by deer dispersal from NBPK (source). Care should be taken to preserve the source population and its habitat. Thus, we propose limiting future development in NBPK (high-quality source habitat). The US 1 highway corridor project has the potential to decrease Key deer mortality due to vehicle collisions, and we recommend that future management goals continue to address mortality factors on SBPK (low-quality sink habitat).

Are We Better Off if Our Politicians Have More Information?

The model of public policy studied in this paper has heterogeneous citizens/voters and two public goods: one (roads) chosen directly by an elected policy-maker, and the other (pollution) stochastically dependent on the amount of roads. Both a one-country and a two-country version of the model are analyzed; the latter displays externalities across the countries which create incentives for free riding and strategic delegation. The welfare effects of providing the policy-maker with information about the relationship between roads and pollution are investigated, and it is shown that more information hurts some—sometimes even all—citizens. In particular, the opportunity not to create an institution for information gathering can serve as a commitment device for a country, although with the unfortunate effect of making the overall outcome even worse. Implications for the welfare effects of “informational lobbying” are also discussed.

Are We Better Off If Our Politicians Have More Information?

The model of public policy studied in this paper has heterogeneous citizens/voters and two public goods: one (roads) chosen directly by an elected policy-maker, and the other (pollution) stochastically dependent on the amount of roads. Both a one-country and a two-country version of the model are analyzed; the latter displays externalities across the countries which create incentives for free riding and strategic delegation. The welfare effects of providing the policy-maker with information about the relationship between roads and pollution are investigated, and it is shown that more information hurts some - sometimes even all - citizens. In particular, the opportunity not to create an institution for information gathering can serve as a commitment device for a country, although with the unfortunate effect of making the overall outcome even worse. Implications for the welfare effects of 'informational lobbying' are also discussed.

Curve negotiation performance in a driving simulator as a function of curve geometry

A study was conducted to investigate driver performance on curves. The between-trial factors were Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) level (0·00, 0·7, 0·12 %) and type of driving scenario (eventful versus uneventful). The within-session factors were edgeline width, type of curve-warning sign, and curve type. Twelve male drivers drove continuously for two hours on each of three nights. Each subject negotiated 150 curves during each two-hour drive. Curve radii ranged from 57·3 to 94·2 m (188 to 309·2 ft). Advisory speeds presented on curve-warning signs ranged from 32·2 to 72·4 km/h (20 to 45 mile/h). The driving simulator was a completely instrumented cab resting on a fixed base. The results showed that curve-entry speed increased as radius of curvature increased. Lateral position error was greater on the curve with the smallest radius and least on the curve with the shortest length. Heading error first increased then decreased as curve radius increased. Neither the amount of road used nor the mean computed lateral acceleration were related to curve radius, heading change or length. These results are attributed to the absence of lateral-acceleration cues in the driving simulator.