Ecosystems along routeways

Ecosystems along routeways

How are they different from other urban areas?

Processes and flows

• Construction surfaces.• Drainage systems.• Maintenance.• Linear movement.• Absence of people.• Addition of salt.• Pollution.

Routeways

Two aspects need considering

• The development of communities on motorway verges

• Railways and the spread of Oxford Ragwort

Motorways

• Whereas most roads in this country are about 100yrs old the motorway system has only developed since 1959.

• Local climate?• Soil conditions?• Planting and management?• Motorway construction?• Gradient of slopes?

Geology

• Chalk, Limestone and Granite are stable and can make steep slopes but soil formation is slow.

• Clays and Sandstones form lighter soils and slopes will be lower.

• As soon as possible theses verges need to be vegetated as that helps to prevent erosion.

What is planted?

• About 6 varieties of grass including clover as a nitrogen fixer.

• Herbaceous plants/shrubs and trees.• Other plant species will then infiltrate the system.• The terrain will determine how quickly this will

happen.• Some halophytes(salt loving plants) will find

colonisation relatively easy. (Danish scurvy grass)

Diversity

• Road systems in this country now house 60 SSSIs.

• Some orchids and Bats are amongst those conserved.

• Mice and shrews are common and attract birds of prey.

• Red Kites in the Chilterns

Railways

• Ragwort was introduced to the Oxford area around 1700 and probably escaped into the wild around 1720.

• Naturally it will grow well in rocky well drained environments and began to find niches in stone work.

• With the development of railways around 1800 it gained a new habitat in the clinker beds between and by the sides of railway tracks.

Dispersal

• It should be quite easy to imagine how this happened.

• Trains passing create a linear through draft which will carry spores for very long distances.

• As a plant it is now found throughout the UK except for the furthest reaches of Scotland where railway networks are few and far between.

Other considerations

Rural/urban fringes• Rural/urban fringe is a

mosaic of ecosystems.• Agriculture/hedgerows/etc• Urban side sees new

gardens/parks and verges.• Planning laws come into

play in this area.

Urban blight• Less well farmed land.• Vandalism (fly tipping).• Tourism leading to

diversification away from traditions.

• Pressure from dog walkers/canoeists.

• Pollution from traffic.• Lack of investment from

farmers.

And now the exam question!

June 2011

• Describe and comment on how vegetation is used in the area shown.(7 marks)

• Explain the extent by which wasteland can be colonised by vegetation. (8 marks)

• Discuss the extent to which distinctive ecologies develop along routeways. (10 marks)