Abstract
The ecology of roads is the ecology of roadside verges and most studies of these have been carried out in the countryside where their importance for wildlife is considerable. By contrast, verges in urban areas are rarely studied or mentioned in the conservation literature. Priorities here are concerned more with ensuring good visibility, providing an access way for public services and helping, through landscape work, to integrate roads and footpaths into the surrounding built-up area. Any benefits to wildlife are incidental. However, living systems even when composed of a rather limited selection of planted rigorously maintained species develop their own ecology, and urban road verges are no exception. There are as many interrelationships to be discovered in a line of town trees growing out of a grassy verge by a busy road as in better known linear habitats such as hedges or canals. Some of the features exhibited are unique to towns, other such as the effects of de-icing salt and exhaust emissions are shared with rural areas.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1989 O.L. Gilbert
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gilbert, O.L. (1989). Roads. In: The Ecology of Urban Habitats. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0821-5_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0821-5_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6855-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-0821-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive