The Ecology of Transportation: Managing Mobility for the Environment

Transcription

1 The Ecology of Transportation: Managing Mobility for the Environment

2 ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION VOLUME 10 Editors Brian J. Alloway, Department of Soil Science, The University of Reading, U.K. Jack T. Trevors, Department of Environmental Biology, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada Editorial Board T. Anderson, The Institute of Environmental and Human Health, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, U.S.A. T.H. Christensen, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Danish Technical University, Lyngby, Denmark I. Colbeck, Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, U.K. K.C. Jones, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, U.K. W. Salomons, GKSS Research Center, Geesthacht, Germany The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume.

3 The Ecology of Transportation: Managing Mobility for the Environment edited by John Davenport University College Cork, Ireland and Julia L. Davenport University College Cork, Ireland

4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ISBN (HB) ISBN (HB) ISBN (e-book) ISBN (e-book) Published by Springer, P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved 2006 Springer No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed in the Netherlands.

5 CONTENTS Preface Acknowledgments Contributors XIII XV XVII Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Ecological effects of aviation 5 T. Kelly and J. Allan 1. Introduction 5 2. A brief history of aviation and its ecological 5 impacts 2.1 Commercial civil aviation General aviation Military aviation Other forms of aviation 7 3. The ecological effects of air transport The non-lethal effects of aircraft on wildlife Non-lethal interaction between aircraft and 9 animals at airports 3.3 Reduction of the negative impact of non-lethal 10 aviation 3.4 Military aviation and aerial bombing campaigns The wildlife hazard problem Ecological effects of air transport: numbers of 12 animal fatalities 4.2 Species killed by aircraft Airports in the environment Direct impact of airport infrastructure Impact of ancillary structures Ecosystem management for air safety Summary of environmental impacts Aviation and the transport of alien species 19 The local costs to ecological services associated 25 with high seas global transport R. Mann 1. Introduction Time frames of evolution of species assemblages in 26 coastal environments with emphasis on keystone species 3. Impacts of human society on species assemblages 28 and physical structure in coastal environments 4. Rates of change of communities in response to 30 changing volume and types of vectors over human history 5. Restoration options: native community structure 31 and function versus ecological function in isolation 6. The regulatory environment 32 V

6 VI Chapter 3 CONTENTS 7. Approaches to restoration of native species Approaches supporting use of non-native species as 34 a restoration tool 9. Future prospects 36 Shipwrecked Shipping impacts on the biota of 39 the Mediterranean Sea B.S. Galil 1. Introduction Shipping- related petroleum hydrocarbons in the 39 Mediterranean Sea 2.1 The distribution and accumulation of shipping- 39 related petroleum hydrocarbons in the Mediterranean sea 2.2 The distribution and accumulation of tar in the 43 Mediterranean 2.3 Impact of petroleum hydrocarbons on the 44 Mediterranean biota 2.4 The policy and management of shipping-related 45 oil pollution in the Mediterranean sea 3. Ship-generated marine litter in the Mediterranean 47 Sea 3. 1 Distribution and accumulation of ship-generated 47 litter in the Mediterranean 3.2 Impact of ship-generated litter on the 48 Mediterranean biota 3.3 Policy and management of ship-generated litter Ship-generated noise in the Mediterranean Sea Distribution of ship-generated noise in the 51 Mediterranean 4.2 Impact of ship-generated noise on the 51 Mediterranean biota 4.3 Policy and management of ship-generated noise Shipping-transported alien biota in the 52 Mediterranean 5.1 Distribution of shipping-transported alien biota 52 in the Mediterranean 5.2 Impact of shipping transported aliens on the 58 Mediterranean biota 5.3 Policy and management of shipping-transported 59 biota 6. Shipping-derived antifouling biocides in the 60 Mediterranean Sea 6.1 The distribution and accumulation of biocidal 60 antifoulants in the Mediterranean sea 6.2 Impact of antifouling biocides on the 62 Mediterranean biota 6.3 Policy and management of TBT in the 63 Mediterranean sea 7. Coda 63

7 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 CONTENTS VII Snakes and ladders: Navigable waterways as 71 invasion corridors B. S. Gali l and D. Minchin 1. Introduction Keystone invasive species Future trends Conclusions 74 The transport and the spread of living aquatic 77 species D. Minchin 1. Introduction Ships and other floating craft Transport and hull fouling Transport of organisms with ships ballast Aquatic products as cargo Overland transport Rail and road Transport by aircraft Long distance journeys Short distance journeys Discussion 89 Chapter 6 Small craft and the spread of exotic species 99 D. Minchin, O. Floerl, D. Savini and A. Occhipinti-Ambrogi 1. Introduction Incursions of non indigenous species associated 100 with small craft movements 3. Hull fouling on small craft: influencing factors and 102 prevalence in locations worldwide 3.1 Small craft marinas - sources of fouling Human factors influencing hull fouling Environmental factors influencing hull fouling Prevalence of hull-fouling organisms on small 103 craft in locations worldwide 4. Long distance routes and global patterns of small 107 craft movements 4.1 Voyages Domestic craft The increase in the private boating industry Risk assessment of leisure boat fouling Discussion 113 Chapter 7 The environmental impacts of private car 119 transport on the sustainability of Irish settlements R. Moles, W. Foley and B. O Regan 1. Introduction The development of settlements from the industrial 122 revolution to the age of sustainable development 3. The importance of accessibility, population density 123 and mixed land uses to a sustainable transport system

8 VIII CONTENTS 4. Transport and sustainability in Ireland The SFSPI study of the sustainability of transport in 130 Ireland 5.1 Settlement classes The significance of services Distance travelled between residence and 139 workplace in settlements 5.4 Results for analyses of settlement classes The effects of recent population change and 147 place in the spatial hierarchy on travel mode choice 6. Calculation of carbon dioxide emissions from 149 transport 6.1 CO 2 emissions for settlement classes CO 2 emissions for individual settlements Conclusions 159 Chapter 8 Mortality in wildlife due to transportation 165 A. Seiler and J.-O. Helldin 1. Introduction The extent of animal-vehicle collisions Evaluating animal-vehicle collisions Ethical, political and legal aspects Traffic safety and economical concern Population management and species 171 conservation 4. Factors and patterns in animal-vehicle collisions Animal abundance and activity Traffic intensity and vehicle speed Environmental factors Mitigation against animal-vehicle collisions Exclusion fences and fauna passages Guidelines for evaluation and mitigation Conclusions 183 Chapter 9 Habitat fragmentation due to transport 191 infrastructure: Practical considerations E. O Brien 1. What is habitat fragmentation? Impact of roads/railways on wildlife The barrier effect Road kill Other effects Route selection framework Decision making process Compensation Other economic and public relations issues Minimising habitat fragmentation permeability 199 measures 4.1 General principles Overpasses Underpasses for medium /large animals 201

9 CONTENTS IX Chapter 10 Chapter Underpasses for small animals Conclusions 203 Restoring habitat connectivity across transport 205 corridors: identifying high-priority locations for de-fragmentation with the use of an expert-based model E. A. van der Grift and R. Pouwels 1. Introduction Applied methods to identify de-fragmentation 206 locations 2.1 Surveying cross-barrier wildlife movements Predicting cross-barrier wildlife movements Population viability analysis (PVA) as a tool to 209 identify de-fragmentation locations 3.1 Why include PVA? How to include PVA? Case study: De-fragmentation of transport corridors 219 in The Netherlands 5. Combination of methods Future challenges in restoring habitat connectivity Integration of PVA in transport planning Planning research in early stages Dissemination of knowledge and best-practices Constructing more robust mitigation measures Acquiring public understanding and support 227 Habitat and corridor function of rights-of-way 233 M. P. Huijser and A. P. Clevenger 1. Introduction Extent of road, railroad and rights-of-way networks Habitat function of rights-of-way Partial habitat Complete habitat Corridor function of rights-of-way Home range movements Spread Dispersal Factors affecting the quality of rights-of-way as a 241 habitat or corridor 5.1 Traffic volume Width of rights-of-way Mowing and herbicides Soil disturbance and burning Vegetation structure & surrounding landscape Potential problems Road kill and population sink Invasive species Discussion and conclusion 248

10 X Chapter 12 Chapter 13 CONTENTS Impact of road traffic on breeding bird 255 populations R. Reijnen and R. Foppen 1. Introduction Effects on breeding densities Evidence for traffic as the main cause of reduced 255 densities near roads 2.2 How general is the effect? Effect size Probable causal factors and mode of action Introduction Correlations between effect on breeding density 262 and causal factors 3.3 Mode of action: effects on behaviour and 264 population dynamics 4. Effects of road traffic on breeding bird populations 266 at a regional scale: a case study for The Netherlands 4.1 Introduction Methods Results Discussion and conclusions Practical implications for road planning and 269 management 5.1 Avoidance Mitigation Compensation Conclusions 271 Towards the sustainable development of modern 275 road ecosystems L.M.J. Dolan et al. 1. Introduction The ecological footprint of modern road 276 ecosystems 2.1 Habitat loss Habitat fragmentation Non-native invasive species Landscape quality Pollution Associated or ribbon development Strategic environmental assessment The ecosystem approach and sustainable road 287 ecosystem development 4.1 The ecosystem approach and resource 288 management 4.2 Ecological engineering Stakeholders and public participation A transdisciplinary approach Planning Phase Route selection process 292

11 CONTENTS XI Chapter Volume-oriented measures and pollution Land-take requirements Road decomissioning Planning for road users Greenways Sustainable design Habitat loss and the extent of landtake 6.2 Habitat fragmentation and wildlife crossing structures 6.3 Intersections between road ecosystems and 299 watercourses 6.4 Sustainable landscape design Restoration of landscape quality Soil stabilisation Technical design aspects: the road surface and 308 bed, and street furniture 6.8 Effect oriented measures Sustainable Construction Soil movement and storage Rock cuttings Disturbance of vegetation Salvaging plant material Control of invasive plant species Control of pollution Sustainable use of construction material Sustainable operation/use Road users Technical design aspects and vehicles Maintenance phase Road surface material Sustainable drainage systems Vegetation Invasive plant species Green lanes and modified bridges Road decommissioning phase Conclusion and recommendations 325 Environmental impacts of transport, related to 333 tourism and leisure activities J. Davenport and T. A. Switalski 1. Introduction Mass tourist transport Rail and Road transport infrastructure Ferries and Cruise ships Ecotourism transport Sight-seeing air tourism Individual leisure transport Land transport Water transport Air transport Conclusions 354

12 XII CONTENTS Chapter 15 Contaminants and pollutants 361 D. Stengel, S. O Reilly and J. O Halloran 1. Introduction Sources of contaminants and pollutants from 362 transport 2.1 Emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels Runoff Human wastes and servicing Oil pollution Antifouling agents Shipping accidents Consequences Atmospheric changes Aquatic systems Potential mitigation and solutions Overall reduction or elimination of emissions Treatment of runoff from road transportation Runoff from rail transport Aquatic transport Future perspectives 385 Index 391

13 PREFACE Human transport by land, sea and air has increased exponentially through time in intensity, paralleling rises in population, prosperity and rates of technological change. Transport has considerable ecological effects, many of them detrimental to environmental sustainability. The aim of this volume was to bring together experts from a variety of disciplines to review the ecological effects and their causes in terms of road, rail, ship and aircraft transport. It was also intended that the contributors should have different attitudes and agendas. Some are ecologists, some planners, others social scientists. Focus ranges from identification of threats, through to concentration on amelioration of damaging effects or design of transport systems to minimize environmental degradation. Some chapters consider restricted areas of the globe; others the globe itself. Views encompass deep pessimism and cautious optimism. Uniquely, the volume considers transport effects in all environments. Normally scientists who are involved in studying, managing or planning land transport systems have little contact with coastal or oceanic scientists and engineers. Ecotoxicologists often talk little with environmental managers. This is the first book that attempts to discuss the relationship between human transport and all ecosystems. Chapters operate at all scales. They consider impacts of ballast water on global biodiversity, and the contribution of motorway underpasses to sustaining mammal biodiversity in The Netherlands. Information on the spread of human disease by aircraft is balanced by accounts of the impact of snowmobiles on national parks. This book has its origins in international workshops organised at University College Cork in Ireland in 2004 and These were funded by a grant to the editors from the Higher Education Authority of Ireland as a result of the National Development Plan. Participants in the workshops decided upon the framework of the book and adopted the sobriquet of TRANSECOS for their group. TRANSECOS recruited additional authors to improve international and discipline coverage. The aim throughout was to write for a general audience of professionals interested in transport and the environment, whether these be scientists, engineers, planners, civil servants or politicians. Parts or the whole of the book should be useful to postgraduate students in a wide variety of disciplines. Almost all scientists, and the bulk of the world s media and political establishment, have finally accepted global climate change due to human activities as reality. Urbanisation has proceeded to the extent that about half the world s population lives in cities, entirely dependent on complex travel arrangements, and embedded in specialised urban ecosystems. The concept of peak oil and the prospect of continually declining fossil fuel resources over coming decades is now gaining increased acceptance amongst economists. However, there is presently a lack of logical thinking. Politicians express binding commitments to reeling in damaging human activities within the next few decades. However, industries and governments continue to drive forward agendas of enhanced airline activity, increased production of cars and trucks in more and more countries, more road building, extension of tourism and increasingly globalised trade. All of these agendas are incompatible with ecological (as opposed to economic) sustainability, since they inevitably place greater demands on the environment than can be offset by timely technological innovation. Hopefully this volume will help to provide information and ideas to aid in the creation of the necessary integrated thought. TRANSECOS MAY, 2005 XIII

14 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The editors would like to thank the contributing authors, the referees and the publishers for their invaluable help in bringing together this volume. The editors acknowledge the funding provided by the Higher Education Authority of Ireland as a result of the National Development Plan, which provided the impetus for the book. The editors thank Stig Persson whose photograph of a moose is reproduced on the front cover. XV

15 CONTRIBUTORS (e mail addresses of first authors) K.F. Akbar John Allan Anthony P. Clevenger John Davenport Lisa Dolan Oliver Floerl Walter Foley Ruud Foppen Bella Galil Edgar A van der Grift Jan Olof Helldin Marcel Huijser P.J. Keizer Tom Kelly Roger Mann ( ) Dan Minchin Richard Moles Anna Occhipinti-Ambrogi Eugene O Brien John O Halloran Gerard O Leary Vincent O Malley Bernadette O Regan Sarah O Reilly Rogier Pouwels Rien Reijnen Dario Savini Andreas Seiler Dagmar Stengel Adam Switalski H. Van Bohemen Padraig Whelan jdavenport@zoology.ucc.ie l.dolan@student.ucc.ie Bella@ocean.org.il edgar.vandergrift@wur.nl mhuijser@coe.montana.edu T.Kelly@ucc.ie rmann@vims.edu minchin@indigo.ie Richard.Moles@ul.ie eugene.obrien@ucd.ie rien.reijnen@wur.nl andreas.seiler@nvb.slu.se dagmar.stengel@nuigalway.ie XVII

16 INTRODUCTION TRANSECOS Over the past 100,000 years, humans have increased their movements across the Earth s surface, partly through exponentially rising populations, partly through technological ingenuity. From origins in Africa, they spread to all continents except Antarctica, initially on foot, then, from around 30,000-50,000 years before present (BP), some form of raft or boat, since Native Australians could not have reached Australia by other means. Domestication of beasts of burden (asses, oxen) dates to some 8,000 years BP, with the wheel and yoke appearing around 1,000 years later. Carts, trade, metalled roads and shipping were all evident by 6,500 years BP, though horses were apparently not tamed and used for draught purposes and personal transport until about 4,000 BP. Sailing ships date from around 5,500 BP, so in principle most existing forms of transport have existed for about 5 millennia. The Industrial Revolution of the 18 th and 19 th Centuries progressively mechanised land and sea transport as well as producing the bicycle; the 20 th Century yielded air transport and the conquest of space. A feature of the development of transport has been its exponential nature in terms of both speed of technological change, and intensity of use. Assuming four generations per century, it took humans 200 generations to move from sailing ships to steamers, yet many people born before the first commercial automobile was built lived to see both their great-grandchildren and the exploration of space. Similarly, personal transport capability has rocketed. In cars were sold in the USA, in ,500 and in 1914 more than 500,000. Today the USA has a car population of 130 million that turns over on a decadal scale; 40% of American families have two or more vehicles, many of them gas-guzzling sports utility vehicles (SUVs) that are not required to meet the USA Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) fuel consumption targets mandatory for conventional cars, and which use 2-3 times as much fuel as the most economical passenger cars in production. The USA is not alone; European families often own several cars and the major German manufacturers are currently vying with each other in the introduction of ever larger (2-2.5 tons) and more powerful ( bhp) saloons and SUVs. Now that US and European car markets are close to saturation, and most major producers have excess production capacity, manufacturers are targeting the billion-strong populations of China and India; it is currently predicted that car production in China alone will exceed that of the USA by The oil crisis of 1973 led to a brief period when restraint in the production, use and promotion of cars was considered essential. In the subsequent 30 years the praiseworthy increases in fuel efficiency and reduction in emissions of CO, SO 3 and N-oxides achieved by automotive engineers have been undermined by increasing individual car mass (in turn increasing the energy cost of production; roughly 10% of the lifetime energy cost of a car), emphasis on high performance and crash safety rather than economy, plus exponential increases in car populations driven by increased prosperity. Similar statistics for exponential growth can be produced for shipping (which carries 90% of goods), commercial road transport (trucks) and air transport. Although ships have become bigger and individually more efficient, the global use of containerisation over the last 50 years has stimulated international trade and the use of larger trucks on roads throughout the world. After the loss of industrial confidence following the 9/11 attack on the USA in 2001, civil aviation is currently growing dramatically too because of the entrepreneurial zeal of low-cost (and negligible fuel tax) airlines and the consequent enhanced use of aircraft for social and recreational journeys. Energy usage by transport has increased remorselessly, not only in absolute terms, but also as a proportion of all energy usage by humankind. In 1971 the transport sector accounted for 1

17 2 TRANSECOS 35% of oil usage by OECD countries when the oil production level was around 40 million barrels per day; in 2005 the figure is close to 60% of 60 million barrels per day, a 150% increase over around 30 years, despite the recognition that rates of oil discovery peaked 30 years ago and have been declining since. In 1999 Dick Cheney, current US Vice-President, then Chief Executive Officer of Halliburton, stated that there was an annual 2% increase in oil demand, but a 3% decrease in production. Despite substantial real oil price increases in , the global consumption of oil in rose by 6%, partly because of enhanced demand by China. Transport on land, by ship and by air has considerable ecological effects. Roads and railways divide habitats, contributing to islandification, separating communities and often reducing gene flow. Conversely, fenced-off railway land and road verges can act as refuges and corridors. Road kills by vehicles affect populations in both negative and positive fashion. Land transport creates atmospheric, aqueous and terrestrial pollution that affects biota. Road and rail vehicle construction demands extraction and modification of materials from around the globe, with consequent energy expenditure in those processes, plus transport of the materials themselves. Scrapping and demolition generate waste disposal problems. The existence of roads and railways profoundly influences planning, housing and industrial development, with knock-on ecological consequences. In 2005, urbanisation has proceeded to the extent that about half the world s 6.4 billion population lives in cities, entirely dependent on complex travel arrangements for their existence (especially in terms of food supply), and embedded in specialised urban ecosystems. The impacts of marine/freshwater transport on ecosystems have attracted wide interest. Oil pollution, the spread of alien species around the world in ballast waters, and problems of antifouling technology (particularly endocrine-disrupting TBT) have generated much media attention. However, disease transmission and involvement of shipping in promoting spread of toxic algal blooms are areas of current medical and aquaculture concern, but less widely publicised. Shipping-driven atmospheric pollution is also an issue as the burning of heavy fuel oil by diesel-powered ships is an unappreciated source of greenhouse gases and carcinogenic hydrocarbon pollutants. Historically, shipping has had dramatic effects on terrestrial ecosystems, particularly of islands, by permitting transport of terrestrial domestic/game animals and pest species that have contributed to loss of species diversity. Several millennia of shipping losses through storms and warfare have created new localized marine habitats artificial reefs long before the term was thought of. Prehistorically, marine transport allowed hunter-gathering humans to spread to new habitats, with profound effects on the world s ecosystems. In human ecological terms, shipping has also been a major historical cause of spread of pestilence notoriously of plague via ship rats, but also of measles, rabies and syphilis. As recently as ,000 people were killed in Peru and 1 million people infected in the Western Hemisphere by cholera, Vibrio, carried in ballast water from Bangladesh. Effective mass transport of material and people by air dates from the 1930s-1940s, initially militarily, then commercially. The speed of air transport increases risks of transport of diseases (as in the recent SARS epidemic) and pest species and this process may be potentiated by global climate change as such organisms become more likely to survive at destinations. Ecological effects of air transport via noise, hydrocarbon usage, generation of greenhouse gases and light-obstructing condensation trails ( global dimming ), plus stratospheric delivery of ozone-depleting chemicals are also globally significant. All forms of transport (other than the minute fraction utilising biofuels, or electricity derived from renewable sources) are major net contributors of greenhouse gases, particularly CO 2, so are important elements in global climate change processes. Obviously transport is only part of the increasing CO 2 problem, but its relative contribution tends to rise as power generation becomes cleaner and industrial emissions are reduced. Svante Arrhenius identified the basic

18 INTRODUCTION 3 science of the CO 2 -generated greenhouse effect of rising world temperature in the late 19 th Century. There has never been disagreement over the fact that CO 2 levels have risen considerably from the onset of the Industrial Revolution. Prior to the industrial age and extensive use of fossil fuels, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere stood at about 280 parts per million. It is currently about 380ppm. In the 1950s it rose at around 1ppm per annum and the average rate of rise over the last half century has been about 1.8ppm per annum, but there has been a recent acceleration in concentration rise (in it rose by 3ppm). Predictions suggest atmospheric values of ppm by the end of the century. Fossil carbon is being released at a million times the rate of its production. However, until relatively recently, it has been difficult to convince politicians, industrialists and the general public that the relatively small rises (ca 0.6ºC) in global environmental temperature that have ensued so far are a) due to Man s activities, b) are important, c) presage much greater increases in the next few decades. Non-scientists have interpreted uncertainties about the scale of effects and the timescale of climate change as uncertainty about the reality of the phenomenon itself. At the time of writing the recent (2005) publication of the 2 nd Millenium Assessment Report, and a joint statement by the scientific academies of all developed countries in advance of the July 2005 G8 summit meeting at Gleneagles in Scotland, has finally led to a consensus that Man s effects on the climate are established and pose a considerable threat to the world s ecosystems and to human civilisation. However, there is still limited realization that climate change is an accelerating (rather than linear) phenomenon. Ecological effects in terms of altered distributions of aquatic and terrestrial animals and plants have already been repeatedly identified, as have marked changes in phenology (timing of events such as bird breeding), but politicians are still making decisions that will inevitably increase greenhouse emissions. In the justifiable emphasis on climate change, effects of the inexorable rise of CO 2 itself have attracted less attention. CO 2 levels are now at their highest levels for at least 420,000 years, and models show that significant reduction will take millennia even if levels are stabilised at current values. Plant scientists note that the increase in atmospheric carbon dilutes environmental nitrogen with complex effects on quality of forage in natural and agricultural ecosystems. Of perhaps more immediate concern is the developing evidence of the acid buffering capacity of the oceans becoming affected though CO 2 accumulation. The World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) and the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) have demonstrated that the surface waters of the oceans have taken up a net 118 billion metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere over the past 200 years. Ocean ph was ,000 years ago and 8.2 before the industrial age. It is now 8.1 and declining. This has consequences for marine biota reliant on calcification (e.g. corals, coccolithophores), as this process becomes more energy-consuming with decreases in ph. As transport has burgeoned and environmental effects of transport have increased, transport itself has contributed to our understanding of environmental processes and threats. Between 1872 and 1876 HMS Challenger, a sailing ship with a steam engine for manoeuvring on station, sampled 362 stations over 69,000 nautical miles from Arctic to Antarctic. Fifty biblesized volumes of published data emerged over the next 20 years and the expedition laid the foundation for modern oceanography. Today, aircraft and satellites launched by rocket or Space Shuttle monitor the whole of the world s surface in increasing detail, collecting data ranging from global sea surface productivity and forest cover, to the individual movements of seals, penguins and turtles. Autonomous vehicles collect information from the deepest oceans and from beneath the polar ice. Satellite-based global positioning systems allow sampling precision that would have been unimaginable even a generation ago, while the technology of the world-wide-web can deliver information to users in real-time. Amongst practitioners in the area of transport and its ecological effects there are a wide range of perspectives, not least because some are ecologists, some environmental planners, and some

19 4 TRANSECOS engineers. Those who have documented steady or increasing levels of environmental degradation, habitat loss and reduced biodiversity (often ecologists) tend towards a pessimistic view, contrasting the scale and accelerating rate of degradation with the slowness and limited effectiveness of societal, regulatory and political responses, plus the resistance to change of most economic vested interests and some politically-powerful religious groups that believe the end of the world is nigh, so restraints on resource use are unnecessary. Pessimists tend to regard technological solutions as too little, too late, since new transport technologies take around years to replace existing systems fully. At the other end of the spectrum are those (often engineers or economists) who are optimistic that implementation of green technologies will solve transport-related problems. Such feasible technologies include underground injection of CO 2 derived from fossil fuel burning, plus electric/fuel cell vehicles reliant on the use of biofuels, wind and wave power, and the introduction of novel energyefficient transport systems such as maglev trains. The optimists believe that these technologies, together with increased global prosperity, will allow humans to arrest a damaging downwards spiral quickly enough to preserve an acceptable environment for future generations. Between these extremes are those whose role is to ameliorate adverse effects of human transport by combinations of biological knowledge, eco-friendly transport engineering and public planning. This volume features chapters by people drawn from this full spectrum; their views and attitudes are diverse and consensus was not an aim. The workshops that have yielded their state-of-the art reviews were conducted in a friendly atmosphere of frequent disagreement! However, the basic pragmatic approach has been to write chapters that identify problems and propose positive remedies wherever possible.