Urbanization and related anthropogenic modifications
cause extent of habitat fragmentation and directly lead to decline of
local biodiversity. Conservation biologists advocate corridor creation
as one approach to rescue biodiversity. Here we examine the utility of
roads as corridors in preserving plant diversity by investigating
roadside vegetation in Yellow River Delta (YRD), China. We
examined the spatio-temporal distribution pattern of plant species
richness, diversity and composition along roadside. The results
suggest that roads, as dispersal conduits, increase occurrence
probability of new settlers to a new area, meanwhile, roads accumulate
the greater propagule pressure and favourable survival condition
during operation phase. As a result, more species, including native and
alien plants, non- halophyte and halophyte species, threatened and
cosmopolitic species, were found prosperous at roadside. Roadside
may be a refuge for more species, and the pattern of vegetation
distribution is affected by road age and the distance from road verge.
[1] Z.G. Davies and A.S. Pullin, ''Are hedgerows effective corridors between
fragments of woodland habitat? An evidence-based approach''.
Landscape Ecology. vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 333-351,2007.
[2] S.L. Flory and K. Clay, ''Effects of roads and forest successional age on
experimental plant invasions''. Biological Conservation. vol. 142, no.,
pp. 2531-2537,2009.
[3] B.C. Klein, ''Effects of Forest Fragmentation on Dung and Carrion Beetle
Communities in Central Amazonia''. Ecology. vol. 70, no. 6, pp.
1715-1725,1989.
[4] M. Baguette, S. Petit, and F. Que'va, ''Population Spatial Structure and
Migration of Three Butterfly Species within the Same Habitat Network:
Consequences for Conservation''. Journal of Applied Ecology. vol. 37,
no., pp. 100-108,2000.
[5] I.A. Hanski, ''Island Biogeography : Ecology, Evolution and
Conservation''. Nature. vol. 398, no., pp. 387-388,1999.
[6] D. Simberloff, ''The contribution of populations and community biology
to conservation science''. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics.
vol. 5, no., pp. 473-511,1988.
[7] P.F. Brussard, D.D. Murphy, and R.F. Noss, ''Editorial: Strategy and
Tactics for Conserving Biological Diversity in the United States''.
Conservation Biology. vol. 6, no., pp. 157-159,1992.
[8] E.I. Damschen, N.M. Haddad, J.L. Orrock, J.J. Tewksbury, and D.J.
Levey, ''Corridors increase plant species richness at large scales''.
Science. vol. 313, no. 5791, pp. 1284-1286,2006.
[9] S.S. Cilliers and G.J. Bredenkamp, ''Vegetation of road verges on an
urbanisation gradient in Potchefstroom, South Africa''. Landscape and
Urban Planning. vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 217-239,2000.
[10] D.A. Saunders and R.J. Hobbs, The role of corridors Chipping Norton,
NSW, Australia: Surrey Beatty 1991.
[11] P.G. Spooner, I.D. Lunt, and S.V. Briggs, ''Spatial analysis of
anthropogenic disturbance regimes and roadside shrubs in a fragmented
agricultural landscape''. Applied Vegetation Science. vol. 7, no. 1, pp.
61-70,2004.
[12] R.T.T. Forman and L.E. Alexander, ''Roads and their major ecological
effects''. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. vol. 29, no., pp.
207-231,1998.
[13] J.L. Gelbard and J. Belnap, ''Roads as conduits for exotic plant invasions
in a semiarid landscape''. Conservation Biology. vol. 17, no. 2, pp.
420-432,2003.
[14] S.J. Milton and W.R.J. Dean, ''Alien plant assemblages near roads in arid
and semi-arid South Africa''. Diversity and Distributions. vol. 4, no. 4,
pp. 175-187,1998.
[15] P.M. Tikka, H. Hogmander, and P.S. Koski, ''Road and railway verges
serve as dispersal corridors for grassland plants''. Landscape Ecology.
vol. 16, no. 7, pp. 659-666,2001.
[16] E.K. Cameron and E.M. Bayne, ''Road age and its importance in
earthworm invasion of northern boreal forests''. Journal of Applied
Ecology. vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 28-36,2009.
[17] P.G. Spooner and L. Smallbone, ''Effects of road age on the structure of
roadside vegetation in south-eastern Australia''. Agriculture Ecosystems
& Environment. vol. 129, no. 1-3, pp. 57-64,2009.
[18] D.J. Hodkinson and K. Thompson, ''Plant dispersal: the role of man''.
Journal of Applied Ecology. vol. 34, no. 6, pp. 1484-1496,1997.
[19] A.E. Lugo and H. Gucinski, ''Function, effects, and management of forest
roads''. Forest Ecology and Management. vol. 133, no. 3, pp.
249-262,2000.
[20] S.L. Flory and K. Clay, ''Invasive shrub distribution varies with distance
to roads and stand age in eastern deciduous forests in Indiana, USA''.
Plant Ecology. vol. 184, no. 1, pp. 131-141,2006.
[21] J. Zhang, S. Xing, Q. Sun, J. Chi, and Y. Song, ''Study on flora resources
and its features in Yellow River Delta Region''. Research of soil and
water conservation. vol. 13, no., pp. 100-102,2006.
[22] Compiling committee of records of roads in Dongying, Records of roads
in Dongying. Beijing: Chinese Literature and History Press 2003.
[23] R. Wang and G. Zhou, Shandong vegetation. Jinan: Shandong Science
and Technology Publishing House 2000, pp. 373.
[24] R.F. Noss and A.Y. Cooperrider, ''Saving nature's legacy: protecting and
restoring biodiversity'', in Saving nature's legacy: protecting and
restoring biodiversity, R.F. Noss and A.Y. Cooperrider, Editors.
Washington, D.C.: Island Press: 1994. pp. xxvii+416p.
[25] A.F. Bennett, ''Roads, roadsides, and wildlife conservation: a review'', in
Nature conservation conservation 2: the role of corridors, D.A.
Saunders and R.J. Hobbs, Editors. New South Wales, Australia: Surrey
Beatty and Sons: 1989. pp. 99-118.
[26] N.A. Auerbach, M.D. Walker, and D.A. Walker, ''Effects of roadside
disturbance on substrate and vegetation properties in arctic tundra''.
Ecological Applications. vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 218-235,1997.
[27] S.C. Saunders, M.R. Mislivets, J.Q. Chen, and D.T. Cleland, ''Effects of
roads on landscape structure within nested ecological units of the
Northern Great Lakes Region, USA''. Biological Conservation. vol. 103,
no. 2, pp. 209-225,2002.
[28] K.A. Theoharides and J.S. Dukes, ''Plant invasion across space and time:
factors affecting nonindigenous species success during four stages of
invasion''. New Phytologist. vol. 176, no., pp. 256-273,2007.
[29] R.W. Tyser and C.A. Worley, ''Alien flora in grasslands adjacent to road
and trail corridors in Glacier National Park, Montana (USA)''.
Conservation Biology. vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 253-262,1992.
[30] R.Z. Watkins, J.Q. Chen, J. Pickens, and K.D. Brosofske, ''Effects of
forest roads on understory plants in a managed hardwood landscape''.
Conservation Biology. vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 411-419,2003.
[31] A.W. Coffin, ''From roadkill to road ecology: a review of the ecological
effects of roads''. Journal of Transport Geography. vol. 15, no., pp.
396-406,2007.
[32] W.M. Lonsdale and A.M. Lane, ''Tourist vehicles as vectors of weed
seeds in Kakadu-National-Park, Northern Australia''. Biological
Conservation. vol. 69, no. 3, pp. 277-283,1994.
[33] C.H. Greenberg, S.H. Crownover, and D.R. Gordon, ''Roadside soils: a
corridor for invasion of xeric scrub by nonindigenous plants''. Natural
Areas Journal. vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 99-109,1997.
[34] S.C. Trombulak and C.A. Frissell, ''Review of ecological effects of roads
on terrestrial and aquatic communities''. Conservation Biology. vol. 14,
no. 1, pp. 18-30,2000.
[35] Y. Jodoin, et al., ''Highways as corridors and habitats for the invasive
common reed Phragmites australis in Quebec, Canada''. Journal of
Applied Ecology. vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 459-466,2008.
[36] I.F. Spellerberg, ''Ecological effects of roads and traffic: a literature
review''. Global Ecology and Biogeography. vol. 7, no. 5, pp.
317-333,1998.
[37] L. Borghesio, ''Effects of fire on the vegetation of a lowland heathland in
North-western Italy''. Plant Ecology. vol. 201, no. 2, pp. 723-731,2009.
[38] L.A. Parendes and J.A. Jones, ''Role of light availability and dispersal in
exotic plant invasion along roads and streams in the H. J. Andrews
Experimental Forest, Oregon''. Conservation Biology. vol. 14, no. 1, pp.
64-75,2000.
[39] T. Frissell, ''Review of ecological effects of roads on terrestrail and
aquatic communities''. Conservation Biology. vol. 14, no., pp.
18-30,2000.
[40] M.M. Abd El-Ghani and N.A. El-Sawaf, ''The coastal roadside
vegetation and environmental gradients in the arid lands of Egypt''.
Community Ecology. vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 143-154,2005.
[41] P.G. Angold, ''The impact of a road upon adjacent heathland vegetation:
effects on plant species composition''. Journal of Applied Ecology. vol.
34, no. 2, pp. 409-417,1997.
[42] A.M. Farmer, ''The effects of dust on vegetation - a review''.
Environmental Pollution. vol. 79, no. 1, pp. 63-75,1993.
[43] R.T.T. Forman, et al., Road ecology: science and solutions. Washington,
D.C.: Island Press 2002.
[44] R. Huang, ''Resources value and cultivation techniques of Glycine soja''.
Resource Development & Market. vol. 24, no., pp. 771-772, 814,2008.
[1] Z.G. Davies and A.S. Pullin, ''Are hedgerows effective corridors between
fragments of woodland habitat? An evidence-based approach''.
Landscape Ecology. vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 333-351,2007.
[2] S.L. Flory and K. Clay, ''Effects of roads and forest successional age on
experimental plant invasions''. Biological Conservation. vol. 142, no.,
pp. 2531-2537,2009.
[3] B.C. Klein, ''Effects of Forest Fragmentation on Dung and Carrion Beetle
Communities in Central Amazonia''. Ecology. vol. 70, no. 6, pp.
1715-1725,1989.
[4] M. Baguette, S. Petit, and F. Que'va, ''Population Spatial Structure and
Migration of Three Butterfly Species within the Same Habitat Network:
Consequences for Conservation''. Journal of Applied Ecology. vol. 37,
no., pp. 100-108,2000.
[5] I.A. Hanski, ''Island Biogeography : Ecology, Evolution and
Conservation''. Nature. vol. 398, no., pp. 387-388,1999.
[6] D. Simberloff, ''The contribution of populations and community biology
to conservation science''. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics.
vol. 5, no., pp. 473-511,1988.
[7] P.F. Brussard, D.D. Murphy, and R.F. Noss, ''Editorial: Strategy and
Tactics for Conserving Biological Diversity in the United States''.
Conservation Biology. vol. 6, no., pp. 157-159,1992.
[8] E.I. Damschen, N.M. Haddad, J.L. Orrock, J.J. Tewksbury, and D.J.
Levey, ''Corridors increase plant species richness at large scales''.
Science. vol. 313, no. 5791, pp. 1284-1286,2006.
[9] S.S. Cilliers and G.J. Bredenkamp, ''Vegetation of road verges on an
urbanisation gradient in Potchefstroom, South Africa''. Landscape and
Urban Planning. vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 217-239,2000.
[10] D.A. Saunders and R.J. Hobbs, The role of corridors Chipping Norton,
NSW, Australia: Surrey Beatty 1991.
[11] P.G. Spooner, I.D. Lunt, and S.V. Briggs, ''Spatial analysis of
anthropogenic disturbance regimes and roadside shrubs in a fragmented
agricultural landscape''. Applied Vegetation Science. vol. 7, no. 1, pp.
61-70,2004.
[12] R.T.T. Forman and L.E. Alexander, ''Roads and their major ecological
effects''. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. vol. 29, no., pp.
207-231,1998.
[13] J.L. Gelbard and J. Belnap, ''Roads as conduits for exotic plant invasions
in a semiarid landscape''. Conservation Biology. vol. 17, no. 2, pp.
420-432,2003.
[14] S.J. Milton and W.R.J. Dean, ''Alien plant assemblages near roads in arid
and semi-arid South Africa''. Diversity and Distributions. vol. 4, no. 4,
pp. 175-187,1998.
[15] P.M. Tikka, H. Hogmander, and P.S. Koski, ''Road and railway verges
serve as dispersal corridors for grassland plants''. Landscape Ecology.
vol. 16, no. 7, pp. 659-666,2001.
[16] E.K. Cameron and E.M. Bayne, ''Road age and its importance in
earthworm invasion of northern boreal forests''. Journal of Applied
Ecology. vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 28-36,2009.
[17] P.G. Spooner and L. Smallbone, ''Effects of road age on the structure of
roadside vegetation in south-eastern Australia''. Agriculture Ecosystems
& Environment. vol. 129, no. 1-3, pp. 57-64,2009.
[18] D.J. Hodkinson and K. Thompson, ''Plant dispersal: the role of man''.
Journal of Applied Ecology. vol. 34, no. 6, pp. 1484-1496,1997.
[19] A.E. Lugo and H. Gucinski, ''Function, effects, and management of forest
roads''. Forest Ecology and Management. vol. 133, no. 3, pp.
249-262,2000.
[20] S.L. Flory and K. Clay, ''Invasive shrub distribution varies with distance
to roads and stand age in eastern deciduous forests in Indiana, USA''.
Plant Ecology. vol. 184, no. 1, pp. 131-141,2006.
[21] J. Zhang, S. Xing, Q. Sun, J. Chi, and Y. Song, ''Study on flora resources
and its features in Yellow River Delta Region''. Research of soil and
water conservation. vol. 13, no., pp. 100-102,2006.
[22] Compiling committee of records of roads in Dongying, Records of roads
in Dongying. Beijing: Chinese Literature and History Press 2003.
[23] R. Wang and G. Zhou, Shandong vegetation. Jinan: Shandong Science
and Technology Publishing House 2000, pp. 373.
[24] R.F. Noss and A.Y. Cooperrider, ''Saving nature's legacy: protecting and
restoring biodiversity'', in Saving nature's legacy: protecting and
restoring biodiversity, R.F. Noss and A.Y. Cooperrider, Editors.
Washington, D.C.: Island Press: 1994. pp. xxvii+416p.
[25] A.F. Bennett, ''Roads, roadsides, and wildlife conservation: a review'', in
Nature conservation conservation 2: the role of corridors, D.A.
Saunders and R.J. Hobbs, Editors. New South Wales, Australia: Surrey
Beatty and Sons: 1989. pp. 99-118.
[26] N.A. Auerbach, M.D. Walker, and D.A. Walker, ''Effects of roadside
disturbance on substrate and vegetation properties in arctic tundra''.
Ecological Applications. vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 218-235,1997.
[27] S.C. Saunders, M.R. Mislivets, J.Q. Chen, and D.T. Cleland, ''Effects of
roads on landscape structure within nested ecological units of the
Northern Great Lakes Region, USA''. Biological Conservation. vol. 103,
no. 2, pp. 209-225,2002.
[28] K.A. Theoharides and J.S. Dukes, ''Plant invasion across space and time:
factors affecting nonindigenous species success during four stages of
invasion''. New Phytologist. vol. 176, no., pp. 256-273,2007.
[29] R.W. Tyser and C.A. Worley, ''Alien flora in grasslands adjacent to road
and trail corridors in Glacier National Park, Montana (USA)''.
Conservation Biology. vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 253-262,1992.
[30] R.Z. Watkins, J.Q. Chen, J. Pickens, and K.D. Brosofske, ''Effects of
forest roads on understory plants in a managed hardwood landscape''.
Conservation Biology. vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 411-419,2003.
[31] A.W. Coffin, ''From roadkill to road ecology: a review of the ecological
effects of roads''. Journal of Transport Geography. vol. 15, no., pp.
396-406,2007.
[32] W.M. Lonsdale and A.M. Lane, ''Tourist vehicles as vectors of weed
seeds in Kakadu-National-Park, Northern Australia''. Biological
Conservation. vol. 69, no. 3, pp. 277-283,1994.
[33] C.H. Greenberg, S.H. Crownover, and D.R. Gordon, ''Roadside soils: a
corridor for invasion of xeric scrub by nonindigenous plants''. Natural
Areas Journal. vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 99-109,1997.
[34] S.C. Trombulak and C.A. Frissell, ''Review of ecological effects of roads
on terrestrial and aquatic communities''. Conservation Biology. vol. 14,
no. 1, pp. 18-30,2000.
[35] Y. Jodoin, et al., ''Highways as corridors and habitats for the invasive
common reed Phragmites australis in Quebec, Canada''. Journal of
Applied Ecology. vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 459-466,2008.
[36] I.F. Spellerberg, ''Ecological effects of roads and traffic: a literature
review''. Global Ecology and Biogeography. vol. 7, no. 5, pp.
317-333,1998.
[37] L. Borghesio, ''Effects of fire on the vegetation of a lowland heathland in
North-western Italy''. Plant Ecology. vol. 201, no. 2, pp. 723-731,2009.
[38] L.A. Parendes and J.A. Jones, ''Role of light availability and dispersal in
exotic plant invasion along roads and streams in the H. J. Andrews
Experimental Forest, Oregon''. Conservation Biology. vol. 14, no. 1, pp.
64-75,2000.
[39] T. Frissell, ''Review of ecological effects of roads on terrestrail and
aquatic communities''. Conservation Biology. vol. 14, no., pp.
18-30,2000.
[40] M.M. Abd El-Ghani and N.A. El-Sawaf, ''The coastal roadside
vegetation and environmental gradients in the arid lands of Egypt''.
Community Ecology. vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 143-154,2005.
[41] P.G. Angold, ''The impact of a road upon adjacent heathland vegetation:
effects on plant species composition''. Journal of Applied Ecology. vol.
34, no. 2, pp. 409-417,1997.
[42] A.M. Farmer, ''The effects of dust on vegetation - a review''.
Environmental Pollution. vol. 79, no. 1, pp. 63-75,1993.
[43] R.T.T. Forman, et al., Road ecology: science and solutions. Washington,
D.C.: Island Press 2002.
[44] R. Huang, ''Resources value and cultivation techniques of Glycine soja''.
Resource Development & Market. vol. 24, no., pp. 771-772, 814,2008.
@article{"International Journal of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences:50143", author = "Sheng-Lan Zeng and Ting-Ting Zhang and Yu Gao and Zu-Tao Ouyang and Jia-Kuan Chen and Bo Li and Bin Zhao", title = "Effects of Road Disturbance on Plant Biodiversity", abstract = "Urbanization and related anthropogenic modifications
cause extent of habitat fragmentation and directly lead to decline of
local biodiversity. Conservation biologists advocate corridor creation
as one approach to rescue biodiversity. Here we examine the utility of
roads as corridors in preserving plant diversity by investigating
roadside vegetation in Yellow River Delta (YRD), China. We
examined the spatio-temporal distribution pattern of plant species
richness, diversity and composition along roadside. The results
suggest that roads, as dispersal conduits, increase occurrence
probability of new settlers to a new area, meanwhile, roads accumulate
the greater propagule pressure and favourable survival condition
during operation phase. As a result, more species, including native and
alien plants, non- halophyte and halophyte species, threatened and
cosmopolitic species, were found prosperous at roadside. Roadside
may be a refuge for more species, and the pattern of vegetation
distribution is affected by road age and the distance from road verge.", keywords = "Native and alien species, Plant diversity conservation,Road construction, Road disturbance", volume = "4", number = "6", pages = "160-12", }
