scholarly journals Eurasian badger (meles meles) habitat and sett site selection in the northern Apennines

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo M. Biancardi ◽  
Valentina Rigo ◽  
Sonia Azzolini ◽  
Claudio Gnoli

The principal aim of this research was to study coarsescale habitat selection and distribution of main setts of the Eurasian badger (<em>Meles</em> <em>meles</em> L., 1758). The study area extends for 161 Km2 in the hilly territory of southern Lombardy (Italy). The positions of 23 main setts (SP) and 28 random points (RP) were mapped into a GIS. For each point, several environmental characteristics were measured in the field or taken from thematic digital maps. A statistical comparison of the distribution of these characteristics in a circular area (radius 300 m) around each point was carried out. Eurasian badger setts were primarily dug in sheltered places, with high tree cover. The Manly selection index pointed to a strong selection for deciduous woods. Southern slope orientation and the presence of chestnut trees, a potentially important resource for badgers in this area, were also preferred. Similar to other studies, geological and lithological characters and the distance from water did not appear to influence den use. However, the substratum of the study area was mainly formed with sedimentary rocks, loam rocks and sandstones, with also easy-to-dig alluvial soils. Water is a resource easily available over the whole territory, with a well-branched network of rivers and streams. The road network and the presence of urban or industrial infrastructures seem to be a real factor of danger and disturbance, as one of the leading causes of mortality for badgers are road casualties. Our results suggest that badgers of this region are more selective for the sett site than for food resources.

Mammalia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 372-376
Author(s):  
Marco Colombo ◽  
Emiliano Mori

AbstractWe reported the first record of Davian behaviour (necrophilia) in the Eurasian badger Meles meles (L., 1758) in northern Italy. A male badger was observed in a camera-trap survey courting and trying to copulate with a probably road-killed female, in February. The dead female was a sexually mature, adult individual; the male was probably a young mature individual. Social behaviour of this carnivore may have evolved to guarantee the access to females only to the dominant male. Usually, female badgers passively receive mating by excited males. This behaviour may have enticed the young male to start courtship and copulation with the road-killed female.


Author(s):  
Krzysztof Nowakowski ◽  
Agnieszka Ważna ◽  
Przemysław Kurek ◽  
Jan Cichocki ◽  
Jacek Bojarski ◽  
...  

AbstractWe studied the impact of the new fenced and accident-safe motorway on the mortality of European badgers Meles meles on local roads in western Poland in 2010–2015. We monitored the badgers mortality on local roads of three categories: main roads, secondary roads and county roads. The study was conducted before and after the opening of the motorway in 2012. We hypothesized that the mortality of badgers is lower due to traffic concentration on motorway. Ninety two badgers were killed in collisions with vehicles on all monitored roads. Mean number of killed badgers was lowest in 2010 before the motorway opening and the highest in 2012. The mortality of badgers on regional roads was highest after the opening of the motorway due to the changes in traffic on the access roads. Within the road network, the mortality of badgers was 5.8 individuals/10 km of road per whole study period with the highest rate on main roads 8.5 individuals/10 km. The badgers mortality was highest on county roads but it was lower than expected in relation to the road network density. The highest vehicle collision risk for badgers of both sexes occurred in June. Distance to human settlements was the only environmental factor that was positively related to badger mortality on roads. We conclude that the new motorway did not reduce the mortality rate of badgers on the adjacent roads because the status of local roads has changed and now they mainly function as access roads to the motorway.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 255
Author(s):  
Jeky El Boru

Abstract: This research aims to analyze the impact of Janti Flyover Construction toward the growth of layout at Janti Urban Area, including structured space, open space, and linkage. Method used for data collecting are observation, air photograph monitoring, and interview, whereas the analysis method is qualitative description, which is the superimposed method of two layers, that are the layout condition before and after flyover construction. The result shows that the impact of Janti Flyover construction can be seen on building mass (solid), the increasing number of open spaces, including the road network, parking place, and park, whereas the relation between spaces, visually and structurally, can be seen on the growth of buildings which have new shapes and styles, therefore the performance of the overall building does not have a proportional shape. Considering Janti Street at the collective relation, its role is getting stronger as the main frame road network.Keywords: Flyover construction, layout changing, Janti AreaAbstrak: Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis pengaruh pembangunan Jalan Layang Janti terhadap perkembangan tata ruang Kawasan Janti, meliputi ruang terbangun, ruang terbuka, serta hubungan antar ruang (“linkage”). Metode pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui observasi, pengamatan foto udara, dan wawancara; sedangkan metode analisis melalui deskripsi secara kualitatif yang berupa “superimposed method” dari dua lapisan kondisi lahan, yakni kondisi tata ruang sebelum dan sesudah pembangunan jalan layang. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pengaruh pembangunan Jalan Layang Janti terdapat pada massa bangunan (“solid”), pertambahan ruang terbuka yang berupa jaringan jalan, parkir, dan taman; sedangkan pada hubungan antar ruang ̶ secara visual dan struktural ̶ yakni tumbuhnya bangunan dengan bentuk dan gaya baru, sehingga bentuk tampilan bangunan secara keseluruhan tidak proporsional. Pada hubungan kolektif, Jalan Janti semakin kuat perannya sebagai kerangka utama jaringan jalan.Kata kunci : Pembangunan jalan layang, tata ruang, Kawasan Janti


Author(s):  
Oleksandra Cherednichenko ◽  

The results of the study of the main elements of unobstructed space are presented and the compliance of the actual state with the regulatory requirements of measures to ensure a safe, comfortable, accessible and informative pedestrian zone of the road network is analyzed. A comparative analysis of the main regulatory requirements for access ramps on the legislation of Ukraine and the European Union is carried out.


2016 ◽  
Vol 167 (5) ◽  
pp. 294-301
Author(s):  
Leo Bont

Optimal layout of a forest road network The road network is the backbone of forest management. When creating or redesigning a forest road network, one important question is how to shape the layout, this means to fix the spatial arrangement and the dimensioning standard of the roads. We consider two kinds of layout problems. First, new forest road network in an area without any such development yet, and second, redesign of existing road network for actual requirements. For each problem situation, we will present a method that allows to detect automatically the optimal road and harvesting layout. The method aims to identify a road network that concurrently minimizes the harvesting cost, the road network cost (construction and maintenance) and the hauling cost over the entire life cycle. Ecological issues can be considered as well. The method will be presented and discussed with the help of two case studies. The main benefit of the application of optimization tools consists in an objective-based planning, which allows to check and compare different scenarios and objectives within a short time. The responses coming from the case study regions were highly positive: practitioners suggest to make those methods a standard practice and to further develop the prototype to a user-friendly expert software.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-240
Author(s):  
Iryna Solonenko

The development of road network infrastructure is an important component of the economic development of the European Union. Updating of the road network contributes to the integration of the economies of countries into a coherent whole. The road network provides the free movement of citizens, the movement of goods and the effective implementation of various services. The increase in the length of the road network leads to an increase in the financial and material costs necessary to ensure its maintenance and repair. One of the ways to reduce costs is by strengthening the physic-mechanical and operational characteristics of the pavement due to the widespread use of cement concrete. The quality of the pavement of cement concrete depends largely on the rational selection of its composition. This allows a significant increase in the durability of road pavement. The purpose of the research was: the development of recommendations for the rational selection of the composition of the road pavement material of cement concrete, aimed at upgrading longevity, and taking into account its frost resistance grade. According to the goal, the following tasks were developed: the analyses of the climatic zones in which the road network of the European Union is located; the development of a research plan, a selection of the response function and influence factors; the study of physico-mechanical and operational characteristics of the researched material of road pavement; on the basis of the obtained data, the calculation of the complex of experimental-statistical models, which describe the physico-mechanical and operational characteristics of the road pavement material; on the basis of experimental statistical models, a method was proposed for selecting the rational compositions of the cement concrete pavement road material depending on the conditions of its application. The results presented in the article can be used in engineering and scientific practice for the selection of road pavement from cement concrete for highways.


Complexity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tinggui Chen ◽  
Shiwen Wu ◽  
Jianjun Yang ◽  
Guodong Cong ◽  
Gongfa Li

It is common that many roads in disaster areas are damaged and obstructed after sudden-onset disasters. The phenomenon often comes with escalated traffic deterioration that raises the time and cost of emergency supply scheduling. Fortunately, repairing road network will shorten the time of in-transit distribution. In this paper, according to the characteristics of emergency supplies distribution, an emergency supply scheduling model based on multiple warehouses and stricken locations is constructed to deal with the failure of part of road networks in the early postdisaster phase. The detailed process is as follows. When part of the road networks fail, we firstly determine whether to repair the damaged road networks, and then a model of reliable emergency supply scheduling based on bi-level programming is proposed. Subsequently, an improved artificial bee colony algorithm is presented to solve the problem mentioned above. Finally, through a case study, the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed model and algorithm are verified.


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