Einfluss von ungezäunten (Hochleistungs)-Zugsstrecken auf Wildtierpopulationen / Hauptuntersuchung

• Research unit: COST
• Project number: C00.0103

Key words (English)

Railway; wildlife population; effect of rail transport; speed and frequency of trains; number of tracks; habitat quality; transects; track/trail counts; spotlight counts; obstacle; filter effect; barrier effect

Research programs (English)

COST-Action 341 - Habitat fragmentation due to transportation infrastructure

Short description (English)

See abstract

Partners and International Organizations (English)

A, B, CY, CZ, DK, F, H, IRL, NL, N, P, RO, E, S, CH, GB

Abstract (English)

Based on the lack of profound knowledge, due to neglected research about the effects of rail transport on wildlife populations, ten different track sections in Switzerland (8 sections), Germany (1) and France (1) were investigated using standardized methods. Field work was started at the beginning of 2002. Each investigation site was subdivided in two zones (central zone near the railway, outer zone), in which different field methods were executed. In order to get information about the habitat quality (forest type, cover, forage quality, etc.) the forest habitat along the railway track was valued. For all investigation sites gamekeepers and hunters were interviewed by means of a questionnaire about wildlife populations, game passes, distribution and railway-caused deaths. During springtime 2002 spotlight counts were executed. Parallel to the railway track, two transects were laid on each side for track/trail counts. Informations about train frequency and speed were made available by the railway companies. All these informations were combined to value the (negative) influence of railway lines and their extent on the concerned wildlife populations. Since the investigated sections differed in several factors comparisons were difficult to make. Nevertheless the influence of the ten sections of track on wildlife populations could be divided into three categories: Railway line as a surmountable obstacle, railway with filter effect and railway line with barrier effect.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: COST-DB of the State Secretariat for Education and Research Hallwylstrasse 4 CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland Tel. [phone] Swiss Project-Number: C00.0103