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Linear infrastructure drives habitat conversion and forest fragmentation associated with Marcellus shale gas development in a forested landscape
Abstract
Large, continuous forest provides critical habitat for some species of forest dependent wildlife. The rapid expansion of shale gas development within the northern Appalachians results in direct loss of such habitat at well sites, pipelines, and access roads; however the resulting habitat fragmentation surrounding such areas may be of greater importance. Previous research has suggested that infrastructure supporting gas development is the driver for habitat loss, but knowledge of what specific infrastructure affects habitat is limited by a lack of spatial tracking of infrastructure development in different land uses. We used high-resolution aerial imagery, land cover data, and well point data to quantify shale gas development across four time periods (2010, 2012, 2014, 2016), including: the number of wells permitted, drilled, and producing gas (a measure of pipeline development); land use change; and forest fragmentation on both private and public land. As of April 2016, the majority of shale gas development was located on private land (74% of constructed well pads); however, the number of wells drilled per pad was lower on private compared to public land (3.5 and 5.4, respectively). Loss of core forest was more than double on private than public land (4.3 and 2.0%, respectively), which likely results from better management practices implemented on public land. Pipelines were by far the largest contributor to the fragmentation of core forest due to shale gas development. Forecasting future land use change resulting from gas development suggests that the greatest loss of core forest will occur with pads constructed farthest from pre-existing pipelines (new pipelines must be built to connect pads) and in areas with greater amounts of core forest. To reduce future fragmentation, our results suggest new pads should be placed near pre-existing pipelines and methods to consolidate pipelines with other infrastructure should be used. Without these mitigation practices, we will continue to lose core forest as a result of new pipelines and infrastructure particularly on private land.
... Evidence from other pipelines and linear infrastructure corridors [11,12], such as roads and oil and gas pipelines, demonstrates short-and long-term ecological impacts. This study incorporates an additional objective function to the SimCCS model [8], which is used with environmental, social and culturally relevant spatial data to minimize for both private economic and public environmental cost. ...
... Research from other types of pipeline infrastructure projects like roads and oil and gas pipelines [11,12] shows both immediate and lasting environmental consequences. In the short term, construction activities can lead to the death of plants and animals, disrupt ecosystems, and cause pollution [11]. ...
... In the short term, construction activities can lead to the death of plants and animals, disrupt ecosystems, and cause pollution [11]. Over the long term, linear structures like pipelines and roads can fragment and isolate habitats, creating "edge effects" that make ecosystems more vulnerable to various threats [12]. Understanding both the immediate and long-term environmental consequences allows for a more comprehensive assessment of the true cost of potential transport networks, beyond just the financial expenditure [24]. ...
... Disturbance related to well pad and associated infrastructure is approximately 5.6 ha per pad, which has increased over time (Grushecky et al. 2022). Langlois et al. (2017) estimated that disturbance related to midstream infrastructure can increase disturbance up to 250%. Pipelines are the primary method of midstream conveyance for extracted gas from source to market (Kennedy 1984;Folga 2007). ...
... Pipelines routed through agricultural areas can be replanted with crops, but in forested areas the rights-of-way (ROWs) must be maintained as herbaceous ground cover to ensure the integrity of the buried pipe (Kennedy 1984). Pipelines in forested areas are often colocated with existing roads to make construction easier, although the roads are often expanded to allow for large trucks and increased traffic volumes (Langlois et al. 2017). Colocation of pipeline ROWs with roads can increase ROW width from an average of 25.1-27.0 ...
... m on public and private lands in Pennsylvania to more than 30.0-m widths (Langlois et al. 2017). Thus, road and pipeline infrastructure has become an increasing source of forest fragmentation in the Appalachian region (Drohan et al. 2012;Slonecker et al. 2012;Donnelly et al. 2017;Liu 2021). ...
Road and pipeline infrastructure development for natural gas extraction often results in forest fragmentation, which could negatively influence habitat quality for many amphibian species. We investigated occurrence dynamics of the eastern red-backed salamander Plethodon cinereus in relation to natural gas pipeline rights-of-way (ROW) and forest structure characteristics in northern Pennsylvania. Eighty sites were sampled across two study areas using coverboards, with each site containing sampling plots at the center of the ROW, the edge of the ROW, and 10 m and 30 m into the adjacent forest. We assessed the influence of ROW age, ROW width, distance from ROW, and five forest structure characteristics on plot occupancy probability. Eastern red-backed salamander occupancy probability decreased with ROW age and increased with distance from ROW. Our results indicate that eastern red-backed salamanders are negatively influenced by forest fragmentation for natural gas ROWs. Moreover, responses were time-dependent, with occupancy probability declining with ROW age. Due to low detections, we were unable to analyze data for the other amphibians and reptiles encountered during the study. Our capture data indicate that ROWs could improve habitat quality for some snake species, but additional research is needed to better understand the influence of ROWs on reptile species. To reduce future forest fragmentation and impacts on eastern red-backed salamander populations, managers could consider placing pipelines along existing linear clearings and enhancing the habitat quality of ROWs for salamanders.
... The increased development of these resources in the region has led to significant surface disturbance from UOG related clearing and construction. Unconventional well pads tend to be much larger than conventional wells (Slonecker and Milheim 2015) ranging from 1.2 to 4.2 hectares Grushecky et al. 2022;Jantz et al. 2014;Johnson et al. 2010, Langlois et al. 2017Liu 2021;Slonecker et al. 2012a, b;Slonecker and Milheim 2015). Additional surface impacts are attributed to access roads and tank-pads, which are built as part of the drilling process, as well as the creation of midstream infrastructure. ...
... Midstream infrastructure includes the gathering and transmission pipelines, as well as compressor stations and all other infrastructure necessary for the transportation of petroleum products. Midstream activities add between 64% (Jantz et al. 2014) and 250% (Langlois et al. 2017) to the area disturbed during well pad development. ...
... The land disturbance due to increased petroleum exploration and production in the region have been found to be the driving force of a wide range of ecosystem impacts. Site clearing for production has led to increases in impervious surfaces and deforestation (Evans and Kiesecker 2014;Johnson et al. 2010;Young et al. 2018) with forest fragmentation being one of the most noted consequences Langlois et al. 2017). Pierre et al. (2018) concluded that, compared to urbanization and agricultural activities, energy development has a higher potential for edge effects. ...
Unconventional oil and gas (UOG) wells from the Marcellus and Utica shale plays have expanded greatly across the Appalachian region of the United States (US) since the early 2000s. This region is now the single largest natural gas producing area of the US. The local and regional impacts of this industry on the landscape make it critical to understand for future planning efforts. This study investigated land cover change associated with over 21,000 unconventional wells representing 4,240 well pads permitted from 2007 to 2017 in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. The goal was to characterize UOG disturbance to document development patterns and extents in the region. Supervised classification was used to map land use and land-cover changes within a 25-ha buffer of well pads identified in the region. On average, disturbance related to unconventional development impacted 6.2 ha in Pennsylvania, 4.7 ha in Ohio and 4.4 ha in West Virginia and 5.6 ha over the region. Forest and grassland were found to be the most impacted cover types, with increases in impervious surface areas being a significant contributor to land-use classification change. These conversions can contribute to increased forest fragmentation and edge, which can in turn adversely impact biodiversity indicators at the regional level. Additionally, increases in impervious surface in small headwater watersheds can lead to increased sediment and runoff loads in receiving streams. Local and regional land use planning should be implemented during the well pad permit review process to help minimize environmental impacts over larger geographic scales.
... al. 2014;Johnson et al. 2010, Slonecker et al. 2012a. When midstream infrastructure, such as gathering lines, compressor stations and transmission pipelines is included, disturbance has found to increase for UOG wells between 64% (Jantz et al. 2014) and 250% (Langlois et al. 2017). ...
... The development of COG and UOG has documented impacts on land resources in the Appalachian Basin. These include increasing forest fragmentation (Drohan et al. 2012, Langlois et al. 2017, Liu 2021, accelerated forest canopy loss (Young et al. 2018), disturbance to avian communities (Farwell et al. 2020;Johnson et al. 2010), and impairment of water quality caused by increased sedimentation in local stream systems (Olmstead et al. 2013). In the current study, environmental monitoring was focused on land area disturbance and terrain features associated with well pads. ...
... Results indicate that UOG wells disturb almost 5 times more land area at the well site than COG wells drilled during the same time frame. This study did not quantify midstream or related impacts beyond a 20-ha buffer of the well pad, which can be significant contributor to land use change (Donneley et al. 2017;Langlois et al. 2017). It could be hypothesized that due to the excessive volumes of natural gas produced from UOG wells and thus the larger pipelines and compressor stations needed to transport this volume of gas, disturbance related to midstream infrastructure could be greater for UOG wells. ...
Natural gas production from the Appalachian region has reached record levels, primarily due to the rapid increase in development of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) resources. In 2020, over 65,000 conventional wells reported natural gas production; however, this only represented 5% of the total natural gas produced. The remaining 95% of natural gas production can be attributed to 3,901 UOG wells. There has been a wide body of research on disturbance trends related to unconventional development in the region; however, there is limited characterization of disturbance related to production of conventional oil and gas (COG) or research that details energy production in relation to land disturbance. This study compares land disturbance from COG and UOG development as well as energy production. Land disturbance related to COG and UOG development was assessed for wells drilled during 2009-2012. Production data were summarized for the same wells during the period of 2009-2020. The average area disturbed for COG pads was 0.82 ha while UOG pads disturbed 4.02 ha. Results from this study showed that COG wells disturbed significantly less land area during construction; however, UOG wells produced almost 28 times more energy per hectare of land disturbed. This energy production imbalance as well as the over 65,000 COG wells reporting production in 2020, indicates that the retirement and restoration of COG infrastructure could be done without significantly impacting total energy production. Continued research that includes ecosystem services and carbon sequestration opportunities in relation to production losses from retiring existing infrastructure should be considered.
Graphical abstract:
... The access roads commonly have a gravel surface and the landcover immediately adjacent to the access roads is changed. A buffer zone is determined with a width of 20 to 50 m along each pipeline between well pads, known as pipeline right-of-way (ROW) corridors [7,8]. Trees in pipeline ROW corridors are cut and cleared for the safety of the gathering pipelines. ...
... The forest image objects with more than 80% of their border connecting to non-forest were defined as patch forests, the forest image objects that were 100 meters away from any other landcover types were defined as core forests, the forest image objects within 100 m of outside non-forest landcover types were defined as forest edges, and the forest image objects within 100 m of inside non-forest landcover types were defined as perforated forests. These parameters were determined because of their extensive use in relevant habitat fragmentation studies [8]. After the classification of forest structure, the area statistics and percentage changes of each forest component were derived to analyze the change pattern of the forest structure, especially the areal loss of core forest. ...
... Similar to relevant studies, a fairly small magnitude of direct landcover changes and direct areal loss of forest were found due to these unconventional shale gas extraction activities, while the indirect impacts, e.g., the forest fragmentation and the areal loss of core forest, were much greater [8,12,55,56]. The majority of these landcover changes and disturbed zones suffered from the degradation of ecological serving capability. ...
Dense unconventional shale gas extraction activities have occurred in Appalachian Ohio since 2010 and they have caused various landcover changes and forest fragmentation issues. This research investigated the most recent boom of unconventional shale gas extraction activities and their impacts on the landcover changes and forest structural changes in the Muskingum River Watershed in Appalachian Ohio. Triple-temporal high-resolution natural-color aerial images from 2006 to 2017 and a group of ancillary geographic information system (GIS) data were first used to digitize the landcover changes due to the recent boom of these unconventional shale gas extraction activities. Geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) was then employed to form forest patches as image objects and to accurately quantify the forest connectivity. Lastly, the initial and updated forest image objects were used to quantify the loss of core forest as the two-dimensional (2D) forest structural changes, and initial and updated canopy height models (CHMs) derived from airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) point clouds were used to quantify the loss of forest volume as three-dimensional (3D) forest structural changes. The results indicate a consistent format but uneven spatiotemporal development of these unconventional shale gas extraction activities. Dense unconventional shale gas extraction activities formed two apparent hotspots. Two-thirds of the well pad facilities and half of the pipeline right-of-way (ROW) corridors were constructed during the raising phase of the boom. At the end of the boom, significant forest fragmentation already occurred in both hotspots of these active unconventional shale gas extraction activities, and the areal loss of core forest reached up to 14.60% in the densest concentrated regions of these activities. These results call for attention to the ecological studies targeted on the forest fragmentation in the Muskingum River Watershed and the broader Appalachian Ohio regions.
... The core forest destruction may cause a substantial loss of animal and plant habitats (Jager and Rohweder, 2011) and species diversities (Wekesa et al., 2019). Shale gas developments fragment forest landscape (Milt et al., 2016;Farwell et al., 2019;Langlois et al., 2017;Farwell et al., 2016;Thomas et al., 2014) and reduce biomass Chen et al., 2018), and thus affect core forests. For example, the development of the Fayette shale gas site resulted in the loss of 929 ha (0.45%) of the forest area, while the core forest area decreased by 1.17% (−2415.3 ...
... For instance, it was reported that forest patches would increase by 13% to 21% regardless of how the shale gas area was planned in the St. Lawrence River Lowlands (Racicot et al., 2014). Shale gas pads caused less damage to core forest than pipelines or pads and pipelines together, and there were positive correlations between core forest loss, pipeline length and pad area (Langlois et al., 2017). Constructing shale gas pads, pipelines, roads and other affiliated infrastructures will change land use type and damage forest landscape (Drohan et al., 2012;Maloney et al., 2018;Baranzelli et al., 2015). ...
... The shale gas pads need to be connected by underground pipelines which involves digging channels in the ground between 16 and 20 m width. Each shale gas pad has an average length of 1.7 to 2.8 km of pipeline (Langlois et al., 2017;Racicot et al., 2014). The impact width on vegetation was larger than the excavation width by pipeline-laying (Xiao et al., 2014). ...
Core forests are an important component of forest landscapes and wildlife habitat. Although the core forests were damaged during the development of shale gas sites, it remain unclear how much damage the shale gas development has caused to this ecologically vulnerable region. We analyzed high-resolution remote sensing images of a shale gas development area in 2012, 2014, and 2017 in the karst region in southwestern China. The results showed that the core forest area decreased by approximately 4.0% from 2012 to 2017. Of this decrease, approximately 32.3% was related to the shale gas development activities, while 67.7% was related to other human activities, i.e., agricultural lands and residential developments. Approximately 5.6% of the decrease in the core forest was for new pipelines, with 0.5 ha occurred in 2012–2014 and 248.6 ha occurred in 2014–2017. Of the shale gas development activities, the pipeline constructions were most detrimental to the core forest. The patchiness of the core forest increased by 8.2% from 2012 to 2017 by the expansions of dry fields, towns, and settlements. The core forest Effective Mesh Size (MESH) decreased by 86.3%, primarily caused by the shale gas development pipelines. In conclusion, human activities that were not directly related to shale gas development were the main driver of the core forest decreases. The pipelines caused most losses of the core forest among the shale gas activities and the impacts deteriorated as the shale gas development proceeds. Therefore, we propose that new shale gas pads should be placed adjacent to existing shale gas pipelines and new shale gas pipelines should be constructed in parallel with existing roads to reduce the damages on core forest.
... Extent of Marcellus shale formation shaded in gray development, linear infrastructure (e.g., roads, railroads, powerlines and pipelines) is pervasive and can have a number of distinct negative effects on wildlife (van der Ree et al. 2015;Richardson et al. 2017). Because access roads and pipeline corridors are primary drivers of forest loss and fragmentation associated with shale gas in the Marcellus-Utica region (Farwell et al. 2016;Langlois et al. 2017), we were particularly interested in assessing whether breeding birds exhibit unique responses to linear forms of shale gas infrastructure as opposed to nonlinear forms of shale gas development (i.e., drilling sites or 'well pads'). We were also broadly interested in comparing bird responses to shale gas infrastructure (both linear and non-linear) with similar forms of human development unrelated to shale gas (both linear and non-linear). ...
... The observed differences in bird tolerance of forest edge density in landscapes altered by shale gas compared with mountaintop removal coal mining may largely reflect differences in the footprint and configuration of these two types of energy development. Surface coal mines tend to occupy large, sprawling areas on mountain ridgetops, whereas shale gas typically creates a network of relatively small forest perforations connected by narrow linear infrastructure (Farwell et al. 2016;Langlois et al. 2017). Thus, increasing forest edge density in mining regions may be driven by larger disturbances with greater potential impacts to overall avian abundance, while the creation of new forest edges associated with shale gas is largely driven by smaller-scale disturbances and linear corridors. ...
... However, it is worth noting that the forest interior guild showed similar positive threshold responses to distance from linear gas infrastructure and from well pad development, even though linear shale gas impacts tend to be narrower than land cover impacts associated with well pads. This suggests that shale gas pipelines and access roads have comparable negative edge effects on forest interior species to well pads, which may be due in part to the higher overall density of new forest edges created by linear gas infrastructure compared with well pad development (Farwell et al. 2016;Langlois et al. 2017). ...
ContextSince 2005, unconventional gas development has rapidly altered forests across the Marcellus-Utica shale basin in the central Appalachian region of the eastern United States, an area of high conservation value for biodiversity. Much is still unknown about ecological impacts of associated land cover change.Objectives
Our goal was to identify threshold responses among bird species and habitat guilds to (1) overall forest loss and fragmentation in affected landscapes, and (2) distance from anthropogenic disturbance, both related and unrelated to shale gas.Methods
We conducted 2589 bird surveys at 190 sites across this region, and quantified community-level and species-specific thresholds relating to forest cover and distance to anthropogenic disturbance, using Threshold Indicator Taxa Analysis (TITAN).ResultsForest interior species decreased abruptly in abundance and frequency of occurrence above a threshold of 17.0% overall forest loss, while early successional and synanthropic species increased abruptly above 30.5–36.5% forest loss, respectively. Broad quantile intervals around responses to distance from anthropogenic disturbance suggest these were not sharp threshold responses, but more gradual or linear responses. Among forest interior species evaluated, 48.1% increased in abundance farther from shale gas development, while 55.6% of early successional and synanthropic species decreased.Conclusions
We found evidence of avian threshold responses to overall forest loss and fragmentation in affected landscapes across the Marcellus-Utica shale region. Our results suggest that efforts to avoid shale gas development in regional core forests—particularly those still retaining ≥ 83% forest cover—can reduce negative effects on area-sensitive, forest interior dependent species.
... Recent studies have reported that the development of shale gas extraction sites impacts on surrounding vegetation, leading to fragmentation (Farwell et al., 2016;Milt et al., 2016;Langlois et al., 2017) and reductions in biomass . Net primary productivity (NPP), used to detect changes in biomass, directly reflects the production capacity of vegetation and is the basis of organic material and energy cycling in global ecosystems (Zhao and Running, 2010;Liang et al., 2015;Field et al., 1998). ...
... Firstly, the shale gas pads in China are between 31% and 59% smaller than those used in the US, and are smaller than the natural gas pads used in the US (Fink and Drohan, 2014). There are more wells per pad in China than in similar developments in the US, with between 6 and 8 wells/pad in China compared with 1.15 and 5.4 wells/pad in the US (Pierre et al., 2017;Langlois et al., 2017). The more efficient development strategy in China means that the shale gas activities have less impact on land use and vegetation than in the US (Baranzelli et al., 2015). ...
... The more efficient development strategy in China means that the shale gas activities have less impact on land use and vegetation than in the US (Baranzelli et al., 2015). Shale gas areas in the US occupy a greater proportion of forest land than in China, and forest has a higher unit NPP than other land use types (Moran et al., 2015;Langlois et al., 2017;Farwell et al., 2016;Preston and Kim, 2016). Our study area was mainly on dry land, which has a relatively low unit NPP (Zhu and Pan, 2007). ...
Over the past decade, various aspects of China's fragile karst environments, including net primary productivity (NPP), have been changed or threatened by shale gas development. This industry is still developing, so it is important to understand what drives environmental changes, particularly in NPP, when shale gas pads are constructed in sensitive areas. Few previous studies have addressed this issue, so we quantified how the NPP changed, and what drove the changes, when a large shale gas area was developed at the end of 2012 in a mountainous karst area in Sichuan Province. We calculated the trend in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from 2012 to 2017 and used the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) model to calculate the changes in NPP at different distances from the pads using remote sensing images for July 2012 and July 2017 and field survey data from July 2017. We then identified the factors that drove the changes with Geodetector. The results showed that the NDVI increased across 64.2% of the shale gas development area from 2012 to 2017 because of climate change, and only showed a significant decrease across 0.3% of the area, mainly because of the shale gas development. The NPP decreased by 110.1 t because of the shale gas development in July 2017, or by about 0.35% of the total NPP. Of this, 93.8 t were associated with the pad construction areas, and 16.3 t were associated with the area around the pads. The changes in NPP around the shale gas pads were mainly confined to within 150 m during the construction phase and 90 m once the construction was completed. The NPP at different distances from the pads during the construction period was related to the distance from the pad, slope, and land use. Once completed, the NPP mainly varied with distance, land use, and the distance from the pad to rural settlements. The NPP was most strongly influenced by the distance from the pad and the area of the pad. We suggest that, when planning the construction of shale gas pads, the pads should be sited on gently sloping areas, the number of wells on each pad should be optimized, land use type changes outside the pad should be limited, and the land beyond the pads should be reclaimed in a timely manner to allow the NPP to recover.
... Each midstream compressor station is situated upon its own pad structure. In all, the installation of the pad and midstream infrastructure require large quantities of land alterations, potentially causing large ecological disturbance events across the landscape, with midstream segments creating the greatest footprint of landscape impact (Langlois et al. 2017). ...
... In the early stages of development, standing timber and surface vegetation are removed, and the land surface is graded across the extent of the NG infrastructure. Drilling locations cause an average of 5.6 hectares of disturbance (Grushecky et al. 2022), additional midstream and allied infrastructure can increase disturbance up to 250% (Langlois et al. 2017). This infrastructure development has been found to significantly impact surface water flow (Warner et al. 2013) and total suspended solids (TSS) quantities in associated watersheds (Olmstead et al. 2013). ...
The Appalachian region of the United States has experienced significant growth in the production of natural gas. Developing the infrastructure required to transport this resource to market creates significant disturbances across the landscape, as both well pads and transportation pipelines must be created in this mountainous terrain. Midstream infrastructure, which includes pipeline rights-of-way and associated infrastructure, can cause significant environmental degradation, especially in the form of sedimentation. The introduction of this non-point source pollutant can be detrimental to freshwater ecosystems found throughout this region. This ecological risk has necessitated the enactment of regulations related to midstream infrastructure development. Weekly, inspectors travel afoot along new pipeline rights-of-way, monitoring the re-establishment of surface vegetation and identifying failing areas for future management. The topographically challenging terrain of West Virginia makes these inspections difficult and dangerous to the hiking inspectors. We evaluated the accuracy at which unmanned aerial vehicles replicated inspector classifications to evaluate their use as a complementary tool in the pipeline inspection process. Both RGB and multispectral sensor collections were performed, and a support vector machine classification model predicting vegetation cover were made for each dataset. Using inspector defined validation plots, our research found comparable high accuracy between the two collection sensors. This technique displays the capability of augmenting the current inspection process, though it is likely that the model can be improved further. The high accuracy thus obtained suggests valuable implementation of this widely available technology in aiding these challenging inspections.
... Donnelly et al. (2017) for instance, have extracted these features from high-resolution aerial images for a comparative study between Carroll County, Ohio and Washington County, Pennsylvania. Another method is by buffering centerlines and points which represent all the OG infrastructure types to meet the actual sizes of the features on the ground (e.g., Langlois et al. 2017;Drohan et al. 2012;Abrahams et al. 2015). The buffer distance is determined based on the actual sizes of the features (well pads, access roads, and pipelines) at the location under study (Johnson et al. 2011). ...
... Studies from the eastern United States show that the boom in shale gas industrial activities is recent with the introduction of the horizontal drilling technology but has contributed to a sudden land change. Most of the land change studies therefore use pre-OG development land cover data acquired in the early 2000s (see for example Donnelly 2018; Langlois et al. 2017;Donnelly et al. 2017;Preston and Kim 2016;Abrahams et al. 2015;Drohan et al. 2012). At the booming stage (in the early 2000s) of OG development, a considerable quantity of the forest cover might have already converted into agriculture or other land categories. ...
Information about forest change patterns from oil and gas (OG) activities could improve our understanding of the land use–land cover change nexus, aid in predicting future forest changes, and prompt the need for more mitigation measures in reducing impacts from the activities. However, little is known about forest change patterns from OG infrastructure development in northeastern British Columbia (BC). In this study, we assess forest change from the impacts of OG infrastructure development using a geospatial approach. The study finds that forest cover was reduced by 0.234% between 1975 and 2017. However, we show that forest cover change (− 0.182%) from OG infrastructure development between 1995 and 2017 was faster compared to that of the two decades before 1995. The faster change, however, coincides with the period of the OG boom in BC. Between time points and locations, we measured a larger amount of forest fragmentation in the land cover for the year and location with larger quantities of human-induced land classes. The differences in the quantity of human-induced land cover types between time points and locations could account for the differences in the amount of fragmentation. Our findings suggest that forest fragmentation is likely to reduce if land managers would make relentless effort to reduce the quantity of anthropogenic-induced land cover classes and increase forest recovery programs in the forest areas.
... However, only the locations of some components of energy infrastructure (e.g., well pads, major facilities) are typically reported in public databases (Leu et al., 2008;Langlois et al., 2017). For that reason, analyses and projections of energy infrastructure often rely on well pads as a surrogate for other components (e.g., Leu et al., 2008;Copeland et al., 2009Copeland et al., , 2017Green et al., 2017;Garman, 2018;Pierre et al., 2018;Wolaver et al., 2018a;Sawyer et al., 2019), or alternatively, they digitize and validate infrastructure data from other sources using high-resolution imagery to ensure accurate spatial data for all components (e.g., Naugle et al., 2011;Fedy et al., 2015;Kirol et al., 2015;Rice et al., 2016;Germaine et al., 2017). ...
... In other major energy fields, the majority of landscape change from energy infrastructure, ranging from 67 to 75%, was also due to supporting infrastructure rather than well pads or wind turbine pads (Buto et al., 2010;Naugle et al., 2011;Pierre et al., 2015;Slonecker and Milheim, 2015;Preston and Kim, 2016;Baynard et al., 2017;Copeland et al., 2017;Donnelly et al., 2017b). Indeed, a general conclusion across studies is that linear infrastructure, especially from pipelines, is typically responsible for the majority of land cover impacts and habitat fragmentation caused by energy development (Pierre et al., 2015;Cox et al., 2017;Langlois et al., 2017). All components of energy infrastructure have the potential to influence wildlife habitat and populations, but the direction and magnitude of effects on habitat suitability may differ among components, depending on the species (Barton et al., 2016). ...
New technologies and increasing energy demand have contributed to rapid expansion of unconventional oil and gas development in the U.S. in the past two decades. Quantifying the effects of energy infrastructure on land cover and wildlife habitat is essential for informing land-use policy, developing wildlife conservation strategies, and projecting impacts of future development. The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; GrSG) is a species of concern in sagebrush ecosystems of the western U.S. and Canada and the focus of widespread conservation and management efforts. Increasing energy development within GrSG range has prompted the need to quantify and predict impacts of energy infrastructure on their habitat and populations. We mapped the annual distribution, surface type, and activity level of energy and non-energy infrastructure in the Parachute-Piceance-Roan (PPR), a small, peripheral greater sage-grouse population in Colorado with expanding oil and gas development, from 2005 to 2015. During that time, the footprint of energy infrastructure more than doubled to 3,275 ha (+108.6%), including 195 new well pads, 930 ha of new pipelines, and 230 km of new roads. In contrast, non-energy infrastructure decreased to 532 ha (-8.3%). The majority of energy infrastructure present each year (77-84%) was supporting infrastructure (i.e. facilities, roads, pipelines) rather than well pads, with an average of 2.24 ± 0.52 SE ha of supporting infrastructure per ha of well pad. Pipelines comprised 74-80% of reclaimed surface and roads comprised 54-69% of disturbed surface across years. By 2015, anthropogenic infrastructure covered 2.70% of occupied range and 2.93% of GrSG habitat, and energy infrastructure covered 2.50% and 10.79% of two priority habitat management area zones in the PPR. Three land cover classes most affected by energy infrastructure were also those strongly selected by GrSG. Topographic constraints appear to concentrate energy infrastructure in areas with gentler topography that also have the highest GrSG use. Together, these patterns suggest that future energy development will cause substantial additional loss and modification of GrSG habitat in the PPR. Our findings are valuable for assessing surface disturbance caps for land-use management and projections of energy infrastructure effects on wildlife habitat in this and other expanding oil and gas fields.
... Most of the landscape is covered in natural forest, with some ecoregions within the Marcellus Shale over 80% forested [41e43], and it represents one of the largest and best remaining examples of temperate deciduous forest in the world [35]. It has seen the construction of over 10,000 wells and associated facilities since the year 2000 [32]. The primary ecosystem services provided by this region include water provisioning, timber production, and recreational opportunities, which are heavily utilized by the large urban centers located nearby (about 52 million people Depending on the habitat, certain ecosystem services play a larger role than others. ...
... The annual ecosystem services of the Delaware River Basin alone, which overlaps about 9% of the Marcellus Shale, is estimated at $21 billion, dwarfing any benefits of the shale gas economy, estimated at $425 million per year [44]. Given the rate of shale gas well drilling and associated changes in land-use [32,35], water pollution levels [45e48], and local responses in wildlife [48,49], it is likely that the ecosystem services costs are considerable and negatively affecting human well-being in this region [22,50,51]. ...
Unconventional oil and gas development has expanded dramatically in the United States during the last 15 years. This change in the energy industry has developed, modified, and fragmented large areas of the terrestrial landscape, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars of annual ecosystem services costs, including negative effects on agricultural production, plant and wildlife populations, animal migrations, and human well-being. The locations of the most active unconventional oil and gas regions overlap ecologically valuable and, in some cases, relatively intact natural habitats, but there are few detailed studies that comprehensively investigate local ecosystem services impacts of this recent activity. We highlight impacts on the terrestrial landscape in three areas of the U.S. that deserve particular attention: the eastern temperate deciduous forest of the mid-Appalachian region, the prairies of the Great Plains, and the Chihuahuan Desert of west Texas and southern New Mexico. These regions cover large geographic areas that are rich in ecosystem services, and recently they have experienced some of the highest levels of unconventional oil and gas activity. We make a call for targeted studies to improve our understanding of how this development will impact these ecosystem services and which strategies can mitigate the negative impacts. The lessons learned from these analyses could be applied to new energy development abroad, which is currently under consideration by many nations with probable unconventional oil and gas resources
... Asset management ensures the effective management of energy infrastructure assets, which includes processes such as design, planning, maintenance, and decommissioning [7][8][9]. Pipelines are typically located in landscapes spread over long distances; therefore, land management is necessary for the safe and effective construction, maintenance, and operation of pipelines [10,11]. Land management involves obtaining appropriate permits, negotiating agreements with landowners, and complying with environmental regulations. ...
In today’s world, effective management and the use of spatial data are of great importance in many sectors. Industries such as land management, asset management, and infrastructure management are areas where spatial data are heavily utilized. Advanced technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GISs) and Building Information Modeling (BIM) are used in the processes of collecting, analyzing, and managing geographically enabled data (geo-data). These technologies enable the effective processing of large datasets, improve decision-making processes based on geographic information, and facilitate more efficient collaboration across sectors. This study conducts an in-depth examination of the existing literature on asset management, infrastructure management, and BIM-GIS integration using bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review methods. Bibliometric analysis is employed to determine statistical values such as current research trends, frequently cited authors, most used keywords, and country performances in the relevant field. This study’s results highlight future research trends and significant gaps in the areas of asset management, infrastructure management, natural gas pipelines, and BIM-GIS integration. In particular, this study demonstrates the critical importance of asset management and BIM-GIS integration for sustainable infrastructure design, construction, and management. In this context, attention is drawn to the importance of data standardization, digitization, systematic integration, and contemporary land management requirements.
... Land use land cover (LULC) changes in a forest landscape have been posing severe challenges for conservation due to the fragmentation of native forests, and rapid degradation resulting in deforestation with a sustained burden on the ecosystem (Ramachandra et al., 2016 a,b,c;Langlois et al., 2017;Ewers and Banks-Leite, 2013;Chaplin-Kramer et al., 2015;Hunter et al., 2015;Latimer and Zuckerberg, 2017;Andronache et al., 2019;. Unregulated exploitation of forest resources and LULC changes have led to the degradation of the unique ecological units, evident from barren hilltops and fragmented forest patches , affecting hydrological services such as the conversion of perennial streams to intermittent ones, and loss of groundwater recharge potential, loss of livelihood opportunities (Banerjee and Madhurima, prescribed conservation and management measures in the ecologically 'salient' regions at the taluk (tehsil-a local administrative unit) level. ...
Ecological sensitivity or fragility refers to the permanent and irreparable loss of extant life forms or significant damage to the natural processes of evolution and speciation with the alterations in the ecological integrity of a region. The comprehensive knowledge of the ecological fragility of a region is quintessential for evolving strategies for conserving the area, which entails identifying factors responsible for ecological sensitiveness, including landscape dynamics, and visualizing future transitions to mitigate the problems of haphazard and uncontrolled development approaches. Analyses of ecologically sensitive regions in the Western Ghats, one among 36 global biodiversity hotspots using temporal remote sensing data, highlight serious concerns about the status of forests and conservation measures. Ecological sensitive region (ESR) delineation considers abiotic, biotic, and socio/anthropological factors, reflecting the current status of the fragile landscape and their significance in maintaining ecosystem 2 equilibrium. ESR analyses depict 63,148 km area under significantly higher 2 2 ecological fragility, 27,646 km under high ecological fragility, 48,490 km as 2 moderate, and 20,716 km as low ecological fragility. Integrating ESRs in the sustainable development policy framework would aid in regulating unplanned developmental activities, which aid in ensuring ecological security with the continuance of the essential ecosystem services to sustain the livelihood of people.
... Ecological connectivity is defined as the "unimpeded movement of species and the flow of natural processes that sustain life on Earth" (CMS, 2020). Loss of ecological connectivity is caused by habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation (Haddad et al., 2015), which results from activities such as infrastructure development and land-or seause change (Bishop et al., 2017;Langlois et al., 2017;Tucker et al., 2018). ...
The conservation of natural and cultural resources shared between countries is a significant challenge that can be addressed through the establishment of transboundary conservation areas (TBCAs). TBCAs enable countries to harmonize cross-border governance and management, increase protected area (PA) coverage, and strengthen relationships between neighbouring countries and communities. In Africa, many ecosystems and species ranges span multiple countries, making TBCAs a crucial tool for biodiversity conservation. However, there is a lack of research on where TBCAs can be established or need to be established. To address this gap, we conducted a study to identify opportunities for establishing TBCAs in Africa. We first compiled an up-to-date list of existing TBCAs on the continent. Then, we identified potential TBCAs by identifying protected areas next to country borders that are adjacent to other protected areas in a neighbouring country. We also evaluated the functional connectivity between these PA pairs and prioritized potential TBCAs based on size, connectivity, and ease of establishment. We identified 27 existing TBCAs and 8,481 potential TBCAs in Africa composed of various possible combinations of 2,326 individual PAs. Our results provide a baseline of existing TBCAs and offer a better understanding of where transboundary conservation might be established or strengthened. We also highlight areas where future transboundary conservation efforts could safeguard PA connectivity. This information can guide policy and decision-making processes towards promoting conservation and sustainable use of natural and cultural resources shared between countries in Africa.
... We obtained land cover surrounding each site using 2005 land cover data and we assumed it represented land cover prior to shale gas development (Pennsylvania Geospatial Data Clearinghouse 2015). The 30-m resolution of the land cover dataset could not account for narrow forest roads; therefore, we used a process similar to Langlois et al. (2017) to resample with a 5-m resolution and amend the land cover data. To account for roads, we selected the most detailed road layer available that best matched the time frame of the land cover data (U.S. Census Bureau 2010). ...
Shale gas development occurs in forests of the Appalachian Basin within breeding habitat for forest songbirds. Development requires linear infrastructure (e.g., pipelines, gas access roads) that fragments habitat and reduces core forest. Collocation is a mitigation practice that sites new pipelines adjacent to existing surface disturbance such as forest roads; it reduces core forest loss but may have associated ecological costs, defined as negative effects on native species and ecosystems. We conducted a paired sampling design between forest roads and collocated pipelines (expanded gas access roads collocated with pipelines) to evaluate ecological costs to forest songbirds in 2013 in Pennsylvania, USA. We surveyed 4 focal songbird species: 3 territorial species that varied in habitat requirements and the non‐territorial brown‐headed cowbird ( Molothrus ater ), an obligate brood parasite. We used spot mapping to survey focal species within linear corridors and the adjacent mature forest. Territory density of forest interior ovenbirds ( Seiurus aurocapilla ) was significantly lower on collocated pipelines (5.1 fewer territories per 10 ha) compared to forest road sites. We found no effect of collocation on territory density for the early successional species, eastern towhee ( Pipilo erythrophthalmus ) and chestnut‐sided warbler ( Setophaga pensylvanica ). Territories of all 3 territorial focal species crossed collocated pipeline sites less frequently than forest roads (ovenbird: 16%, eastern towhee: 14%, chestnut‐sided warbler: 31%) and the barrier effect increased with increasing corridor width. In contrast, brown‐headed cowbird abundance was 15 times greater at collocated pipelines compared to forest roads, suggesting that wider gas corridors provide enhanced access routes for cowbirds. Our study indicates the expansion of forest roads to collocated pipelines exacerbates the negative ecological effects already present with the existing road including increased edge avoidance by a forest interior species, greater barrier effects for all 3 territorial forest songbirds, and increased access for brown‐headed cowbirds into core forest. We support collocation as a mitigation strategy but emphasize restricting overall corridor width to reduce the additional ecological costs associated with this practice.
... By comparison, most potential sites for shale gas extraction are located in hilly and mountainous areas (Ma et al., 2018), where relatively high altitudes, large topographic reliefs and slope gradients, and vegetation coverage ratios are challenging for engineering operations. Meanwhile, the widely distributed natural reserves and densely populated areas significantly increase the eco-environmental risks, given the full impact of shale gas extraction on regional water (Warner et al., 2013;Vidic et al., 2013) and air quality (Harkness et al., 2017;Wang et al., 2017), soil (Annevelink et al., 2016;Fink and Drohan, 2015), vegetation (Farwell et al., 2016;Langlois et al., 2017), habitat for wild and aquatic animals (Brittingham et al., 2014;Moran et al., 2015), and daily life for humans. On the other hand, besides the high reliance on transportation (Milt et al., 2016), the extraction of shale gas requires far more water (Guo et al., 2016;Wang et al., 2018) and giant ground occupation areas (Drohan and Brittingham, 2012;Zhang et al., 2022) than conventional petroleum due to the hydraulic fracturing process. ...
... In the United States alone, pipeline mileage has increased 8.5% in the last decade (U.S. PHMSA Staff, 2020). These installations have cut through numerous ecosystems such as pastures, wetlands, forests, and agricultural fields to connect the global energy infrastructure (i.e., Jones et al., 2014;Langlois et al., 2017;McClung & Moran, 2018). The pipeline installation process causes major disturbances to these ecosystems and has the potential to fundamentally change natural soil characteristics and functioning, as well as altering the growing environment for vegetation in ROW areas compared with adjacent, undisturbed land. ...
Oil and natural gas pipelines are essential to the transport of energy materials, but construction of these pipelines commonly causes disturbance to ecosystems. Due to variability in pipeline installation practices and environments, drawing consensus about how pipeline installations typically impact ecosystems is challenging. Here, we performed a systematic literature review to compile studies that have evaluated impacts of pipeline installation on soil and plant properties. We found 34 studies reporting pipeline impacts on agricultural and natural ecosystems from eight countries. We quantified and synthesized the magnitude of responses and found that the majority of studies found pipeline installation resulted in soil degradation via increased compaction and soil mixing, paired with decreased aggregate stability and soil carbon (C) relative to adjacent, undisturbed areas. Averaged across all studies, aggregate stability decreased 44.8%, water infiltration was reduced 85.6%, and compaction via penetration resistance increased 40.9% over pipeline areas relative to nondisturbed adjacent areas. This soil degradation led to general declines in plant productivity, with 15 out of 25 studies documenting declines in crop yields (6.2–45.6%) and six out of nine studies reporting decreased biomass from natural ecosystems (1.7–56.8%). We conclude from our quantitative synthesis that pipeline installation typically results in degraded soil and vegetation resources, and this can persist for many years following installation.
... The effects of energy sprawl include habitat fragmentation, accelerated soil erosion, propagation of invasive species, and surface and ground water contamination. In addition to land clearing for energy extraction and capture (e.g., oil and gas wells, wind turbine, solar panels), the linear infrastructure of pipelines, powerlines, and roads is a major factor causing habitat fragmentation (Langlois et al. 2017) and many active energy sites overlap with ecologically valuable and intact natural habitats (McClung and Moran 2018). ...
Context
Wildlife avoid human disturbances, including roads and development. Avoidance and displacement of wildlife into less suitable habitat due to human development can affect their energy expenditures and fitness. The heart rate and oxygen uptake of large mammals varies with both natural aspects of their habitat (terrain, climate, predators, etc.) and anthropogenic influence (noise, light, fragmentation, etc.). Although incorporating physiological analyses of energetics can inform the impacts of both development and conservation, management decisions rarely incorporate individuals’ energetic requirements when deciding on locations for potential development.
Objectives
We aimed to estimate the change in expected energy expenditure, numerically and spatially, for mule deer to traverse a landscape with varying levels of oil and gas development through time.
Methods
Using calculations of energy expenditure of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) by weight, in relation to physical terrain components, plus avoidance factors for anthropogenic disturbance, we developed a spatiotemporal model of the minimum energy required for mule deer to traverse a landscape. We compared expected energy expenditure across 12 study sites with increasing levels of oil and gas development and over time in our study area, on the northern Colorado Plateau of Utah.
Results
We found that energy expenditure can be increased by development, regardless of terrain, through increased travel distance associated with avoidance behavior. Maximum median energy expenditure to traverse a 1400 ha sample area rose from 1135 to 1935 kilocalories, a 70% increase in energy required of a mule deer. There was a significant relationship between energy expenditure and the size of oil and gas development (p < 0.001), its compactness (p < 0.05), and its ‘thinness’ (p < 0.001), but not terrain ruggedness (p = 0.25).
Conclusion
As the energy costs of movement correlate across multiple species of large mammals, our analysis of the energetic cost, for mule deer, associated with development can serve as a quantitative representative of the impacts of oil and gas development for multiple mammals—including threatened or endangered species. Our bioenergetic cost-distance model provides a means of delineating impediments to efficient movement and can be used to quantify the expected energetic costs of proposed future developments. As wildlife are exposed to increasing anthropogenic stressors which reduce fitness, it is important to make strategic siting decisions to reduce energetic costs imposed by human activities.
... Clearing land and building the well pad, associated roads, and pipelines have the potential to indirectly affect wildlife by lowering the habitat quality and reducing habitat availability for resident and migratory species. The clearing of forested land tends to be permanent, especially along pipelines, with continued maintenance to prevent regrowth [48]. Direct effects include the displacement of residents, losses from vehicle collisions on new roads transecting previously intact habitat, and the disruption of nearby nests or dens. ...
High-volume hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale (underlying about 24 mil ha in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, and Virginia) has become a politically charged issue, primarily because of concerns about drinking water safety and human health. This paper examines fracking in the Marcellus region, and the tradeoffs between the energy and economic potential of natural gas extraction and the environmental impacts on wildlife. Therefore, we introduce a new E3 analysis that combines the costs and benefits as regards energy, economics, and the environment. The Marcellus Shale has the most proven reserves of natural gas of any basin in the United States, at 129 trillion cubic feet. Income from natural gas development comes primarily from direct and indirect jobs, and induced jobs (those created when direct workers spend their earnings in a community), taxes and fees, and royalty and lease payments to rights holders. Fracking, however, has detrimental effects on wildlife and wildlife habitats. Terrestrial habitat effects are primarily due to landscape fragmentation from the clearing of land for pipeline and well pad development, which often removes mature forest and creates open corridors and edge habitats. An increase in forest edge and open corridors is associated with shifts in the bird community, as generalist species that do well around people increase in abundance, while forest specialists decline. Invasive plants associated with disturbance further degrade forest habitats. Aquatic habitats are also affected, both directly and indirectly. Hydraulic fracturing requires up to 20 mil L of water per well fracture, most of which comes from surface water sources in the Marcellus region. The removal of water, especially in smaller headwaters, can increase sedimentation, alter water temperature and change its chemistry, resulting in reductions in aquatic biodiversity. Given the reality that hydraulic fracturing will continue, there is a need to develop practices that best minimize negative impacts on terrestrial and aquatic habitats, as well as policies and the resolve to enforce these practices. To achieve a more sustainable balance between economic, energy, and environmental costs and benefits, we recommend that industry, scientists, non-governmental organizations, mineral rights holders, landowners, and regulators work together to develop a set of best management practices that represent the best knowledge available.
... A survey about the forest fragmentation affected by Marcellus shale gas is conducted by Langlois et al. (2017), the results alerted the government and practitioners about the balance between nature and industry flourish. Oke et al. (2020) considers shale gas production and water demand scheduling under uncertain conditions. ...
With the booming of the unconventional oil and gas industry, its inevitable damage to the environment and human health has attracted public attention. We applied text mining on a total 6057 the type of Environmental Health and Safety compliance reports from 2008 to 2018 lunched by the Department of Environmental Protection in Pennsylvania, USA, to discover the intern mechanism of environmental violations.
... Linear fragmentation of mature forests is a common practice that occurs worldwide for installation and maintenance of transportation, energy, and recreation corridors and infrastructure (Riitters et al., 2004;Goosem, 2007;Monz et al., 2010;Jones et al., 2015). For example, development associated with the unconventional oil and gas industry in the central Appalachian region of the eastern United States is resulting in extensive linear forest fragmentation (Brittingham et al., 2014;Langlois et al., 2017). Drohan et al. (2012) estimated that 54% of existing shale-gas well pads in Pennsylvania occurred in forests, with 23% in core forests. ...
Amphibians are declining globally and while many factors are contributing to this decline, habitat loss and degradation caused by climate and land use changes are among the most critical. Habitat degradation and increased interspecific competition are both concerns for long-term viability of the federally-threatened Cheat Mountain salamander (Plethodon nettingi) which is endemic to high elevations in West Virginia. In this study, we quantified the impacts of linear habitat fragmentation (i.e., a linear forest clearing for creation of a ski slope) on local colonization and extinction probabilities in adjacent forested habitat for the Cheat Mountain salamander and two co-occurring competitor species, eastern red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) and Wehrle’s salamander (Plethodon wehrlei). We also quantified long-term changes in total occupancy of the species within the high elevation study area. We surveyed the salamander community annually from 1988 to 2021 using diurnal natural cover object searches at 43 plots, with 1988 representing three years following linear habitat fragmentation. For each species, we used dynamic occupancy models to identify and model influential covariates for initial occupancy, colonization, extinction, and detection probability. We found that distance to fragmentation was positively correlated with colonization probability for Cheat Mountain salamanders, indicating negative edge effects of the linear forest clearing. Distance to fragmentation was negatively correlated with colonization probability for eastern red-backed salamanders, potentially indicating this species benefited from increased solar radiation or reduced competition from Cheat Mountain salamanders. Predicted occupancy of eastern red-backed salamanders and Wehrle’s salamanders increased over the 34 year monitoring period, indicating potential for increased competitive interactions. Our study suggests that extensive linear habitat fragmentation could result in degraded habitat for Cheat Mountain salamanders in the adjacent forest, and that potential for interactions with competitor species is increasing in high elevation forest stands.
... Island biogeography theory is fundamental for studying the ecological succession pattern of landscapes and has been widely used by domestic and international scholars in the research of habitat fragmentation and landscape renovation [10,11]. Landscape-based habitat quality evaluation is mainly applied to regions, such as small watersheds, mountains, plateaus, and cities [12][13][14], with relatively broad research areas. ...
Climate change and intensified human activity have altered the landscape pattern of nature reserves and are expected to induce persistent changes in habitat quality. Using GIS technology and landscape ecological theories, we quantitatively analyzed landscape fragmentation characteristics and the driving factors for the interior and peripheries of the Qinling–Daba Mountains nature reserves during 2010–2017. Using spatial principal component analysis, landscape pattern indices, and Geodetector, we evaluated the habitat quality status of different nature reserve types in different regions and the impacts of human disturbance on these areas. The results are as follows: (1) Most national nature reserves in the Qinling–Daba Mountains were moderately or highly fragmented during 2010–2017, and the fragmentation degree of a few reserves exhibited a decreasing trend. (2) The fragmentation degree of landscape patches from the core areas to the experimental areas of the inner nature reserves showed a trend of being low in the middle and high in the surrounding area; the level of landscape fragmentation gradually decreased from the edge of 1 km (M-1) to 5 km (M-5). (3) There was spatial differentiation in the intensity of landscape fragmentation among the nature reserves; human activity intensity, land-use degree, elevation, slope gradient, and topographic relief were the factors influencing the spatial differentiation of landscape fragmentation, and the contribution of anthropogenic factors was significantly greater than that of natural factors. Human activities, such as the construction of network infrastructures, irrational partition management, expansion of agricultural and industrial production activities, were the main reasons for the spatial differentiation of landscape fragmentation in the nature reserves. These results can provide significant scientific support for ecological restoration in the nature reserves and contribute to the coordinated development between socio-economic system and ecological environment in the exceedingly impoverished areas.
... Exploration for development sites is becoming more prevalent throughout 1 the Allegheny Plateau of Pennsylvania, as well as nearby West Virginia and Ohio (Drohan et al. 2 2012). In Pennsylvania, 45% of existing pads are located within forests, of which 23% are in core 3 forest (Drohan et al. 2012), with rates of loss of privately-owned core forest more than twice of 4 public forests (Langlois et al. 2017). ...
The Broad-winged Hawk (BWHA, Buteo platypterus) is a small, secretive hawk with distinguishing broad black tail bands that breeds in northeastern North America. The hawk nests in deciduous or mixed forest, often near water, and close to clearings or forest edges. Land conversion and fragmentation alters the landscape and reduces the area of contiguous forest used by BWHA. This study seeks to determine the landscape characteristics influencing the apparent breeding range declines of the BWHA at the landscape scale. Landscape characteristics and BWHA presence data from 18,684 Breeding Bird Atlas blocks (each about 25km ² ) from Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York for two atlas period (1st Atlas: 1980s, 2nd Atlas: 2000s) were analyzed. Bayesian latent Gaussian models were fitted using INLA to determine best fit model for predicting the landscape characteristics associated with BWHA presence. The best models included landscape changes in land cover, including forest, water, urban, barren, farmland, and wetland and fragmentation of the landscape. Trends in loss were especially prevalent around the region’s largest cities: New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC. Loss of BWHA at the block-level was associated with areas with less forest in the 2000s, a decline in size of largest forest patches, lower elevations and lower latitudes. We suggest that both habitat loss and climate change may be contributing to the range contraction of the Broad-winged Hawk in the northeast United States.
... Automobile road network development, while improving economic opportunities and accessibility (e.g. Bryceson, Bradbury & Bradbury 2008), contributes to landscape fragmentation, deforestation, geomorphic changes, and pollution threatens biodiversity and traditional land use (e.g., Chesnokova & Lokshin 2016;Hargreaves, 2019;Ibisch et al, 2019;Langlois et al., 2017;Shirvani, Abdi & Buchroithner 2019;Sofia, Marinello & Tarolli 2016;Taubert et al. 2018). The density of the road networks significantly affects landscape sustainability. ...
Boreal forest landscapes are experiencing various anthropogenic pressures from industrial activity, transportation, urbanization, and recreation compounding already significant changes in regional climate. However, the impact of the transportation infrastructure on boreal forests is rarely considered, and information about road extent is often incomplete, especially in the case of informal roads. Using a combination of landscape observations and interviews with local residents this case study examines the role of informal roads, i.e. vehicular roadways existing outside of the current publicly governed road networks, in transforming Siberian boreal forest landscapes in the Vershina Khandy taiga, Russia. Informal roads constitute 88% of the total road length in the study area and exert significant and multifaceted effects on social-ecological systems and landscape sustainability. Native dark coniferous forests have been disturbed by cutting, logging and human-caused fires proliferated from the roads. In their immediate vicinity, the informal road networks also exacerbate the replacement of primary forests with different successional states. Landscape vulnerability was assessed using three main factors of road-related disturbance: erosion, permafrost degradation and wildfires. Valley landscapes, where roads are prevalent, found to be the most vulnerable to environmental degradation. They are more often located within the wetlands with permafrost occurrences. The impact of informal roads is not limited to environmental changes. Among consequences there are also increased mobilities of local and Indigenous communities, as well an improved access to the area by outsiders: recreational anglers and poachers. The effects on subsistence activities and mobility vary across different landscapes. Further research on natural and social components of landscape sustainability in boreal forests affected by informal road networks is needed to better understand the local, regional and global role of this phenomena.
... This fragmentation threatens biodiversity and results from a variety of infrastructures, including well pads, roads, pipelines, compressor stations, staging areas, storage ponds, and rail lines (Bohannon & Blinnikov, 2019). However, these quantitative studies assert that unconventional oil and gas extraction can be carried out in a way that does not severely impact land, particularly if effective management and public policy decisions are put into place, for instance, by reducing forest fragmentation through the placement of new well pads near existing pipelines and pads to consolidate infrastructure (Langlois et al., 2017). ...
This paper analyzes land-system dynamics changes due to energy infrastructure development and explores the environmental and social ramifications of hydraulic fracturing, through a case study in Central Appalachia. Grounded in photographic data, satellite images, and ethnographic material, this study demonstrates landscape and embodied experiences of change over time. Data show major shifts in terms of wildlife behavior, possibilities for farming and gardening, and byproducts of construction like noise, pollution, and excavation. However, what we argue is crucial to examine is the emotional toll that these changes have taken on rural residents. Interviewees chose to live in West Virginia because of deep enchantment with the surrounding natural beauty, which they feel they have lost due to energy development. While energy research has been dominated by technical disciplines and explanations, we advocate for an emotional-oriented analysis that accounts for individually lived experiences in the context of these landscape-level changes.
... Land conversion activities, such as well pad, road, and pipeline development, can disrupt environmental continuity and in turn affect habitat choices (Northrup et al. 2015), migration patterns (Barton et al. 2016), and potential reproductive habits in species. Pipeline construction, in particular, has been shown to increase forest fragmentation (Langlois et al. 2017). Land conversion activities can broadly impact microorganisms, animals, and plants by affecting ground temperature and soil quality (Kiviat 2013, Meng 2017 UOGD have also contributed to declining species numbers ( Juliusson & Doherty 2017). ...
The shale gas boom revolutionized the energy sector through hydraulic fracturing (fracking). High levels of energy production force communities, states, and nations to consider the externalities and potential risks associated with this unconventional oil and natural gas development (UOGD). In this review, we systematically outline the environmental, economic, and anthropogenic impacts of UOGD, while also considering the diverse methodological approaches to these topics. We summarize the current status and conclusions of the academic literature, in both economic and related fields, while also providing suggested avenues for future research. Causal inference will continue to be important for the evaluation of UOGD costs and benefits. We conclude that current economic, global, and health forces may require researchers to revisit outcomes in the face of a potential shale bust.
Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Resource Economics, Volume 13 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
... Land conversion activities, such as well pad, road, and pipeline development, can disrupt environmental continuity and in turn affect habitat choices (Northrup et al. 2015), migration patterns (Barton et al. 2016), and potential reproductive habits in species. Pipeline construction, in particular, has been shown to increase forest fragmentation (Langlois et al. 2017). Land conversion activities can broadly impact microorganisms, animals, and plants by affecting ground temperature and soil quality (Kiviat 2013, Meng 2017 UOGD have also contributed to declining species numbers ( Juliusson & Doherty 2017). ...
... The literature estimates that oil and gas development is a significant cause of ecosystem services lost in North America [4]. Most of the existing studies looked at forest land as the Appalachian region has been a popular study area (e.g., [27][28][29][30]). Other studies focus on Canada and other parts of the US East/North (e.g., [24,31,32]). ...
The environmental impact of shale energy development is a growing concern in the US and worldwide. Although the topic is well-studied in general, shale development’s impact on drylands has received much less attention in the literature. This study focuses on the effect of shale development on land cover in the Permian Basin region—a unique arid/semi-arid landscape experiencing an unprecedented intensity of drilling and production activities. By taking advantage of the high-resolution remote sensing land cover data, we develop a fixed-effects panel (longitudinal) data regression model to control unobserved spatial heterogeneities and regionwide trends. The model allows us to understand the land cover’s dynamics over the past decade of shale development. The results show that shale development had moderate negative but statistically significant impacts on shrubland and grassland/pasture. The effect is more strongly associated with the hydrocarbon production volume and less with the number of oil and gas wells drilled. Between shrubland and grassland/pasture, the impact on shrubland is more pronounced in terms of magnitude. The dominance of shrubland in the region likely explains the result.
... The impacts of energy-intensive industries on habitat include solid waste, wastewater and gases are deleterious for surface water, groundwater, soil, biodiversity, and landscapes (Sabeen et al, 2019;Ametepey and Ansah, 2014). Additionally, the impacts of them lead to the destruction of habitats and increase pollution of resources that they cause decreasing habitat qualities, increasing fragmentation and other hazards (Langlois et al, 2017;Garman, 2018;Howden et al, 2019). Assessing the effects of industries on habitat needs a powerful tool. ...
... This method of petroleum and natural gas production has been controversial, in particular due to its potential environmental effects (Drohan et al. 2012;Jackson et al. 2014;Meng and Ashby 2014;Meng 2017). These effects include water and air pollution (Tollefson 2012;Burton et al. 2014;Moore et al. 2014), increased seismic activity (Ellsworth 2013), land-use changes (McDonald et al. 2009;Allred et al. 2015;Trainor et al. 2016;Moran et al. 2017;Davis et al. 2018;Walker et al. 2020), fragmentation of habitats (Moran et al. 2015;Langlois et al. 2017;Pierre et al. 2017;Wolaver et al. 2018;Howden et al. 2019), and wildlife disturbances (Jones et al. 2015;Latta et al. 2015; Thompson et al. 2015). ...
Unconventional oil and gas (UOG) drilling has expanded rapidly across the United States, including in the Fayetteville Shale formation in north-central Arkansas where drilling began in 2004. As one of the oldest regions of UOG activity in the United States, this area has experienced significant land-use changes, specifically development of natural habitat and agricultural land for gas infrastructure. In recent years, drilling of new wells has stopped and production has declined. By 2017, 1038 wells had ceased production and been abandoned, which makes them eligible for land reclamation. However, most of these sites (80%) have not been reclaimed and continue to cause losses in ecosystem services. If reclamation was performed on lands associated with abandoned infrastructure, we estimate more than $2 million USD annually in agricultural, timber, and carbon sequestration values would be gained. These benefits far outweigh the costs of reclamation, especially since the benefits accrue over time and reclamation is a short-term cost. Our estimates indicate a 2–4 year break-even time period when cumulative ecosystem services benefits will outweigh reclamation costs. We predicted a well-abandonment rate of 155 per year until 2050 when 98% of wells will be abandoned, which indicates great potential for future ecosystem services restoration. Thus, we recommend that Arkansans at the government and citizen level work to restore lands impacted by UOG development in the Fayetteville Shale region so that their value to landowners and society can be recovered, which will enhance long-term economic and environmental benefits.
... Linear corridors (such as roads, power line, and oil and natural gas lines) in forested landscapes have impacted wildlife populations and also impaired ecological services [33]. It is estimated that globally the number of roads and expansion of existing roads will expand dramatically at least 25 million kilometers by 2050, a 60% increase in the total length of roads compared to 2010 [34]. ...
Assessing land use land cover changes in forested regions reflect the extent of anthropogenic pressure, ecosystem degradation and their impact on local wellbeing. The rapid expansion of linear developments such as roads, power lines will have an irreversible loss of habitat, as a result of forest fragmentation and consequent disruptions in the local ecological processes. The spatiotemporal land use analysis of Kodagu highlights the loss of forest cover due to an uncontrolled expansion of coffee plantations and other driving forces. The major cover of evergreen forest (40.47 to 27.14%) has lost due to interventions in terms of road, built-up areas and other changes. Around 66,892 ha of pristine forest cover was lost due to un-interrupted exploitation. Kushalnagara and Madikere taluks have lost the major chunk of forests due to construction (roads, homestays, villas, etc.) activities. Forest fragmentation analyses portray the status of forests in their condition across the temporal scale. The region had 32% of forest cover under interior or intact forests in 1973, whereas in 2018 it covers only 19% under various protected areas. Though Kodagu district is well connected with national and state high ways, the Government has now proposed to increase the road width of existing major highways (7) and a new railway line connecting Tellicherry and Mysore. The scenario based analysis has been done considering business as usual and with the expansion of linear alignments using Fuzzy-MCE-AHP-MCA. Forecasting future land use changes resulting from linear developments suggest the loss of core forest with the expansion of pre-existing roads. The loss of 8% forest cover with the expansion of linear alignments will have irreversible impacts on Kodagu landscape. The study reveals the causal factors for the disaster are the absence of prudent management of a landscape in the ecologically fragile region evident from the conversion of native forests to other land uses, disruption of stream network, construction of buildings along the water course disrupting the natural water flow, construction or expansion of existing roads, steep vertical cuts leading to structural instability, removal of native vegetation cover in highly undulating terrains with steep slopes leading to the weakening of terrain due to the lowered binding capability of soil, encroachment of local water bodies (such as ponds/tanks), etc. The study emphasizes the need for restoration of stream network, catchment treatment through planting of native species, arresting deforestation and restrictions of large-scale developmental projects with the detrimental land use changes. The outcome of the current research helps in evolving appropriate policies to review the proposed linear projects towards sustainable management of natural resources.
... Studies focusing on larger spatial scales, such as the state-or countylevel, have mainly focused on retrospective analyses characterizing past land-use change related to shale development or pipelines or have projected future impacts based on status quo policies and technologies. 4,[6][7][8][9]19 Only one study that we are aware of, Abrahams, Griffin, and Matthews, 5 conducts an analysis of a counterfactual shale gas development plan at the county-scale or larger. The Abrahams, Griffin, and Matthews 5 model assesses forest impacts under two predetermined policies: requiring pipelines to follow roads and reducing well pad density. ...
Shale gas pipeline development can have negative environmental impacts, including adverse effects on species and ecosystems through habitat degradation and loss. From a societal perspective, pipeline development planning processes should account for such externalities. We develop a multi-objective binary integer-programming model, called the Multi Objective Pipeline Siting (MOPS) model, to incorporate habitat externalities into pipeline development and to estimate the tradeoffs between pipeline development costs and habitat impacts. We demonstrate the utility of the model using an application from Bradford and Susquehanna counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. We find that significant habitat impacts could be avoided for relatively low cost, but that avoiding additional habitat impacts becomes gradually and increasingly costly. For example, 10 percent of the habitat impacts can be avoided at less than a two percent pipeline cost increase relative to a configuration that ignores habitat impacts. MOPS or a similar model could be integrated into the pipeline siting and permitting process, so oil and gas companies, communities, and states can identify cost-effective options for habitat conservation near shale gas development.
... Other studies by Drohan et al. (2012) found that well pads developed for shale gas production in Pennsylvania were placed predominantly in previously agricultural land, but many of those placed in forested areas disturbed core forests. Although Drohan et al. (2012) did not explicitly examine forest removal effects from pipelines, in a follow-up study of Lycoming County, PA the authors found that pipeline clearings removed more forest area than well pads (Langlois et al., 2017). Models of potential future development predicted close to 450,000 ha of impacted forest (2% of the total area) from combined oil, gas, and wind turbine development throughout the Marcellus play by 2030 Dunscomb et al., 2014). ...
Oil and gas development is changing the landscape in many regions of the United States and globally. However, the nature, extent, and magnitude of landscape change and development, and precisely how this development compares to other ongoing land conversion (e.g. urban/sub-urban development, timber harvest) is not well understood. In this study, we examine land conversion from oil and gas infrastructure development in the upper Susquehanna River basin in Pennsylvania and New York, an area that has experienced much oil and gas development over the past 10 years. We quantified land conversion in terms of forest canopy geometric volume loss in contrast to previous studies that considered only areal impacts. For the first time in a study of this type, we use fine-scale lidar forest canopy geometric models to assess the volumetric change due to forest clearing from oil and gas development and contrast this land change to clear cut forest harvesting, and urban and suburban development. Results show that oil and gas infrastructure development removed a large volume of forest canopy from 2006 to 2013, and this removal spread over a large portion of the study area. Timber operations (clear cutting) on Pennsylvania State Forest lands removed a larger total volume of forest canopy during the same time period, but this canopy removal was concentrated in a smaller area. Results of our study point to the need to consider volumetric impacts of oil and gas development on ecosystems, and to place potential impacts in context with other ongoing land conversions.
... reclamation) resulting from the unconventional gas development of Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania. Expanding road and pipeline networks and other hydraulic fracturing infrastructure results in habitat fragmentation, introduces novel species with human activity and equipment, and disturbs soil structure and hydrology (Barlow, Mortensen, Drohan, & Averill, 2017;Drohan & Brittingham, 2012;Langlois, Drohan, & Brittingham, 2017). Restoration around this infrastructure requires land managers to make decisions about how to reclaim soils and vegetation. ...
This article reconsiders the challenge of environmental communication by inquiring into the fundamental rhetorical difficulty of thinking in terms of ecology. We discuss two essential yet bewildering aspects of ecology: its focus on interconnection and its use of multiple scales. On this basis, we distil six rhetorical recommendations: a shift from appealing to pre-existing values to avenues for transforming values; a shift from arguments from authority to addressing legitimate resistances; a shift from a focus on mutual agreement to a mutual bewilderment; a shift from intellectual comprehension to personal experience; a shift from negative effects to positive connections; and, finally, a shift from a focus on political results to local transformations. We experiment with this rhetorical approach through two applications: for critical reassessments of past articulations we consider the Gaia Hypothesis and Deep Ecology, and for current refinements to environmental problems we consider controversies around Marcellus Shale gas development
... In PA, information on the location of a gathering pipeline elsewhere is only available where a gathering line crosses a stream or river. To account for gathering pipelines in the remainder of the state, a GIS model was created using Bradford County pipelines maps in addition to previously generated pipeline maps of Lycoming County (Langlois et al., 2017). A typical pattern was simulated, connecting pipelines between unconventional wells throughout the state (Fig. 2). ...
Natural gas infrastructure releases methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. The estimated emission rate associated with the production and transportation of natural gas is uncertain, hindering our understanding of its greenhouse footprint. This study presents a new application of inverse methodology for estimating regional emission rates from natural gas production and gathering facilities in north-eastern Pennsylvania. An inventory of CH4 emissions was compiled for major sources in Pennsylvania. This inventory served as input emission data for the Weather Research and Forecasting model with chemistry enabled (WRF-Chem), and atmospheric CH4 mole fraction fields were generated at 3 km resolution. Simulated atmospheric CH4 enhancements from WRF-Chem were compared to observations obtained from a 3-week flight campaign in May 2015. Modelled enhancements from sources not associated with upstream natural gas processes were assumed constant and known and therefore removed from the optimization procedure, creating a set of observed enhancements from natural gas only. Simulated emission rates from unconventional production were then adjusted to minimize the mismatch between aircraft observations and model-simulated mole fractions for 10 flights. To evaluate the method, an aircraft mass balance calculation was performed for four flights where conditions permitted its use. Using the model optimization approach, the weighted mean emission rate from unconventional natural gas production and gathering facilities in north-eastern Pennsylvania approach is found to be 0.36 % of total gas production, with a 2σ confidence interval between 0.27 and 0.45 % of production. Similarly, the mean emission estimates using the aircraft mass balance approach are calculated to be 0.40 % of regional natural gas production, with a 2σ confidence interval between 0.08 and 0.72 % of production. These emission rates as a percent of production are lower than rates found in any other basin using a top-down methodology, and may be indicative of some characteristics of the basin that make sources from the north-eastern Marcellus region unique.
... Forest fragmentation is a substantial concern where UOG reserves lie beneath core forests Moran et al., 2015;Langlois et al., 2017). In PA, three-quarters of the state, and nearly 70% of PA state forests overlay shale gas reserves . ...
Vegetation removal and soil disturbance from natural resource development, combined with invasive plant propagule pressure, can increase vulnerability to plant invasions. Unconventional oil and gas development produces surface disturbance by way of well pad, road, and pipeline construction, and increased traffic. Little is known about the resulting impacts on plant community assembly, including the spread of invasive plants. Our work was conducted in Pennsylvania forests that overlay the Marcellus and Utica shale formations to determine if invasive plants have spread to edge habitat created by unconventional gas development and to investigate factors associated with their presence. A piecewise structural equation model was used to determine the direct and indirect factors associated with invasive plant establishment on well pads. The model included the following measured or calculated variables: current propagule pressure on local access roads, the spatial extent of the pre-development road network (potential source of invasive propagules), the number of wells per pad (indicator of traffic density), and pad age. Sixty-one percent of the 127 well pads surveyed had at least one invasive plant species present. Invasive plant presence on well pads was positively correlated with local propagule pressure on access roads and indirectly with road density pre-development, the number of wells, and age of the well pad. The vast reserves of unconventional oil and gas are in the early stages of development in the US. Continued development of this underground resource must be paired with careful monitoring and management of surface ecological impacts, including the spread of invasive plants. Prioritizing invasive plant monitoring in unconventional oil and gas development areas with existing roads and multi-well pads could improve early detection and control of invasive plants.
Oil and gas (OG) resource extraction has adverse impacts on landscapes despite the socio-economic benefits that trickle down to society. Whereas many recent studies have focused on direct landscape change from OG activities, this study focuses on factors associated with the creation of high-impact OG seismic cutlines, geophysical survey paths that have widths of more than 5.5 m. Using geographic information systems and a spatially-explicit logistic regression framework, we model the relationship between high-impact seismic cutlines and associated explanatory variables (e.g., seismic cutline type, land ownership type, etc.) by drawing on political ecology perspectives. The study finds that mechanically-cut seismic cutlines are 514.34 times significantly more likely to be high-impact seismic cutlines as compared to hand-cut seismic cutlines. We find that seismic cutlines found on private land are 0.05 times significantly less likely to be high-impact type as compared to those found on crown (public) land. These findings suggest that societal land use decisions and preferences are likely to influence the creation of spaces for different levels of OG land user–environment interactions. Thus, land use managers are presented with unique land use challenges that require environmental management strategies for dealing with the impacts of OG activities on the environment.
The development of shale gas, an unconventional energy source, will help improve China's energy structure. The National Energy Administration of China has included it in the national strategic emerging industry, which is also one of the five high-end novel growth industry plans in Sichuan Province. Drilling engineering is the key technology of shale gas exploration, while drilling waste fluid is one of the most representative wastes in the drilling process. The drilling waste fluid has the characteristics of a large amount of production, a complex composition, and a high treatment cost. The treatment of drilling waste fluid is critical for the long-term development of the surrounding environment of drilling operations sites. The effect of anions and cations on the performance of drilling fluid is studied by taking the apparent viscosity, plastic viscosity, dynamic shear force, and medium pressure filtration loss of the drilling fluid as the main indicators. Combined with the numerical simulation of the Box-Behnken module in the software of Design Expert, the requirements for the preparation of drilling fluid by recycling water-based drilling fluid are determined as follows: (1) polymer drilling fluid:hardness ≤ 1.00 g/L，Al3+ ≤ 4.80 g/L，Fe3+ ≤ 0.20 g/L，pH=7~10; (2) polysulfo nate dril-ling fluid: hardness ≤ 3.35 g/L，Al3+ ≤ 10.00 g/L，Fe3+ ≤ 2.80 g/L，SO4 2- ≤ 20.00 g/L pH=7~10; (3) Potassium polysulfonate drilling fluid: hardness ≤ 96.00 g/L，Al3+ ≤ 1.85 g/L，Fe3+ ≤1.65 g/L，SO4 2- ≤50.00 g/L, pH=7~10.
The development of unconventional oil and gas shales using hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling is currently a focal point of energy and climate change discussions. While this technology has provided access to substantial reserves of oil and gas, the need for large quantities of water, emissions, and infrastructure raises concerns over the environmental impacts. Written by an international consortium of experts, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the extraction from unconventional reservoirs, providing clear explanations of the technology and processes involved. Each chapter is devoted to different aspects including global reserves, the status of their development and regulatory framework, water management and contamination, air quality, earthquakes, radioactivity, isotope geochemistry, microbiology, and climate change. Case studies present baseline studies, water monitoring efforts and habitat destruction. This book is accessible to a wide audience, from academics to industry professionals and policy makers interested in environmental pollution and petroleum exploration.
Unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD) has become the most widespread form of energy production in the United States. The booms and busts associated with UOGD are not unique to the industry, but the impacts to local communities are. As the industry continues to dominate the nation's energy landscape, and marginalized communities are disproportionately exposed to the extraction processes, it is important to understand the full scope of the environmental and social impacts experienced by communities during booms and busts. We review the literature on both the ecological and social boom-bust impacts of UOGD, noting the dearth of research on bust-time impacts. We conclude by calling for greater research on the long-term impacts of busts, in particular, and on understudied aspects of social impacts like those to public services, infrastructure, and social capital.
The development of unconventional oil and gas shales using hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling is currently a focal point of energy and climate change discussions. While this technology has provided access to substantial reserves of oil and gas, the need for large quantities of water, emissions, and infrastructure raises concerns over the environmental impacts. Written by an international consortium of experts, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the extraction from unconventional reservoirs, providing clear explanations of the technology and processes involved. Each chapter is devoted to different aspects including global reserves, the status of their development and regulatory framework, water management and contamination, air quality, earthquakes, radioactivity, isotope geochemistry, microbiology, and climate change. Case studies present baseline studies, water monitoring efforts and habitat destruction. This book is accessible to a wide audience, from academics to industry professionals and policy makers interested in environmental pollution and petroleum exploration.
Habitat loss remains one of the primary threats to global forest communities but remaining forest habitats are also subjected to ongoing fragmentation by linear clearings such as seismic lines for petroleum exploration. Seismic lines alter local habitat use, but unlike roads, which are well studied, less is known about the effects of seismic lines on mammal abundance and community composition. The objective of this study was to determine whether fragmentation by seismic linear clearings affected mammal abundance or community composition at fine and landscape scales. Winter snow track surveys were conducted over three winters, within 14 landscapes, dispersed throughout a boreal forest area (4000 km²), to measure relative abundances of 17 co-existing mammals. Mammal communities within seismic line habitat were dissimilar from communities in nearby forest habitat and were characterized by relatively higher abundances of some larger herbivores (moose/elk) and some mammalian predators (cougar, lynx, weasel). Within broader landscapes (12.3 km²), relative abundances of some large mammals were also associated with seismic line fragmentation. One large predator (gray wolf) trended toward higher relative abundance in the landscapes most fragmented by seismic lines, while one large herbivore group (moose/elk) decreased in abundance in these landscapes. Overall, our results reveal that forest fragmentation by narrow linear clearings (e.g. seismic lines) had a measurable effect on wildlife relative abundances, particularly for a few large mammals. They also highlight the importance of differentiating between fine-scale and landscape-scale effects. In this area, strong preference and avoidance behaviors toward seismic line habitat, were generally not associated with a consistent response at the landscape scale, potentially due to the dissimilar responses by different species to seismic line habitats, which may have altered interactions between co-existing species, such as predator and prey species. These findings have important implications for the management of mammal communities located within forests fragmented by seismic lines.
Reclamation of highly disturbed lands typically includes establishing fast‐growing, non‐native plants to achieve rapid ground cover for erosion control. Establishing native plant communities could achieve ecosystem functions beyond soil erosion, such as providing wildlife habitat. Disturbed corridors through a landscape, of which pipelines are an example, present unique challenges for establishing native plant communities given the heterogeneity of soil environments and invasive plant propagule pressure. We created two structural equation models to address multiple related hypotheses about the influence of soil traits (soil pH) on plant community composition (current diversity and vegetative cover of the original restoration seed mix and background flora, and invasive plant density during mix establishment and current density) of a highly disturbed landscape corridor restored with native species. To test our hypotheses we conducted a plant survey on a gas pipeline crossing two state forests in the north‐central Appalachians that had been seeded with a native‐based mixture eight years prior. Low soil pH was a strong predictor of density of the invasive annual plant, Microstegium vimineum, and, had resulted in lower species diversity and cover of the seeded mix. Overall our data provide evidence that native‐based grass and forb mixtures can establish and persist on a wide range of soil environments and in competition with invasive plants. Advancing knowledge on restoration methods using native species is essential to improving restoration practice norms to incorporate multifunctional ecological goals.
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Unconventional shale gas development is a rapidly expanding driver of forest loss and fragmentation in the central Appalachian region. We evaluated the relationship between breeding passerine abundances and distance from shale gas development at a long-term (2008-2017) study site in northern West Virginia, USA. We examined responses of 27 species within 3 habitat guilds: forest interior, early successional, and synanthropic. More than half of the species evaluated showed sensitivity to distance from unconventional shale gas infrastructure (e.g., well pads, access roads, pipelines). Five forest interior species occurred in greater abundances farther from shale gas development , whereas 3 forest interior gap specialists increased in abundance closer to shale gas. Early successional and synanthropic species, including the nest-parasitic Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater), generally occurred in greater abundances closer to shale gas infrastructure. We used interpolated distributions of 4 focal species to assess their spatial response to unconventional shale gas development over time. Our results indicate that breeding pas-serine distributions and community composition are changing with forest disturbance driven by unconventional shale gas energy development.
Shale gas plays an important role in energy transformation. The sustainable development of the shale gas industry is a prerequisite for achieving an efficient, green, and long-term use of shale gas resources. This paper uses the WSR (Wuli-Shili-Renli) methodology to determine a comprehensive indicator system for assessing the sustainability of the shale gas industry. Game theory was used to combine two objective weighting methods and determine the comprehensive weight. The sustainability of the shale gas industry was evaluated based on the fuzzy matter-element extension theory. The results of the evaluation show that the overall sustainable development of China's shale gas industry is relatively poor. Shale gas industry in most regions is in a critically sustainable state (The critically sustainable state indicates the sustainability of the shale gas industry in general. The industry as a whole has the basic conditions for sustainable development in the short term; however, efficiency needs to be further improved to avoid the risk of degradation.) and is susceptible to degradation due to environmental changes. The shale gas industry in a few other regions is in an unsustainable state and cannot achieve an efficient and green development of shale gas. This paper evaluated the sustainability of the shale gas industry from a unique perspective. It is expected that the results of this research will contribute to the formulation of sustainable development strategies and further promote the green development of the shale gas industry.
Shale gas is a kind of unconventional natural gas stored in shale formation. Compared with traditional fossil fuels, it is more efficient and environmentally friendly. It can help to reduces a country's overdependence on high-energy and high-pollution resources. The sustainable development of the shale gas industry is a prerequisite for achieving an efficient, green, and long-term use of shale gas resources. In order to evaluate the sustainability of the shale gas industry correctly and scientifically, the driving force-pressure-state-impact-response-management (DPSIRM) model, the real-coded accelerated genetic algorithm (RAGA), and projection pursuit (PP) were combined to develop an assessment model for the sustainability of the shale gas industry (the DPSIRM-RAGA-PP model). The proposed model was then applied for an empirical analysis of the sustainable development of the shale gas industry of Chongqing and Sichuan, which currently produce over 90% of the Chinese shale gas. The obtained results show that (1) water shortage, water pollution and pipe network density are the major influencing factors for the sustainable development of the shale gas industry in the 15 indicators selected by DPSIRM model. (2) Compared to other factors, geological conditions, market risks and core technology exert less impact on the sustainable development of the shale gas industry in Chongqing and Sichuan. This may be related to the current stage of the shale gas development in Chongqing and Sichuan and the available statistical data. (3) The projection eigenvalues of the Chongqing and Sichuan samples are 3.1184 and 1.6826, respectively. It indicates that the sustainability of shale gas industry in Chongqing is better than that in Sichuan. Moreover, the proposed DPSIRM-RAGA-PP model can effectively utilize the high-dimensional, non-normal, and nonlinear complex data, and provides a practical method for the quantitative analysis and evaluation of the sustainable development of the fuel industry in general.
The quantification of landscape change and consequences of natural gas extraction from NAIP imagery. Analysis of disturbance patterns to measure changes in land cover and land use.
In the last decade, unconventional drilling for natural gas from the Marcellus-Utica shale has increased exponentially in the central Appalachians. This heavily forested region contains important breeding habitat for many neo-tropical migratory songbirds, including several species of conservation concern. Our goal was to examine effects of unconventional gas development on forest habitat and breeding songbirds at a predominantly forested site from 2008 to 2015. Construction of gas well pads and infrastructure (e.g., roads, pipelines) contributed to an overall 4.5% loss in forest cover at the site, a 12.4% loss in core forest, and a 51.7% increase in forest edge density. We evaluated the relationship between land-cover metrics and species richness within three avian guilds: forest-interior, early-successional, and synanthropic, in addition to abundances of 21 focal species. Land-cover impacts were evaluated at two spatial extents: a point-level within 100-m and 500-m buffers of each avian survey station, and a landscape-level across the study area (4326 ha). Although we observed variability in species-specific responses , we found distinct trends in long-term response among the three avian guilds. Forest-interior guild richness declined at all points across the site and at points impacted within 100 m by shale gas but did not change at unimpacted points. Early-successional and synanthropic guild richness increased at all points and at impacted points. Our results suggest that shale gas development has the potential to fragment regional forests and alter avian communities, and that efforts to minimize new development in core forests will reduce negative impacts to forest dependent species.
The spatial footprint of unconventional (hydraulic fracturing) and conventional oil and gas development in the Marcellus Shale region of the State of Pennsylvania was digitized from high-resolution, ortho-rectified, digital aerial photography, from 2004 to 2010. We used these data to measure the spatial extent of oil and gas development and to assess the exposure of the extant natural resources across the landscape of the watersheds in the study area. We found that either form of development: (1) occurred in ~50% of the 930 watersheds that defined the study area; (2) was closer to streams than the recommended safe distance in ~50% of the watersheds; (3) was in some places closer to impaired streams and state-defined wildland trout streams than the recommended safe distance; (4) was within 10 upstream kilometers of surface drinking water intakes in ~45% of the watersheds that had surface drinking water intakes; (5) occurred in ~10% of state-defined exceptional value watersheds; (6) occurred in ~30% of the watersheds with resident populations defined as disproportionately exposed to pollutants; (7) tended to occur at interior forest locations; and (8) had >100 residents within 3 km for ~30% of the unconventional oil and gas development sites. Further, we found that exposure to the potential effects of landscape disturbance attributable to conventional oil and gas development was more prevalent than its unconventional counterpart.
Scenarios for potential shale gas development were modelled for the Baltic Basin in Northern Poland for the period 2015–2030 using the land allocation model EUCS100. The main aims were to assess the associated land use requirements, conflicts with existing land use, and the influence of legislation on the environmental impact. The factors involved in estimating the suitability for placement of shale gas well pads were analysed, as well as the potential land and water requirements to define 2 technology-based scenarios, representing the highest and lowest potential environmental impact. 2 different legislative frameworks (current and restrictive) were also assessed, to give 4 combined scenarios altogether. Land consumption and allocation patterns of well pads varied substantially according to the modelled scenario. Potential landscape fragmentation and conflicts with other land users depended mainly on development rate, well pad density, existing land-use patterns, and geology. Highly complex landscapes presented numerous barriers to drilling activities, restricting the potential development patterns. The land used for shale gas development could represent a significant percentage of overall land take within the shale play. The adoption of appropriate legislation, especially the protection of natural areas and water resources, is therefore essential to minimise the related environmental impact.
Roads are only one type of man‐made linear corridors in the landscape. Utility easements and other industrial linear corridors (hereafter ILC) provide access and energy and support economic growth. They are pervasive in many regions and can have wide‐ranging environmental and biological effects. Power lines and pipelines (i.e. ILC associated with utility easements) usually occur at low densities compared to roads. However, they can be as wide as roads, are usually kept clear of trees and woody shrubs and can cover long distances across a wide range of habitats. Other ILC, such as seismic exploration lines, can occur at densities similar to or greater than roads. 27.1 Roads are only one component of the man‐made network of linear corridors in a landscape. 27.2 Industrial linear corridors can have environmental and biological effects that are often complex and difficult to predict. 27.3 Some landscapes and species are more vulnerable than others to the effects of ILC. 27.4 Effective mitigation involves strategies that reduce the number and duration of ILC in the landscape and the impacts caused by associated structural elements. 27.5 Much remains unknown about the effect of ILC on species and ecosystems, particularly in remote wilderness areas and developing countries. The demand for energy is increasing at an alarming pace throughout the world. Industrial linear corridors are being built to meet this demand but generally with scant knowledge of possible impacts to the environment and inadequate mitigation measures. Three types of effects need to be considered prior to the construction of ILC: impacts to the physical environment, direct biological effects and indirect biological effects. We suggest a large‐scale, integrated approach to land management and mitigation for companies involved in natural resource extraction, the provision of energy and ILC construction.
Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have become major methods to extract new oil and gas deposits, many of which exist in shale formations in the temperate deciduous biome of the eastern United States. While these technologies have increased natural gas production to new highs, they can have substantial environmental effects. We measured the changes in land use within the maturing Fayetteville Shale gas development region in Arkansas between 2001/2002 and 2012. Our goal was to estimate the land use impact of these new technologies in natural gas drilling and predict future consequences for habitat loss and fragmentation. Loss of natural forest in the gas field was significantly higher compared to areas outside the gas field. The creation of edge habitat, roads, and developed areas was also greater in the gas field. The Fayetteville Shale gas field fully developed about 2 % of the natural habitat within the region and increased edge habitat by 1,067 linear km. Our data indicate that without shale gas activities, forest cover would have increased slightly and edge habitat would have decreased slightly, similar to patterns seen recently in many areas of the southern U.S. On average, individual gas wells fully developed about 2.5 ha of land and modified an additional 0.5 ha of natural forest. Considering the large number of wells drilled in other parts of the eastern U.S. and projections for new wells in the future, shale gas development will likely have substantial negative effects on forested habitats and the organisms that depend upon them.
When natural resources are exploited, environmental costs and economic benefits are often asymmetric. An example is apparent in the environmental impacts from fossil fuel extraction by hydraulic fracturing. So far, most scrutiny has been focused on water quality in affected aquifers, with less attention paid to broader ecological impacts beyond individual drilling operations. Marcellus Shale methane exploitation in New York State, USA, has been delayed because of a regulatory moratorium, pending evaluation that has been directed primarily at localized impacts. We developed a GIS-based model, built on a hexagonal grid underlay nested within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's EMAP system, to examine potential cumulative ecological impacts. In a two-step process, we characterized > 19,000 hexagons, each sized to approximate the footprint of one drilling site (2.57 km²), using ecological attributes; we then developed a method for apportioning resource access that includes assessments of cumulative ecological costs. Over one-quarter of the hexagons were excluded as off-limits on the basis of six criteria: slope suitability, regulated wetland cover, protected-land cover, length of high-quality streams, mapped road density, and open water cover. Three additional criteria were applied to assess the estimated conservation vulnerability of the remaining sites: density of grassland birds (North American Breeding Bird Survey), percent core forest (Coastal Change Analysis Program), and total density of all state-mapped streams; these were determined and used in combination to rank the 14,000 potentially accessible sites. In a second step, an iterative process was used to distribute potential site access among all towns (sub-county governments) within the Marcellus Shale Formation. At each iteration, one site was selected per town, either randomly or in rank order of increasing vulnerability. Results were computed as percent cumulative impact versus the number of sites committed and compared to a most-conservative selection process (ranked by statewide conservation vulnerability). Random selection with proportional distribution by town resulted in larger cumulative ecological impacts, but rank-ordered selection by town was in many ways comparable to selection by statewide conservation vulnerability ranking. These outcomes allow for a political solution for managing resource access fairly, based on a balanced geographic distribution of economic benefits, coupled with an underlying scientific basis for assessing the ecological costs that are publicly shared.
INTRODUCTION Hydraulic fracturing occurs when high pressure fluids primarily consisting of water and sand are pumped at high pressure into subsurface formations, typically shale that contains natural gas and/or oil. The high pressure fluid causes the rock to fracture. The new fractures increase the surface area of the shale and better interconnect previously existing fractures, allowing more natural gas and/or oil to be pumped from the formation. Modern hydraulic fracturing, referred to as "fracking," is an evolving technology that largely began after 2000 and has significantly increased natural gas production in the United States in the past five years with corresponding decreases in natural gas prices. The revolution in hydraulic fracturing has been made possible by technological advancements in directional drilling. In the past, wells were drilled vertically and sometimes passed only briefly into the producing formation. Shale is a sedimentary rock that is initially formed underwater as a horizontal layer containing compacted mud that is cemented into rock. Intact shale has a low permeability, making fluid movement slow except along natural or artificial fractures in the rock. In the case of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, the shale is approximately 100 to 250 feet thick.
The accelerated development of energy resources around the world has substantially increased forest change related to oil and gas activities. In some cases, oil and gas activities are the primary catalyst of land-use change in forested landscapes. We discuss the challenges associated with characterizing ecological change related to energy resource development using North America as an exemplar. We synthesize the major impacts of energy development to forested ecosystems and offer new perspectives on how to detect and monitor anthropogenic disturbance during the Anthropocene. The disturbance of North American forests for energy development has resulted in persistent linear corridors, suppression of historical disturbance regimes, novel ecosystems, and the eradication of ecological memory. Characterizing anthropogenic disturbances using conventional patch-based disturbance measures will tend to underestimate the ecological impacts of energy development. Suitable indicators of anthropogenic impacts in forests should be derived from the integration of multi-scalar Earth observations. Relating these indicators to ecosystem condition will be a capstone in the progress toward monitoring forest change in landscapes undergoing rapid energy development.
Forest edges are known to consist of microenvironments that may provide habitat for a different suite of species than forest interiors. Several abiotic attributes of the microenvironment may contribute to this change across the edge to center gradient (e.g., light, air temperature, soil moisture, humidity). Biotic components, such as seed dispersal, may also give rise to changes in species composition from forest edge to interior. We predicted that abiotic and biotic measures would correlate with distance from forest edge and would differ among aspects. To test these predictions, we measured abiotic and biotic variables on twelve 175 m transects in each of two 24 ha forest fragments in east-central Illinois that have remained in continuous isolation for upwards of 100 years. Both univariate and multivariate techniques were used to best describe the complex relationships among abiotic factors and between abiotic and biotic factors. Results indicate that microclimatic variables differ in the degree to and distance over which they show an edge effect. Relative humidity shows the widest edge, while light and soil moisture have the steepest gradients. Aspect influences are evidenced by the existence of more pronounced edge effects on south and west edges, except when these edges are protected by adjacent habitat. Edges bordered by agricultural fields have more extreme changes in microclimate than those bordered by trees. According to PCA results, species richness correlates well with microclimatic variation, especially light and soil moisture; however, in many cases species richness had a different depth of edge influence than either of these variables. The herbaceous plant community is heavily dominated by three species. Distributions of individual species as well as changes in plant community composition, estimated with a similarity index, indicate that competition may be influencing the response of the vegetation to the edge to interior gradient. This study indicates that edge effects must be considered when the size and potential buffering habitat of forest preserves are planned.
1 Anthropogenic alteration of landscapes can affect avian nest success by influencing the abundance, distribution, and behavior of predators. Understanding avian nest predation risk necessitates understanding how landscapes affect predator distribution and behavior.
2 From a sample of 463 nests of 17 songbird species, we evaluated how landscape features (distance to forest edge, unpaved roads, and power lines) influenced daily nest survival. We also used video cameras to identify nest predators at 137 nest predation events and evaluated how landscape features influenced predator identity. Finally, we determined the abundance and distribution of several of the principal predators using surveys and radiotelemetry.
3 Distance to power lines was the best predictor of predator identity: predation by brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater), corvids (Corvus sp. and Cyanocitta cristata), racers (Coluber constrictor), and coachwhips (Masticophis flagellum) increased with proximity to power lines, whereas predation by rat snakes (Elaphe obsoleta) and raptors decreased. In some cases, predator density may reliably indicate nest predation risk because racers, corvids, and cowbirds frequently used power line right-of-ways.
4 Of five bird species with enough nests to analyze individually, daily nest survival of only indigo buntings (Passerina cyanea) decreased with proximity to power lines, despite predation by most predators at our site being positively associated with power lines. For all nesting species combined, distance to unpaved road was the model that most influenced daily nest survival. This pattern is likely a consequence of rat snakes, the locally dominant nest predator (28% of predation events), rarely using power lines and associated areas. Instead, rat snakes were frequently associated with road edges, indicating that not all edges are functionally similar.
5 Our results suggest that interactions between predators and landscape features are likely to be specific to both the local predators and landscape. Thus, predicting how anthropogenic changes to landscapes affect nesting birds requires that we know more about how landscape changes affect the behavior of nest predators and which nest predators are locally important.
Global demand for energy has increased by more than 50 percent in the last half-century, and a similar increase is projected by 2030. This demand will increasingly be met with alternative and unconventional energy sources. Development of these resources causes disturbances that strongly impact terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. The Marcellus Shale gas play covers more than 160,934 km(2) in an area that provides drinking water for over 22 million people in several of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States (e.g. New York City, Washington DC, Philadelphia & Pittsburgh). Here we created probability surfaces representing development potential of wind and shale gas for portions of six states in the Central Appalachians. We used these predictions and published projections to model future energy build-out scenarios to quantify future potential impacts on surface drinking water. Our analysis predicts up to 106,004 new wells and 10,798 new wind turbines resulting up to 535,023 ha of impervious surface (3% of the study area) and upwards of 447,134 ha of impacted forest (2% of the study area). In light of this new energy future, mitigating the impacts of energy development will be one of the major challenges in the coming decades.
Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) populations are declining across most of their range. Predation by wolves (Canis lupus) is believed to be the main proximate cause of these declines. However, it has been hypothesized that recent forestry and energy sector activity in caribou range ultimately might have caused population declines by altering wolf–caribou relationships. We tested the hypothesis that industrial linear features influence wolf movements in woodland caribou range in northeastern Alberta, resulting in increased wolf-caused caribou mortalities close to these features. Using step selection functions (SSF) and observed vs. simulated wolf movement paths, we found that wolf movement was influenced by natural linear features (rivers and streams) throughout the year, possibly because they provide ease of travel and high prey abundance. Wolf movement was further influenced by industrial linear features, but use of these features differed depending on line-type and season. Wolves showed strong selection for steps closer to conventional seismic lines during the snow-free season. Likewise, observed wolf movement paths followed conventional seismic lines more closely than simulated paths during snow-free months. Use of seismic lines as movement corridors might result in wolves hunting in caribou-preferred habitats (bogs and fens) more frequently than they did historically, particularly in the snow-free season when most caribou mortalities occur. However, we found no evidence that caribou mortalities occurred closer to industrial linear features than did live caribou. We conclude that wolf use of seismic lines increases predation risk for caribou close to these features, resulting in caribou avoidance of linear developments and thus functional loss of otherwise suitable habitat for caribou.
Extensive shale gas development is expected throughout the Appalachian Basin, and implementing effective avoidance and mitigation techniques to reduce ecosystem impacts is essential. Adoption of best management practices (BMPs) is an important approach for standardizing these techniques. For BMPs to be credible and effective, they need to be strongly supported by science. We focused on 28 BMPs related to surface impacts to habitat and wildlife and tested whether each practice was supported in the scientific literature. Our quantitative assessment produced four general conclusions: (1) the vast majority of BMPs are broad in nature, which provides flexibility in implementation, but the lack of site-specific details may hamper effectiveness and potential for successful conservation outcomes; (2) relatively low support scores were calculated for a number of BMPs, most notably those relating to noise and light pollution, due to existing research documenting effects on behavior rather than directly on species' survival and fitness—an indication that more research is needed; (3) the most commonly and strongly supported BMPs include landscape-level planning and shared infrastructure; avoidance of sensitive areas, aquatic habitats, and core forest areas; and road design, location, and maintenance; and (4) actions to enhance the development and implementation of BMPs should include public education, increased communication among scientists, improved data sharing, development of site-specific BMPs that focus on achieving ecological outcomes, and more industry collaboration.Environmental Practice 14:308–319 (2012)
The distribution and abundance of invasive species can be strongly influenced by habitat suitability and by corridors that facilitate dispersal. We synthesize results from a large-scale invasive plant survey with a patch-scale expansion experiment. The large-scale survey involved transects up to 250 m away from of all roads in a 32,000 ha forest. The patch experiment involved initiating invasions in different habitat types (roadside, wetland, disturbed, and intact forests), and then fitting statistical models to patch spread rates. The large-scale survey highlighted the importance of roads in predicting the presence of invasive plants, also revealing that one invasive plant, Microstegium vimineum, has spread rapidly since its purported introduction in 1994. The patch-scale experiments focused on Microstegium and demonstrated that spread rates are higher in roadsides than in forested and wetland patches, even in the absence of major disturbances. These results highlight the importance of landscape features when designing prevention and management practices aimed at limiting invasive plant abundance and spread. Nomenclature: Japanese stiltgrass, Microstegium vimineum (Trin.) A. Camus.
Trapping was used to investigate small-mammal community composition of a cleared powerline corridor compared with that of surrounding tropical rainforest in the wet tropics of north-eastern Queensland and to determine whether movements from the rainforest across the corridor were inhibited. The dense exotic grassland of the cleared powerline corridor supported a small-mammal community composed mainly of the grassland species Melomys burtoni (73·3%) and Rattus sordidus (15·0%) with rainforest small mammals being restricted to woody-weed thickets along the rainforest–powerline corridor edge. The rainforest species Rattus sp. (80·3%), Melomys cervinipes (10·9%) and Uromys caudimaculatus (8·8%) comprised the small-mammal community of the forest interior. These rainforest species also inhabited rainforest edge habitat and regrowth rainforest connections across gullies. Movements of rainforest species across the grassland corridor were almost completely inhibited even under bait inducement, a result attributable to the substantial structural and microclimatic habitat differences within the clearing and to interspecific competition with the better-adapted species of the grassland community. Rainforest species used regrowth connections along gullies to cross the powerline corridor. Mitigation of the fragmentation effects caused by powerline grassy swathes can best be achieved by strengthening extant canopy connections in regrowth gullies, and by establishing new connections across the clearings.
Millions of kilometres of seismic lines have been created for hydrocarbon exploration in the boreal forest and their impact on songbirds is unknown. I conducted a replicated beforeafter controlimpact (BACI) field experiment in southern Northwest Territories to evaluate the impact of 6 m wide seismic lines on songbirds. Territories of all birds on six pairs of 12 ha control and treatment plots were mapped for one year before and one year after seismic lines were cut through the treatment plots. The songbird community was not dramatically affected by seismic lines. At the community level, birds did not decline in abundance or move their territories relative to the seismic lines, and they included the seismic lines in their territories. However, ground and shrub nesting species that had territories spanning the seismic lines increased the size of their territories. At the species level, only the Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla (L., 1766)) showed a consistent response to seismic lines. Ovenbirds declined in abundance, moved their territories away from seismic lines, and were not observed crossing the lines. Pressure on industry from land managers to reduce the width of seismic lines should continue to minimize the impact of these clearings on all species.
Le développement rapide des réserves énergétiques des régions boréales de l'ouest du Canada suscite de l'intérêt en raison des impacts potentiels de la fragmentation des forêts causée par les lignes d'exploration sismique. Les lignes d'exploration sismique sont d'étroits corridors linéaires dans lesquels les arbres sont coupés pour permettre un accès aux zones éloignées lors des travaux d'exploration à des fins énergétiques. La coupe des arbres dans ces lignes a longtemps été faite par des débusqueuses sur une largeur d'environ 8 m. Cette méthode n'étant pas sans impact sur l'environnement, certaines entreprises ont utilisé de nouvelles techniques, en principe moins dommageables, qui réduisent l'emprise des lignes à 2 ou 3 m de largeur. Il est toutefois important de vérifier comment ces nouvelles lignes d'exploration sismique sont perçues par la faune. Nous avons étudié la façon avec laquelle les parulines couronnées (Seiurus aurocapilla) mâles répondent aux deux types de lignes d'exploration sismique dans une peupleraie mature du nordest de l'Alberta. Selon les repérages télémétriques, les parulines couronnées perçoivent les lignes créées selon l'ancienne méthode comme des ouvertures dans la forêt et les utilisent en tant que frontières de leur territoire. Les lignes d'exploration sismique plus étroites sont pour leur part incorporées aux territoires des parulines couronnées. Une cartographie des données ne montre aucune différence de densité chez les parulines couronnées entre les peuplements où il n'y a qu'une seule ligne créée selon l'ancienne méthode, ceux où l'on trouve plusieurs lignes étroites et ceux où il n'y a pas de ligne. Il semble en l'occurrence plus prudent d'utiliser les lignes d'exploration sismique étroites pour accéder aux différentes parties d'un territoire afin de minimiser les impacts écologiques de ces structures sur les oiseaux forestiers. Nomenclature: Banks et al., 2003.
We integrated road maps, traffic volume data, and pool locations in a modeling study to estimate the potential effects of road mortality on populations of pool-breeding spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum Shaw). Population projections based on spotted salamander life tables imply that an annual risk of road mortality for adults of >10% can lead to local population extirpation; mitigation efforts (tunnels, road closures, and other measures) should seek to reduce road mortality rates to below this threshold. For central and western Massachusetts, we estimated that salamanders would be exposed to at least this threshold level of risk at 22–73% of populations (assuming a 100 vs. 500m migration distance, respectively). We conclude that road mortality can be a significant source of additive mortality for individual spotted salamanders in many parts of the species’ range. Efforts to prevent such mortality by transportation planners are likely warranted strictly on a biological basis in areas with road densities >2.5km per km2 of landscape and traffic volumes >250 vehicles/lane/day within the migration range of a breeding population of spotted salamanders.
We use morphological image processing for classifying spatial patterns at the pixel level on binary land-cover maps. Land-cover
pattern is classified as ‘perforated,’ ‘edge,’ ‘patch,’ and ‘core’ with higher spatial precision and thematic accuracy compared
to a previous approach based on image convolution, while retaining the capability to label these features at the pixel level
for any scale of observation. The implementation of morphological image processing is explained and then demonstrated, with
comparisons to results from image convolution, for a forest map of the Val Grande National Park in North Italy.
Urbanization is a major cause of habitat fragmentation worldwide. Ecological and conservation theory predicts many potential impacts of habitat fragmentation on natural populations, including genetic impacts. Habitat fragmentation by urbanization causes populations of animals and plants to be isolated in patches of suitable habitat that are surrounded by non-native vegetation or severely altered vegetation, asphalt, concrete, and human structures. This can lead to genetic divergence between patches and in turn to decreased genetic diversity within patches through genetic drift and inbreeding.
We examined population genetic patterns using microsatellites in four common vertebrate species, three lizards and one bird, in highly fragmented urban southern California. Despite significant phylogenetic, ecological, and mobility differences between these species, all four showed similar and significant reductions in gene flow over relatively short geographic and temporal scales. For all four species, the greatest genetic divergence was found where development was oldest and most intensive. All four animals also showed significant reduction in gene flow associated with intervening roads and freeways, the degree of patch isolation, and the time since isolation.
Despite wide acceptance of the idea in principle, evidence of significant population genetic changes associated with fragmentation at small spatial and temporal scales has been rare, even in smaller terrestrial vertebrates, and especially for birds. Given the striking pattern of similar and rapid effects across four common and widespread species, including a volant bird, intense urbanization may represent the most severe form of fragmentation, with minimal effective movement through the urban matrix.
Concern over climate change has led the U.S. to consider a cap-and-trade system to regulate emissions. Here we illustrate the land-use impact to U.S. habitat types of new energy development resulting from different U.S. energy policies. We estimated the total new land area needed by 2030 to produce energy, under current law and under various cap-and-trade policies, and then partitioned the area impacted among habitat types with geospatial data on the feasibility of production. The land-use intensity of different energy production techniques varies over three orders of magnitude, from 1.9-2.8 km(2)/TW hr/yr for nuclear power to 788-1000 km(2)/TW hr/yr for biodiesel from soy. In all scenarios, temperate deciduous forests and temperate grasslands will be most impacted by future energy development, although the magnitude of impact by wind, biomass, and coal to different habitat types is policy-specific. Regardless of the existence or structure of a cap-and-trade bill, at least 206,000 km(2) will be impacted without substantial increases in energy efficiency, which saves at least 7.6 km(2) per TW hr of electricity conserved annually and 27.5 km(2) per TW hr of liquid fuels conserved annually. Climate policy that reduces carbon dioxide emissions may increase the areal impact of energy, although the magnitude of this potential side effect may be substantially mitigated by increases in energy efficiency. The possibility of widespread energy sprawl increases the need for energy conservation, appropriate siting, sustainable production practices, and compensatory mitigation offsets.
The Appalachian shale play, which includes the Marcellus shale formation, is an important source of natural gas and underlies much of the remaining large areas of extensive contiguous forest within the eastern United States, areas that are important breeding sites for forest songbirds. Shale gas development in contiguous forest creates large disturbances and causes habitat fragmentation; the landscape matrix remains characterized by stands of mature forest. We assessed the effects of shale gas development on counts of passerines and near- passerine birds within an extensively forested landscape. We surveyed birds within 2 broad forest types (northern hardwood and mixed oak) at increasing distances from 49 shale gas pads established within contiguous forest habitat. We compared counts of individual species and 3 vegetation-association groups (forest interior, synanthropic, and early successional) in relation to distance from a pad edge, and we compared community composition with distance from a pad edge. Counts of individuals and species within the forest interior group increased with increasing distance from a pad edge; counts of individuals were approximately 4 times greater at 250 m than at 0 m and 3 times greater than at 50 m. Twelve of 15 species in the forest interior group increased with increasing distance from a pad edge with no species showing a declining trend. In contrast, counts of synanthropic (i.e., human-associated) individuals and species were greatest at the pad edge and declined with distance to a pad edge. Counts of individuals at 250 m were 92% lower than at 0 m, and counts for 4 of the 5 individual species declined with increasing distance from a pad edge. Counts of individuals and species within the early successional habitat group were greater in oak (Quercus spp.) than in northern hardwood forests, and the response to a pad edge differed among species and between the 2 forest types. In northern hardwood stands, counts were greatest near the pad edge, whereas counts in oak stands showed no trend with distance to a pad edge. Overall, the combined avian community differed with distance from a pad edge. Our results suggest that synanthropic species, which are rare in core forest, are able to rapidly exploit new development-associated habitat. Counts of forest interior specialists declined, suggesting the habitat is becoming less suitable for this group. Our results are an early indication that shale gas development in core forest can have negative consequences for forest songbird communities as synanthropic species, which tend to be habitat generalists with wide geographic ranges, replace forest specialists. Long-term effects will depend on the scale and extent of shale gas development, emphasizing the need for proactive planning to minimize negative effects.
The Haynesville Shale lies under areas of Louisiana and Texas and is one of the largest gas plays in the U.S. Encompassing approximately 2.9 million ha, this area has been subject to intensive exploration for oil and gas, while over 90% of it has traditionally been used for forestry and agriculture. In order to detect the landscape change in the past few decades, Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery for six years (1984, 1989, 1994, 2000, 2006, and 2011) was acquired. Unsupervised classifications were performed to classify each image into four cover types: agriculture, forest, well pad, and other. Change detection was then conducted between two classified maps of different years for a time series analysis. Finally, landscape metrics were calculated to assess landscape fragmentation. The overall classification accuracy ranged from 84.7% to 88.3%. The total amount of land cover change from 1984 to 2011 was 24%, with 0.9% of agricultural land and 0.4% of forest land changed to well pads. The results of Patch-Per-Unit area (PPU) index indicated that the well pad class was highly fragmented, while agriculture (4.4-8.6 per sq km) consistently showed a higher magnitude of fragmentation than forest (0.8-1.4 per sq km).
Artificial linear structures can cause habitat fragmentation by restricting movements of animals and altering home ranges. The negative impacts of these linear structures, especially of those other than roads, on arboreal species have been rarely studied even though these species can be greatly affected because of their fidelity to the canopy. We studied the home ranges of an endangered arboreal marsupial, the western ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus occidentalis), with a focus on the impacts of a road and an artificial waterway on their movement. We radiotracked 18 females and 19 males along a major road and an artificial waterway near Busselton, Western Australia, for 3 years and estimated home ranges using an a-local convex hull (a-LoCoH) estimator. No possum crossed the road successfully during the monitoring period while one crossed the waterway. Males had a mean home range size of 0.31±0.044 (SE) ha, almost double that of the females at 0.16±0.017 ha. Possums near the waterway had larger home ranges (0.30±0.048 ha) than those near the road (0.19±0.027 ha), and the size increased with proximity to the waterway, probably due to the greater availability of nearby canopy connections and the lower availability of preferable foliage. These results demonstrate that both the road and waterway represent significant physical barriers to possums, and the artificial waterway influenced home ranges more severely than the road. This suggests that linear infrastructure other than roads can affect movements of strictly arboreal animals, and negative impacts of these structures need to be assessed and mitigated by reconnecting their habitat, just as those of roads.
Hydraulic fracturing and related ground water issues are growing features in public discourse. Few have given much attention to surface impacts from shale gas development, which result from building necessary surface infrastructure. One way to reduce future impacts from gas surface development without radically changing industry practice is by formulating simple, conservation-oriented planning guidelines. We explore how four such guidelines affect the locations of well pads, access roads, and gathering pipelines on state lands in Pennsylvania. Our four guidelines aim to (1) reduce impacts on water, reduce impacts from (2) gathering pipelines and (3) access roads, and (4) reduce impacts on forests. We assessed whether the use of such guidelines accompanies tradeoffs among impacts, and if any guidelines perform better than others at avoiding impacts. We find that impacts are mostly synergistic, such that avoiding one impact will result in avoiding others. However, we found that avoiding forest fragmentation may result in increased impacts on other environmental features. We also found that single simple planning guidelines can be effective in targeted situations, but no one guideline was universally optimal in avoiding all impacts. As such, we suggest that when multiple environmental features are important in an area, more comprehensive planning strategies and tools should be used.
Abstract A huge road network with vehicles ramifies across the land, representing a surprising frontier of ecology. Species-rich roadsides are conduits for few species. Roadkills are a premier mortality source, yet except for local spots, rates rarely limit population size. Road avoidance, especially due to traffic noise, has a greater ecological impact. The still-more-important barrier effect subdivides populations, with demographic and probably genetic consequences. Road networks crossing landscapes cause local hydrologic and erosion effects, whereas stream networks and distant valleys receive major peak-flow and sediment impacts. Chemical effects mainly occur near roads. Road networks interrupt horizontal ecological flows, alter landscape spatial pattern, and therefore inhibit important interior species. Thus, road density and network structure are informative landscape ecology assays. Australia has huge road-reserve networks of native vegetation, whereas the Dutch have tunnels and overpasses perforating road barriers to enhance ecological flows. Based on road-effect zones, an estimated 15–20% of the United States is ecologically impacted by roads.
Worldwide, shale-gas development is becoming a feasible extraction practice and the northern Allegheny Plateau, USA is a region experiencing such development. We used a GIS to investigate topographic and soil characteristics across existing and permitted shale-gas pads in Pennsylvania, which could affect infrastructure development and reclamation success. Results from this analysis, while regionally specific, can contribute knowledge for successful management of all shale-gas extraction. Approximately 60% of existing and permitted pads occur on slopes at risk to some excess surface water movement and local erosion. Pad development occurs >90% of the time on back-slope landscape positions and 37% of the time on soils with a fragipan subsoil horizon, which can contribute to soil drainage problems. Most pads (73%) are developed on soils without drainage problems, but 21% are on potentially wet soils. Shale-gas development related to one pad typically disturbed a 0.1- to 20.5-ha area (mean of 2.7 ha). Aerial photography analysis from 2010 indicates a small proportion of pads have undergone restoration, and restored pads were recontoured and planted with grass. Agricultural lands restored after infrastructure development were found to return to some crop production. Assuming perfect site reclamation, grass, herbaceous, hardwood, and conifer establishment appears suitable across the range of existing and permitted pads; however revegetation success may be limited by poor soil reclamation.
Marcellus Shale development is occurring rapidly and relatively unconstrained across Pennsylvania (PA). Through 2013, over 7400 unconventional wells had been drilled in the Commonwealth. Well pads, access roads, and gathering lines fragment forestland resulting in irreversible alterations to the forest ecosystem. Changes in forest quantity, composition, and structural pattern can result in increased predation, brood parasitism, altered light, wind, and noise intensity, and spread of invasive species. These fragmentation effects pose a risk to PA's rich biodiversity. This study projects the structure of future alternative pathways for Marcellus shale development and quantifies the potential ecological impact of future drilling using a core forest region of Bradford County, PA. Modeling presented here suggests that future development could cause the level of fragmentation in the study area to more than double throughout the lifetime of gas development. Specifically, gathering lines are responsible for approximately 94% of the incremental fragmentation in the core forest study region. However, by requiring gathering lines to follow pre-existing road routes in forested regions, shale resources can be exploited to their full potential, while essentially preventing any further fragmentation from occurring across the core forested landscape of Bradford County. In the study region, assuming an estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) of 1–3 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per well, this policy could be implemented for a minimal incremental economic investment of approximately 0.005–0.02 per Mcf of natural gas produced over the modeled traditional gathering line development.
Technological advances in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have led to the exploration and exploitation of shale oil and gas both nationally and internationally. Extensive development of shale resources has occurred within the United States over the past decade, yet full build out is not expected to occur for years. Moreover, countries across the globe have large shale resources and are beginning to explore extraction of these resources. Extraction of shale resources is a multistep process that includes site identification, well pad and infrastructure development, well drilling, high-volume hydraulic fracturing and production; each with its own propensity to affect associated ecosystems. Some potential effects, for example from well pad, road and pipeline development, will likely be similar to other anthropogenic activities like conventional gas drilling, land clearing, exurban and agricultural development and surface mining (e.g., habitat fragmentation and sedimentation). Therefore, we can use the large body of literature available on the ecological effects of these activities to estimate potential effects from shale development on nearby ecosystems. However, other effects, such as accidental release of wastewaters, are novel to the shale gas extraction process making it harder to predict potential outcomes. Here, we review current knowledge of the effects of high-volume hydraulic fracturing coupled with horizontal drilling on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the contiguous United States, an area that includes 20 shale plays many of which have experienced extensive development over the past decade. We conclude that species and habitats most at risk are ones where there is an extensive overlap between a species range or habitat type and one of the shale plays (leading to high vulnerability) coupled with intrinsic characteristics such as limited range, small population size, specialized habitat requirements, and high sensitivity to disturbance. Examples include core forest habitat and forest specialists, sagebrush habitat and specialists, vernal pond inhabitants and stream biota. We suggest five general areas of research and monitoring that will aid in development of effective guidelines and policies to minimize negative impacts and protect vulnerable species and ecosystems: 1) spatial analyses, 2) species-based modeling, 3) vulnerability assessments, 4) ecoregional assessments, and 5) threshold and toxicity evaluations.
We propose a framework to facilitate the evaluation of the impacts of shale gas infrastructures (well pads, roads, and pipelines) on land cover features, especially with regards to forest fragmentation. We used a geographic information system and realistic development scenarios largely inspired by the PA (United States) experience, but adapted to a region of QC (Canada) with an already fragmented forest cover and a high gas potential. The scenario with the greatest impact results from development limited by regulatory constraints only, with no access to private roads for connecting well pads to the public road network. The scenario with the lowest impact additionally integrates ecological constraints (deer yards, maple woodlots, and wetlands). Overall the differences between these two scenarios are relatively minor, with <1 % of the forest cover lost in each case. However, large areas of core forests would be lost in both scenarios and the number of forest patches would increase by 13-21 % due to fragmentation. The pipeline network would have a much greater footprint on the land cover than access roads. Using data acquired since the beginning of the shale gas industry, we show that it is possible, within a reasonable time frame, to produce a robust assessment of the impacts of shale gas extraction. The framework we propose could easily be applied to other contexts or jurisdictions.
Recent advancements in natural gas extraction (e.g. hydraulic fracturing) have significantly increased natural gas reserves in the United States. Estimates of the technically recoverable natural gas (TRR) in the Marcellus range between 141 trillion cubic feet (TCF) and 489 TCF. However, TRR estimation does not incorporate existing policies, regulations, or land use. We find that approximately 48% of the Marcellus in New York and Pennsylvania is inaccessible given land use patterns and current policy. In New York, approximately 83% of the Marcellus is inaccessible; while in Pennsylvania about 32% of the Marcellus is off limits to drilling. The New York portion of the Marcellus is estimated to have a TRR of between 19.9 TCF and 68.9 TCF. We estimate that 79% of the resource is inaccessible, which results in an accessible resource estimate of between 4.2 TCF and 14.4 TCF. In Pennsylvania, the shale gas TRR is estimated at 86.6–300 TCF. However, we estimate that 31% of the resource is inaccessible, which results in an accessible resource estimate of between 60.0 TCF and 208 TCF.
Roads can act as barriers to animal movement, which may reduce population persistence by reducing recolonization of empty habitats and limiting immigration. Appropriate mitigation of this barrier effect (e.g. seasonal road closures, location and design of wildlife over‐ or underpasses) depends upon whether the animals avoid the road itself or the traffic on the road. Empirical studies of road avoidance to date do not generally differentiate between these.
We conducted short‐ and long‐distance translocations and trapping studies of white‐footed mice ( Peromyscus leucopus ) and eastern chipmunks ( Tamias striatus ) near two‐lane paved roads, which differed widely in traffic amount, from 47 to 15 433 vehicles per day.
In the trapping study (13 sites) only five animals moved across a road, in comparison to 36 animals that moved the same distance without an intervening road ( P < 0·0001). In the short‐distance translocations (15 sites), 51% of the small mammals that were translocated across roads returned, in comparison to a return rate of 77% of animals that were translocated a similar distance with no intervening road ( P = 0·009).
In the long‐distance translocation study (24 sites) we found that each intervening road reduced the probability of successful return by about 50%.
We found no significant effects of traffic amount on return rates in either the short‐distance or the long‐distance translocations studies.
Small mammal densities were not lower near roads and we found no evidence for a decrease in density near roads with increasing traffic amount.
Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that small mammals avoid the road itself, and not emissions such as noise from the traffic on the roads. Our results imply that the barrier effect of roads on these species cannot be mitigated by measures aimed at reducing traffic amount; other measures such as wildlife passages would be needed.
Humans fragment landscapes to the detriment of wildlife. We review why fragmentation is detrimental to wildlife (especially
birds), review the effects of urbanization on birds inhabiting nearby native habitats, suggest how restoration ecologists
can minimize these effects, and discuss future research needs. We emphasize the importance of individual fitness to determining
community composition. This means that reproduction, survivorship, and dispersal (not simply community composition) must be
maintained, restored, and monitored. We suggest that the severity of the effects of fragmentation are determined by (1) the
natural disturbance regime, (2) the similarity of the anthropogenic matrix to the natural matrix, and (3) the persistence
of the anthropogenic change. As a result, urbanization is likely to produce greater effects of fragmentation than either agriculture
or timber harvest. Restoration ecologists, land managers, and urban planners can help maintain native birds in fragmented
landscapes by a combination of short- and long-term actions designed to restore ecological function (not just shape and structure)
to fragments, including: (1) maintaining native vegetation, deadwood, and other nesting structures in the fragment, (2) managing
the landscape surrounding the fragment (matrix), not just the fragment, (3) making the matrix more like the native habitat
fragments, (4) increasing the foliage height diversity within fragments, (5) designing buffers that reduce penetration of
undesirable agents from the matrix, (6) recognizing that human activity is not compatible with interior conditions, (7) actively
managing mammal populations in fragments, (8) discouraging open lawn on public and private property, (9) providing statutory
recognition of the value of complexes of small wetlands, (10) integrating urban parks into the native habitat system, (11)
anticipating urbanization and seeking creative ways to increase native habitat and manage it collectively, (12) reducing the
growing effects of urbanization on once remote natural areas, (13) realizing that fragments may be best suited to conserve
only a few species, (14) developing monitoring programs that measure fitness, and (15) developing a new educational paradigm.
A huge road network with vehicles ramifies across the land, representing a surprising frontier of ecology. Species-rich roadsides are conduits for few species. Roadkills are a premier mortality source, yet except for local spots, rates rarely limit population size. Road avoidance, especially due to traffic noise, has a greater ecological impact. The still-more-important barrier effect subdivides populations, with demographic and probably genetic consequences. Road networks crossing landscapes cause local hydrologic and erosion effects, whereas stream networks and distant valleys receive major peak-flow and sediment impacts. Chemical effects mainly occur near roads. Road networks interrupt horizontal ecological flows, alter landscape spatial pattern, and therefore inhibit important interior species. Thus, road density and network structure are informative landscape ecology assays. Australia has huge road-reserve networks of native vegetation, whereas the Dutch have tunnels and overpasses perforating road barriers to enhance ecological flows. Based on road-effect zones, an estimated 15-20% of the United States is ecologically impacted by roads.
Roads exert various effects of conservation concern. They cause road mortality of wildlife, change the behaviour of animals and lead to habitat fragmentation. Roads also have genetic effects, as they restrict animal movement and increase the functional isolation of populations. We first formulate theoretical expectations on the genetic effects of roads with respect to a decrease in genetic diversity and an increase in genetic differentiation or distance of populations or individuals. We then review the empirical evidence on the genetic effects of roads based on the available literature. We found that roads often, but not always, decrease the genetic diversity of affected populations due to reduced population size and genetic drift. Whether the reduction in genetic diversity influences the long-term fitness of affected populations is, however, not yet clear. Roads, especially fenced highways, also act as barriers to movement, migration and gene flow. Roads therefore often decrease functional connectivity and increase the genetic differentiation of populations or the genetic distance among individuals. Nevertheless, roads and highways rarely act as complete barriers as shown by genetic studies assessing contemporary migration across roads (by using assignment tests). Some studies also showed that road verges act as dispersal corridors for native and exotic plants and animals. Genetic methods are well suited to retrospectively trace such migration pathways. Most roads and highways have only recently been built. Although only few generations might thus have passed since road construction, our literature survey showed that many studies found negative effects of roads on genetic diversity and genetic differentiation in animal species, especially for larger mammals and amphibians. Roads may thus rapidly cause genetic effects. This result stresses the importance of defragmentation measures such as over- and underpasses or wildlife bridges across roads.
Width of the edge zone is critical to the existence of interior habitat in forest fragments. To determine how edge zone width varies among stands, microenvironmental gradients were described at ten edge sites in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware, USA. Sites were selected to allow comparisons of edge orientation and successional development. Significant edge effects were detected in light, temperature, litter moisture, vapor pressure deficit, humidity, and shrub cover, in some cases affecting the forest microenvironment up to 50 m from the edge. Variables which were dependent on direct beam radiation (vapor pressure deficit, temperature, and litter moisture) showed strong edge-oriented gradients at edges facing east, west, and south, but none at north-facing sites. Exclusion of light by closure of the side canopy curtailed edge effects in these variables. By contrast, edge-oriented gradients of shrub cover and humidity occurred independently of edge aspect and beyond the limits of direct beam radiation. Edge zone microenvironment remained distinguishable from that of continuous forest even after closure of the side canopy. These findings suggest that a large proportion of forest in small- and medium-sized fragments is climatically altered by edge proximity. Such effects recede over successional time, but are not entirely eliminated.
We studied the effect of traffic intensity on local abundance of anurans. We counted dead and live frogs and toads per km and estimated frog and toad local abundances using breeding chorus intensities on similar roads through similar habitats, but with different levels of traffic intensity. After correcting for effects of date, local habitat, time, and region, our analyses demonstrated that (1) the number of dead and live frogs and toads per km decreased with increasing traffic intensity; (2) the proportion of frogs and toads dead increased with increasing traffic intensity; and (3) the frog and toad density, as measured by the chorus intensity, decreased with increasing traffic intensity. Taken together, our results indicate that traffic mortality has a significant negative effect on the local density of anurans. Our results suggest that recent increases in traffic volumes worldwide are probably contributing to declines in amphibian populations, particularly in populated areas.
Worldwide shale-gas development has the potential to cause substantial landscape disturbance. The northeastern U.S., specifically the Allegheny Plateau in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, is experiencing rapid exploration. Using Pennsylvania as a proxy for regional development across the Plateau, we examine land cover change due to shale-gas exploration, with emphasis on forest fragmentation. Pennsylvania's shale-gas development is greatest on private land, and is dominated by pads with 1-2 wells; less than 10 % of pads have five wells or more. Approximately 45-62 % of pads occur on agricultural land and 38-54 % in forest land (many in core forest on private land). Development of permits granted as of June 3, 2011, would convert at least 644-1072 ha of agricultural land and 536-894 ha of forest land. Agricultural land conversion suggests that drilling is somewhat competing with food production. Accounting for existing pads and development of all permits would result in at least 649 km of new road, which, along with pipelines, would fragment forest cover. The Susquehanna River basin (feeding the Chesapeake Bay), is most developed, with 885 pads (26 % in core forest); permit data suggests the basin will experience continued heavy development. The intensity of core forest disturbance, where many headwater streams occur, suggests that such streams should become a focus of aquatic monitoring. Given the intense development on private lands, we believe a regional strategy is needed to help guide infrastructure development, so that habitat loss, farmland conversion, and the risk to waterways are better managed.
"This case study from northeastern Alberta, Canada, demonstrates a fundamentally different approach to forest management in which stakeholders balance conservation and economic objectives by weighing current management options from the point of view of their long-term effects on the forest. ALCES, a landscape-scale simulation model, is used to quantify the effects of the current regulatory framework and typical industrial practices on a suite of ecological and economic indicators over the next 100 yr. These simulations suggest that, if current practices continue, the combined activities of the energy and forestry industries in our 59,000 km2 study area will cause the density of edge of human origin to increase from 1.8 km/km 2 to a maximum of 8.0 km/km2. We also predict that older age classes of merchantable forest stands will be largely eliminated from the landscape, habitat availability for woodland caribou will decline from 43 to 6%, and there will be a progressive shortfall in the supply of softwood timber beginning in approximately 60 yr. Additional simulations involving a suite of 'best practices' demonstrate that substantial improvements in ecological outcome measures could be achieved through alternative management scenarios while still maintaining a sustainable flow of economic benefits. We discuss the merits of our proposed approach to land use planning and apply it to the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin."
Linear infrastructure such as roads, highways, power lines and gas lines are omnipresent features of human activity and are rapidly expanding in the tropics. Tropical species are especially vulnerable to such infrastructure because they include many ecological specialists that avoid even narrow (<30-m wide) clearings and forest edges, as well as other species that are susceptible to road kill, predation or hunting by humans near roads. In addition, roads have a major role in opening up forested tropical regions to destructive colonization and exploitation. Here, we synthesize existing research on the impacts of roads and other linear clearings on tropical rainforests, and assert that such impacts are often qualitatively and quantitatively different in tropical forests than in other ecosystems. We also highlight practical measures to reduce the negative impacts of roads and other linear infrastructure on tropical species.
Assessing land use changes due to natural gas drilling operations in the Marcellus Shale in Bradford County
- Jantz
Movement responses by wolves to industrial linear features and their effect on woodland caribou in northeastern Alberta
- Latham
Evaluating the scientific support of conservation best management practices for shale gas extraction in the Appalachian Basin
- Bearer
Habitat fragmentation: a threat to Pennsylvania's forest birds
- Brittingham
Polygon to Centerline Tool for ArcGIS
- T E Dilts
Dilts, T.E., 2015. Polygon to Centerline Tool for ArcGIS. http://www.arcgis.com/
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