Road Kill Prompts Researcher To Examine Highways' Impacts On Environment

December 18, 2008 1:54 p.m. EST

Potsdam, NY (AHN) - It was road kill that lead a Clarkson University professor to begin focusing his attention on issues relating to road ecology.

"I thought, wow, this happens and people never think much about it. It's just an accepted part of the landscape," said Tom Langen, associate professor of biology at Clarkson in Potsdam, N.Y., in a statement from the University. Langen, a California transplant, wanted to find out "whether this was a benign problem or if it was evidence of a larger environmental problem."

He found a community of scientists and environmentalists who explored roads and their impacts on the surrounding environment, including animal populations.

Four years ago, Langen and other researchers associated with Clarkson's Center for the Environment and Paul Smith's College of the Adirondacks formed a team to examine the long-term environmental consequences of winter road maintenance on soils and lakes in the Adirondack Park. They also sought alternatives that were less harmful to the environment, according to the statement.

The scientists found high levels of chloride, and it was linked to the heavy road salt and sand applications along a well-traveled road that runs through Lake Placid. The team suggested that salt-tolerant native plants be planted along the road to restore plant and soil fertility, and that authorities should try and use 15 percent less road salt. The NY State Department of Transportation is currently implementing these recommendations.

"In terms of a discipline, road ecology is still a pretty young field. It really only dates back to the early 1990s, when a few people started pointing out the deleterious effects of roads on the environment," Langen said in the statement. "There's been a growing realization that many of the most complex environmental problems are located in the spaces where humans and the natural world intersect."