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Recently the value of roadside vegetation as habitat for pollinators has gained increased attention, particularly in areas dominated by agriculture where there is little native vegetation available. However, many factors, including safety, cost, public perception, erosion control, and weedy plants must be considered when managing roadside vegetation. Although their decisions influence thousands of hectares of public rights-of-way, how engineers and roadside managers maintain roadside vegetation has been the subject of little research. In this study, we surveyed county engineers and roadside managers who manage vegetation along secondary roads in Iowa, USA to assess how they maintain roadside vegetation. Some counties employ roadside managers, who often have an environmental sciences background, to implement the on-the-ground management of roadside vegetation, while some counties use other staff. Compared to engineers, roadside managers more strongly agreed that using the ecological principles of integrated roadside vegetation management (IRVM) provided environmental benefits. Engineers in counties with a roadside manager more strongly agreed that IRVM practices reduce the spread of invasive species and provide attractive roadsides. Both engineers and roadside managers mentioned challenges to managing roadside vegetation, including interference with some native plantings by adjacent landowners, and ranked safety and soil erosion concerns as the highest priorities when making decisions. Four in ten roadside managers said their counties had protected native plant community remnants on secondary roadsides. Our findings can inform conservation outreach efforts to those responsible for managing roadside vegetation, and emphasize the importance of addressing safety and soil erosion concerns in roadside research and communications.

For many visitors, traveling to Thailand means one thing: enjoying the delicious street food. In Thailand's Best Street Food, freelance writer and food blogger Chawadee Nualkhair details everything that visitors need to know to track down the most delectable dishes--no matter where they are hidden.

Environmental practitioners must understand those they collaborate with to implement programs that are both socially and ecologically effective. Practitioners who understand decision-makers’ perspectives are better able to collaborate to lower political, financial, and cultural obstacles. In this study, we surveyed decision-makers involved with a voluntary environmental program in Iowa, USA. Iowa counties can choose to manage their roadside vegetation using an ecological approach, called integrated roadside vegetation management. Key decision-makers who decide whether a county has a roadside program are the county board of supervisors and the county conservation board. We used a mixed-mode design to survey the conservation board directors and chairs of the board of supervisors in each county. Our main goals were to understand the decision-makers’ perceived benefits and barriers to having a roadside program in their counties, as well as the key factors influencing their decisions about roadside vegetation management. Safety, maintenance cost savings, and erosion control were the main factors that influenced decision-making, while pollinators and other wildlife received the least consideration. However, decision-makers in counties with a roadside vegetation manager were more influenced by pollinators and other wildlife compared to their counterparts in counties without a roadside vegetation manager. The main barriers to having a program include a lack of resources or other concerns being a higher priority. Emphasizing safety, cost savings, and erosion control benefits of roadside programs, and identifying ways to lower startup costs may increase buy-in with county decision-makers.

Concentrations of Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, and Zn were measured in the samples of street dust and surface roadside soil before Jordan switched to unleaded fuel usage. The samples were collected from Petra, the most tourist-attractive site in Jordan. The samples were analyzed for heavy metals by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Our results show that the distribution of metals in the soil samples is affected by wind direction in the investigated area. The highest level of metals was found in the eastern parts of the roads due to the westerly-dominant wind in the studied area. The contamination levels of metals decrease as the distance from the edge of the road increases. In the roadside soil samples, the means for the concentrations of the metals at 1 m from the east side of the main road are 1.0, 19.1, 3791.4, 177.0, and 129.0 mg kg −1 for Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, and Zn, respectively. In the samples of street dust, the means of the concentrations of the metals in the investigated area are 9.7, 11.8, 4694.4, 31.6, and 24.8 mg kg −1 for Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, and Zn, respectively. In conclusion, the lithogenic origins (traffic emissions) are responsible for the diffusion of these metals in the studied region.

What are the main finding? * The living vegetation volumes of the eight sample areas varied from 2038.73 m[sup.3] to 15,032.55 m[sup.3] . * Affected by different plant configurations, the living vegetation volumes in the sample areas showed obvious differences with an order of S7 > S2 > S3 > S1 > S5 > S6 > S8 > S4. The living vegetation volumes of the eight sample areas varied from 2038.73 m[sup.3] to 15,032.55 m[sup.3] . Affected by different plant configurations, the living vegetation volumes in the sample areas showed obvious differences with an order of S7 > S2 > S3 > S1 > S5 > S6 > S8 > S4. What is the implication of the main finding? * The fitting relationship between living vegetation volumes and PM[sub.2.5] concentrations in different road green space is different owing to different compositions of plantings. The fitting relationship between living vegetation volumes and PM[sub.2.5] concentrations in different road green space is different owing to different compositions of plantings. To study the effects of species diversity of different urban road green space on PM[sub.2.5] reduction, and to provide a theoretical basis for the optimal design of urban road plantings. Different combinations of road plantings in Xianlin Avenue of Nanjing were used as sample areas, and 3–6 PM[sub.2.5] monitoring points were set up in each sample area. The monitoring points were setup at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 m from the roadbed for detecting PM[sub.2.5] concentrations in different sample areas. Moreover, the living vegetation volume of each sample area was calculated. The coupling relationship between the living vegetation volumes and PM[sub.2.5] concentrations in different sample areas was evaluated by regression fitting and other methods. PM[sub.2.5] concentrations among different sample areas were significantly different. PM[sub.2.5] concentrations were higher in the morning than in the afternoon, while the differences were not significant. The living vegetation volumes of the eight sample areas varied from 2038.73 m[sup.3] to 15,032.55 m[sup.3] . Affected by different plant configurations, the living vegetation volumes in the sample areas showed obvious differences. The S2 and S6 sample area, which was consisted a large number of shrubshave better PM[sub.2.5] reduction capability. The fitting curve of living vegetation volumes and PM[sub.2.5] concentrations in sample areas of S1 and S3–S8 can explain 76.4% of the change in PM[sub.2.5] concentrations, which showed significant fitting. The fitting relationship between living vegetation volumes and PM[sub.2.5] concentrations in different road green space is different owing to different compositions of plantings. With the increase in living vegetation volumes, their fitting functions first increase and then decrease in a certain range. It is speculated that only when the living vegetation volume exceeds a certain range, it will promote PM[sub.2.5] reduction.

ContextKnowledge about spatial patterns of human dimensions data within landscape ecology is nascent despite its importance in natural resources management. We explored this topic within the context of utility roadside forest management, a complex situation involving ecological, cultural, and aesthetic aspects of forests and reliable power.ObjectivesWe applied spatial interpolation to investigate patterns of human attitudes toward roadside vegetation management data across an exurban landscape.MethodsMail surveys (n = 1962) were used to collect social science data from residents in four areas of Connecticut, USA. For each area, three attitudes variables were evaluated for spatial autocorrelation using Moran’s I statistic. Based on identified autocorrelation distance or scale, attitudes were interpolated using inverse distance weighting. Model validation of interpolated surfaces was completed using root mean square error.ResultsSignificant spatial autocorrelation was present for five of 12 study area-attitude pairings (one focused on professionalism; two focused on safety; three focused on tradeoffs between reliable power and maintaining trees) at distances ranging from 200 to 2400 m. Accuracy of interpolations varied among study areas, suggesting that the choice of spatial scale of analysis influenced model results.ConclusionsSocial processes influencing attitudes were spatially heterogeneous, existing at disparate scales for the same variables in different locations. Collectively, “enough” roadside forest may exist to ameliorate intermittent vegetation management aesthetically, yet underlying social processes influencing roadside forest outcomes likely are not mutually exclusive. Interpolation assumptions often applied toward ecological studies did not work well for social processes studied in this analysis.

Analyses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on roadside sales activities for local products (fruits, vegetables, cooked meals, and fish) through a census of roadside stalls on five Bora-Bora districts conducted before (January and February 2020), during (from March 2020 to October 2021) and after (from November to December 2021) health-related activity and travel restrictions. Source: National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, licensed by the Department of Internal Affairs for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand Licence.