ABSTRACT 7th International Symposium on Environmental Concerns in Rights-of-Way Management
TITLE:	Managing the Green Heritage of Highways Rights-of-Way in Southern Quebec: A New Ecological Landscape Approach
AUTHOR(S):	Yves Bédard - ybedard@mtq.gouv.qc.ca Ministère des Transports du Québec Québec, QC, Canada Daniel Trottier Ministère des Transports du Québec Québec, QC, Canada Luc Bélanger Canadian Wildlife Service Sainte-Foy, QC, Canada Jean-Pierre Bourassa Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Québec, QC, Canada Nancy Champayne Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Québec, QC, Canada José Gérin-Lajoie Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Québec, QC, Canada Gaston Lacroix Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Québec, QC, Canada Esther Lévesque Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Québec, QC, Canada
The Ministère des Transports du Québec maintains 2000 km of highway corridors scattered throughout southern Quebec (Canada). Traditional methods of controlling vegetation along these highways result in a boring landscape, deteriorate the various wildlife habitats and impoverish wild plant life while generating high maintenance costs. Recently, it has preferred to develop new maintenance methods that improve the safety of the highway system’s users, satisfy neighboring residents, beautify the landscape and consider the plant life and wildlife present along the highways. The new approach eliminates systematic multiple annual mowing, except on the first two meters from the pavement, where maintenance will even be accentuated (four or five mowings per year) to ensure highway safety (visibility) and better control of ragweed (Ambrosia artémisiifolia), a noxious allergenic plant. Since 1998, three different highway sections have served as experimental sites for a three-year period to assess biodiversity benefits as well as road user’s perceptions. These sites are located in three fragmented landscapes, one partially forested, another agricultural and the other suburban. The objective is to compare the experimental sites where the new approach is used with sections where the traditional way of management is maintained. The benefit on the plant and animal diversity, on the quality of the habitats of the new approach is evaluated herein after one year (1999). Preliminary results indicate that the plant diversity is minimal in the agriculturally intensive zone compared to the partially forested zone and the suburban zone. The roadside habitat near forests appears with the highest animal diversity (insects, small mammals, and birds) followed by suburban and agricultural sites. After this first year of monitoring, the results suggest, however, no differences have yet to appear in both animal and plant abundance and diversity between the new approach and the traditional way of managing roadside vegetation along highways in southern Quebéc. Keywords: Vegetation, management, rights-of-way, landscape Ref#: 2-14