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A comparative study of Melbourne's freeway planting designs: implications for biodiversity conservation

Metherell, Zoe ( 2006)

Extensive planting projects have been undertaken along freeways in Melbourne, Australia. This report is a comparative study of seven of these planting designs completed over a period of forty years. The aim of this project is to assess these designs in terms of their implications for biodiversity and make recommendations for future ecological designs. The analysis explores how variability between the planting designs relates to factors including plant species richness, diversity, plant abundance, use of indigenous and/or weed species and the inclusion of aquatic and under storey planting. Drawing from the scientific literature, these areas of variability between the planting schemes are assessed in terms of the positive and negative ecological effects, particularly relating to biodiversity conservation. The florist analysis shows that there is distinct variation between the planting designs and that some designs are far more beneficial for biodiversity conservation than others. The results of this study suggest that in the future, landscape architects and ecologists should work together on the design of freeway planting with a shared aim of providing a new sustainable ecosystem that is based on the structure, composition and ecological processes of the original plant communities.