Nearly 60 Years of Research: Bramble and Byrnes
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In 1953, a group of inquisitive researchers hiked out to one of Pennsylvania Electric Co.’s transmission lines, set up some instruments and began to measure the effects of vegetation management on wildlife.
Now, almost 60 years later, the research of these dedicated Purdue University scientists continues, with some of the industry's most useful information being gathered from the Game Lands 33 research site. The researchers’ names – Drs. William Bramble and William Byrnes – have become synonymous with the term “biodiversity.”
While they have conducted numerous studies, their primary work includes:
1. Game Lands 33 Project - Pennsylvania
2. Green Lane Research Project – Pennsylvania
3. Lake County Research Project – Illinois
Key findings of these studies include:
• Grassy rights-of-way promote beneficial wildlife habitat.
• Grasses, herbs and certain low-growing shrubs thwart woody brush invasion.
• Different treatment techniques encourage distinct plants and plant combinations.
• Corridor effect promotes a biodiverse rights-of-way.
• Wire-border zone concept.
The wire-border zone philosophy of vegetation management promotes a transmission zone between forests and vegetation beneath powerlines. It consists of three areas: wire zone, border zone and forest.
Under transmission lines, companies often use selective herbicides to create an area filled with herbs, grasses and low-growing shrubs that extend 20 feet from each side of the wires. Beyond this area lies the border zone, or edge, where tall shrubs, grasses and herbs grow. Finally, forest areas with tall trees surround the border zones. This combination of low plant cover in the wire zone with shrubby border zones produces an excellent habitat for diverse species of wildlife.