1. Are threatened or endangered organisms found in the project corridor?
2. Are organisms found in the corridor that are valuable for commercial. recreational, or ecological reasons?
3. Are nuisance organisms (such as rodents and insects) present that might migrate or proliferate because of project-induced habitat changes?
4. Are organisms present that should be retained for aesthetic purposes?
5. Will ecosystem food webs be damaged. endangering important or protected organisms?
6. Will the diversity of important biological communities be lessened, promoting less ecosystem stability and ability to withstand stress?
7. Will ecosystem productivity be lessened, reducing the system's ability to sup port important or protected organisms?
Inherent in these questions is the concern for the function or role that the particular organism/biological comm plays in the larger ecosystem. Indeed, this issue is often the major focus of such environmental investigations (Table 3.8. As noted previously, it is important not only to consider the ecological impacts resulting from the actual construction of the facility, but also those relating to its subsequent operation and maintenance (e.g., the runoff of salt used to remove ice and snow from roadways)