N5. Road ecology in times of rapid road construction: Recent advances and growing challenges

Jochen Jaeger (Concordia University Montreal), jochen.jaeger@concordia.ca

Wenche Dramstad (Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research)

Summary

The current rate of construction of transport infrastructure on the planet is astonishing. Roads and railways have many negative effects on wildlife populations, e.g., road mortality, barriers to movement, reduced connectivity, loss of roadless areas, the spread of invasive species. Road mitigation measures are urgently needed.

The symposium will address questions such as:

  • What is the state of the art in road mitigation measures?
  • How effective are they? Are wildlife passages or wildlife fences more important?
  • What study designs, are effective at evaluating mitigation measures?

Description

Roads and railroads have become ubiquitous features in landscapes around the world. The current rate of ongoing and planned road construction is unprecedented and has been termed a "global infrastructure tsunami". A major example is the Belt-and-Road Initiative (BRI) launched by China in 2013, which involves a large-scale expansion of land transportation infrastructure. The negative effects of roads on wildlife include road mortality, barriers to movement, habitat loss, subdivision of populations into smaller and less viable sub-populations, pollution (noise, light, chemicals), loss of roadless areas, the spread of invasive species, and easier access for poachers, among many others. To address this rapidly growing problem, better mitigation measures and more robust knowledge about their effectiveness is urgently needed, in particular at the population level, and for the protection of remaining roadless areas. Otherwise, the installation of mitigation measures is likely to be used as an excuse to justify road construction everywhere, including sensitive areas of high biodiversity, while in fact the effectiveness of these mitigation measures is highly questionable. Road ecology will need to better connect with connectivity conservation.

The symposium will address the following questions, among others: What are the thresholds in the effects of road density on wildlife populations? How long are response times of wildlife populations to the construction of new roads? What is the state of the art in road mitigation measures? How effective are they? Are wildlife passages or wildlife fences more important? How long should wildlife fences be? How does the fence-end effect depend on fence length? To what degree do animals use existing crossings structures under roads, and how does their use depend on human activity levels? What study designs, monitoring schemes, and measurement endpoints will be effective at evaluating road mitigation measures?