[MCN] Roads, more roads: Consequences for birds, mammals

[Lance Olsen]

PNAS  Early Edition
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1522488113

Assessing large-scale wildlife responses to human infrastructure development
Aurora Torres et al

Abstract
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/07/05/1522488113.abstract

Habitat loss and deterioration represent the main 
threats to wildlife species, and are closely 
linked to the expansion of roads and human 
settlements. Unfortunately, large-scale effects 
of these structures remain generally overlooked. 
Here, we analyzed the European transportation 
infrastructure network and found that 50% of the 
continent is within 1.5 km of transportation 
infrastructure. We present a method for assessing 
the impacts from infrastructure on wildlife, 
based on functional response curves describing 
density reductions in birds and mammals (e.g., 
road-effect zones), and apply it to Spain as a 
case study. The imprint of infrastructure extends 
over most of the country (55.5% in the case of 
birds and 97.9% for mammals), with moderate 
declines predicted for birds (22.6% of 
individuals) and severe declines predicted for 
mammals (46.6%). Despite certain limitations, we 
suggest the approach proposed is widely 
applicable to the evaluation of effects of 
planned infrastructure developments under 
multiple scenarios, and propose an 
internationally coordinated strategy to update 
and improve it in the future.
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