Effects of roads and traffic on animal abundance

在过去的100年里，道路已经成为一种主要的景观特征，而且这种基础设施还在继续扩大。最近，生态研究人员和交通规划者越来越关注道路和交通对动物种群的潜在影响。这种担忧有道理吗？道路对动物的分布和数量有多大影响的证据有多有力？虽然已经进行了许多研究，但几乎所有研究都受到研究设计的限制，这意味着无法将道路的影响与其他景观变化的影响分开估计，例如砍伐森林、湿地丧失或农业集约化。我的第一个目标是纠正这种情况；我将进行实证研究，以确定道路和交通对动物种群的影响，独立于其他景观变化，并与其他景观变化进行比较。鉴于道路影响动物数量，缓解这些影响的一个重要问题是，道路对哪些物种的影响最大，它们是如何受到影响的？例如，栅栏和野生动物过路处可以减少道路对主要通过交通死亡影响的物种的影响，而交通干扰对动物数量的影响可能只能通过降低景观中的交通密度来缓解。我开发了一套关于物种特征的假设和预测--它们的活动范围、繁殖率、自然密度(领土/家园范围的大小)、营养相互作用以及对道路、交通排放和个别车辆的行为反应--如何决定道路对动物种群影响的方向和大小。然后，我的第二个目标是进行一系列研究来测试这些预测。这项拟议的研究涉及三个重要的应用问题：(I)环境和交通机构应该在多大程度上关注道路和交通对野生动物的影响？(2)应监测哪些物种可能对道路造成影响？以及(Iii)将采取什么最有效的缓解措施来将这些影响降至最低？

Over the past 100 years roads have become a dominant landscape feature and this infrastructure continues to expand. Recently, ecological researchers and transportation planners have become increasingly concerned about the potential effects of roads and traffic on animal populations. Is this concern justified? How strong is the evidence that roads have a large impact on the distribution and abundance of animals? Although many studies have been conducted, almost all of them suffer from limitations in study design, which means it is not possible to estimate the effects of roads separately from the effects of other landscape changes such as deforestation, wetland loss, or agricultural intensification. My first objective is to rectify this situation; I will conduct empirical studies to determine the impact of roads and traffic on animal populations, independent of and in comparison to other landscape changes. Given that roads affect animal abundance, an important question for mitigation of these effects is, what kinds of species are most strongly affected by roads and how are they affected? For example, fencing and wildlife crossings can reduce road effects on species that are affected mainly through traffic mortality, while effects of traffic disturbance on animal abundance can likely only be mitigated by reducing traffic density in the landscape. I develop a set of hypotheses and predictions of how species characteristics - their movement ranges, reproductive rates, natural densities (territory/home range sizes), trophic interactions, and behavioural responses to roads, traffic emissions, and individual vehicles - determine the direction and size of the impact of roads on animal populations. My second objective is then to conduct a set of studies to test these predictions. The proposed research addresses three important applied questions: (i) to what extent should environmental and transportation agencies be concerned about the impacts of roads and traffic on wildlife? (ii) what kinds of species should be monitored for potential effects of roads? and (iii) what will be the most effective mitigation measures to minimize these effects?