Roads, roads everywhere

Abstract

Ecology Over the past century, an ever-expanding network of roads has spread over our planet. In a Perspective, Haddad considers the environmental impacts of this network. Roads often lead to land-use change as people clear newly accessible land for agriculture or housing. Roads also fragment ecosystems and cause widespread wildlife losses through collisions with vehicles. Road planning and construction can help to protect wildlife from the worst effects of roads; for example, through the construction of wildlife corridors. However, these measures are not enough to prevent the habitat fragmentation and land-use change that accompany the growing global road network. Science , this issue p. [1166][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aad5072