Abstract
Although it is well known that the increasing size of the human population has a negative effect on freshwater biodiversity, the subject of whether or how the intersection of roads and streams (hereafter road crossings) influence the diversity of stream macro-invertebrates is under-researched. To fill this gap in our knowledge, we collected stream macro-invertebrates from road crossings (bridges and culverts) and compared their diversity with upstream and downstream sections. We found that road crossings had negative effects on the richness and abundance of native macro-invertebrates, as well as on the number of protected taxa. Our results showed also that alien individuals were more abundant at road crossings. These findings support the assumption that road crossings contribute to the spread of alien species. The assessment of environmental variables indicated that road crossings caused habitat modifications, and based on these it can be assumed that habitat modifications and associated phenomena (e.g. pollutants and storm events) were the major drivers of the observed patterns in biodiversity. Our results fill a knowledge gap and contribute to the deeper understanding of the effect of road crossings on freshwater biodiversity.
Highlights
One of the greatest challenges facing society today is the need to halt biodiversity decline, while promoting social and economic benefits
Principal Component Analysis (PCA) confirmed this separation and showed that road crossings are characterized by a high proportion of concrete and riprap habitat with high current velocity, while upstream and downstream sections are in general deeper, covered mostly by pebble, and characterized by terrestrial and aquatic plants (Fig. 1)
There is a substantial lack of studies that have examined the effects of road crossings on the diversity of stream macro-invertebrates
Summary
One of the greatest challenges facing society today is the need to halt biodiversity decline, while promoting social and economic benefits. The increasing size of the human population is related to pollution, habitat degradation, species invasions, change in land cover as well as the increasing number of different human infrastructures. These humaninduced phenomena are frequently associated with a decline in biodiversity (Vörösmarty et al 2010; Gál et al 2019). Despite the fact that roads can promote diversified societal and economic benefits, they can generate high environmental costs (Laurance et al 2009). This problem could not be more timely, because by 2050 it is estimated that there will be a 60% increase in the total length of the road and rail network worldwide over that in 2010 (Dulac 2013)
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