RT Journal Article
T1 A framework for large-scale risk assessment of road-related impacts, with application to mustelids
A1 Ascensão, Fernando
A1 Barrientos Yuste, Rafael
A1 D’Amico, Marcello
AB Roads, while crucial for human development and economic growth, pose significant threats to biodiversity. Large-scale road risk assessments are essential for guiding infrastructure planning, particularly in identifying areas to avoid new construction or prioritizing regions for mitigation where road networks are already established. However, conducting comprehensive assessments is challenging in regions with limited data on species' responses to roads. In this study, we propose a methodological approach for global and regional risk assessments of road-related impacts, utilizing data on road exposure and species-level susceptibility to road effects. We first derive species-specific susceptibility to road impacts using available trait data and expert knowledge. This information is spatialized through species range maps, creating a cross-taxa susceptibility layer. We then combine this layer with infrastructure density data to produce a bivariate map that highlights the co-occurrence of susceptibility and exposure. Through this approach, we identify priority mitigation areas-regions with high susceptibility and high exposure where mitigation efforts should be concentrated-and priority preservation areas-regions with high susceptibility but low exposure that should be protected from further road development. Our case-study focuses on mustelids, a globally distributed group with significant vulnerability to road impacts yet underrepresented in road ecology studies. The results reveal that the highest-risk areas are concentrated in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and scattered across sub-Saharan Africa, where high conservation value intersects with extensive road networks, marking these as priority mitigation areas. Priority preservation areas span mainly across South America, North America, and Siberia, with some areas across Africa and Borneo. This framework offers a foundation for preliminary assessments and proactive zoning, aiding in the identification of conservation management areas across different infrastructure types and taxa. Its adaptability makes it a valuable tool for researchers, wildlife managers, and transportation planners conducting large-scale assessments of infrastructure impacts on biodiversity.
PB Elsevier
YR 2024
FD 2024-11-26
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/118395
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/118395
LA eng
NO Ascensão, F., Barrientos, R., & D'Amico, M. (2024). A framework for large-scale risk assessment of road-related impacts, with application to mustelids. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 33, e13933. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13933
NO FA was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, (https://doi.org/10.54499/2022.01773.CEECIND/CP1722/ CT0010; https://doi.org/10.54499/LA/P/0121/2020). RB was funded by Talento Program from Comunidad de Madrid (2018T1/ AMB10374). MD was funded by Juan de la Cierva - Incorporación (IJC2019-039662-I) from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. This study was supported by the project "Plan Complementario de I+D+i en el área de Biodiversidad (PCBIO)", funded by the European Union within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan - NextGenerationEU and by the Regional Government of Andalusia.
NO Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal)
NO Comunidad de Madrid
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
NO European Union
NO Junta de Andalucía
DS Docta Complutense
RD 22 abr 2025