Roads in arid ecosystems present unique challenges for road planners and managers, as these ecosystems are highly sensitive to changes in water flows. Water from rainfall is the major force shaping these ecosystems and drives productivity. Roads concentrate water from rain or condensation at their edges as water runs off their surfaces. In arid ecosystems, this water‐shedding generally results in an attraction for a number of animal groups, and as a consequence, wildlife‐vehicle collisions (WVC) and roadkill are frequent. Arid landscapes are naturally open, and so roads generally do not fragment habitat and/or act as a barrier to animal movement to the same extent as in forested or other more densely vegetated ecosystems. Simple and effective solutions can be deployed to reduce the rate of roadkill, but care must be taken to avoid introducing other road impacts not currently issues for the majority of arid‐zone roads. Highly engineered multi‐lane roads in arid lands have additional barrier effects and influence water flows at significantly greater scales than the typical roads servicing the small populations of these regions.
The majority of roads in arid ecosystems act as an attractant for animals, which may increase animal densities around roads.
The attraction to arid‐zone roads can lead to an increased incidence of WVC.
Roads in arid zones that are highly engineered, multi‐lane and/or built on embankments cause additional effects, including habitat fragmentation.
Minimising the scale of microhabitat differences at the edges of arid‐zone roads, or lengthening the distance over which water is shed, may reduce their attractiveness and lessen their impact.
New roads and upgrades to existing roads in arid environments must consider landscape features, topography and animal species likely to be present and be designed to maintain landscape function which is easily disturbed in this environment.
The arid lands represent a significant challenge to road builders as impacts to ecosystems and wildlife are easily manifested, but costs of mitigation are high relative to the number of road users. Roads are typically traversed at high speed between distant population centres and are best threaded through zones of prior heavy human use (e.g. stock or caravan routes) rather than pristine habitat.
Roads in the Arid Lands
Issues, Challenges and Potential Solutions
Handbook of Road Ecology ; 382-390
2015-04-01
9 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
attraction , roadkill , arid zone , road verges , design , planning
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