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A review of the impacts of highway construction on wild animals and protection in tropical rainforest.

WANG Ji, WANG Yun*, GUAN Lei, CHEN Bing, CAO Guang-hua, KONG Ya-ping   

  1. (China Academy of Transportation Sciences, Beijing 100029, China).
  • Online:2019-10-10 Published:2019-10-10

Abstract: Tropical rainforest is the most biodiversity-rich ecosystem on the Earth. Linear infrastructure such as highways is one of the most important causes for biodiversity loss in tropical rainforest. Highway cut through wildlife habitat in tropical rainforest area, with the most significant impact being wildlife-vehicle collision and the second impact being blocking the movement of wild animals. Moreover, noise, lighting and air pollution cause wild animals to avoid highways, and change the behavioral characteristics of wild animals. The fragmentation of habitats results in the occurrence of small wildlife population. When the road network density reaches a threshold, there would be a nonlinear reduction or loss of wildlife population. With respect to wildlife conservation, the main strategies include: reasonably planning highway routes; scientifically setting up wildlife crossing structures; carrying out continuous monitoring and research on wildlife-vehicle collision, wildlife crossing structures, and roadside wildlife activities; building up multi-sectoral and multi-field cooperation mechanisms to strengthen wildlife management during tropical rainforest road construction. Four aspects should be paid attention to in the future research of wildlife conservation during highway construction in the tropical rainforest regions in China: (1) strengthening basic research and developing technology; (2) establishing standard specifications to better guide project construction; (3) multidisciplinary teamwork and stakeholder participation in the whole process of highway construction; (4) strengthening management and education to limit human disturbance to wildlife.

Key words: Lake Gehu, macrozoobenthos, biodiversity, spatial distribution pattern, PCA.