A short summary of effects on ecological goods and services is provided in the third section. After this introduction, terms and concepts are defined in the second section. This chapter is organized into five sections to summarize the interaction between roads and ecological conditions. These terms are defined in the next section. The committee’s analysis examines what is known about road effects at three scales, which are discussed later in the chapter.įor the second question, the committee used the phrase “ecological condition” for “ecosystem structure and functioning.” Because most information on road effects is given in terms of ecological structure andįunctioning rather than ecosystem goods and services, ecological condition is used. Roads have effects that can vary with a range of spatial scales. What are the effects of road density on ecosystem structure and functioning and on the provision of ecosystem goods and services? What are the appropriate spatial scales for different ecological processes that might be affected by roads? In this chapter, the committee addresses the following two questions as stated in its charge: Whatever their purpose, roads, road establishment, road maintenance, and road travel have a broad variety of effects. They are created to facilitate access to natural resources, to connect human communities, to move goods to markets, and to move people to work. Roads are created because of changing interactions between people and their environments.
Widespread attention continues to be drawn to the ecological effects of roads, especially as the road system continues to expand.
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