Out of all the human activities that have damaged or significantly altered wildlife habitats, entire ecosystems, and nature's way of life, roads seem to be the least innocuous and least relevant. However, Ben Goldfarb, an environmental journalist, would like to make the case of how our roads have drastically changed and shaped nature.
Come to think of it, in order to pave roads, the natural environment needed to be transformed as well. A portion of forests had to be cut down, mountains had to be carved, and land had to be leveled to build roads. Even if we don't change the entire landscape or habitats, Goldfarb writes that it still affects the ecosystem in other ways such as animal migration patterns, food sources, population dynamics, and even soundscapes. And of course, there's the occasional roadkill.
Goldfarb explores all this in his new book titled Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet. M.R. O'Connor writes a short review of the book on Undark.
(Image credit: Mika Korhonen/Unsplash)