Summary

Long linear features on the landscape such as railways, roads, highways and power lines have impacts on wildlife and wildlife habitat that are disproportionate to the area of land that they occupy. In addition, highways, railways and power lines are sources of mortality that threaten wildlife populations. Indirect effects of linear development on wildlife include reduced access to habitat due to road avoidance and alteration of behaviours to survive in the changed habitat. Linear infrastructure also undermines ecological processes through the fragmentation of wildlife populations, restriction of wildlife movements, and the disruption of gene flow and metapopulation dynamics. A variety of techniques have been used to mitigate the impacts of transportation systems on wildlife movements with mixed success. To make progress on these issues wildlife biologists must: 1) recognize the potential long-term effects of highways and railways on wildlife populations and advocate more strongly for appropriate mitigation measures, 2) document the impacts of transportation infrastructure on wildlife populations, 3) conduct landscape analyses to identify “connectivity zones” and use these analyses to engage linear infrastructure planners earlier in the planning process and 4) design and conduct good monitoring studies to effectively evaluate various mitigation techniques.

There is a growing body of research into the ways that roads, highways and railways impact wildlife movements and populations. However, the extent to which these features are affecting wildlife populations and undermining ecological processes is still largely unknown. Further research is needed on the long-terms effects of transportation infrastructure as well as the nature and extent of impacts for a broader range of wildlife species.

As Sri Lanka is still at the stage of developing as a country we still have a huge potential to do the correct and most environment friendly and appropriated practice from the beginning rather than going for modifications when an issue arise due to poor planning. All this requires sound, concrete information and formulation of evidence based mitigation adapted to the local context. Therefore, the proposed research is a timely need where it concentrates on assessing the impact of three linear development types i.e. roads, railways and power lines, on wildlife and its ecology. Here the direct impacts will be quantified in terms of mortality due to the above. Indirect impacts will be assessed by analyzing the effect on interactions with adjacent communities (changes in mating and territorial behaviour and predator prey interactions) with the means of recording calls of a selected faunal group and by collecting information on variations in diversity and population dynamics from proximity to distant from above linear developments.

Finally, the information generated thorough the study could be utilised to propose site specific mitigation measures as the study will focus on different landscapes. Findings of this study can be incorporated in development plans of the country where it would save a considerable amount of time and money by generating reliable set of observations on ecological assets of the country. Public organisations such as Urban Development Authority, Road Development Authority, Central Environment Authority, Ceylon Electricity Board etc. and private organisations such as the contractors will directly benefit from the outcomes of this proposed project.

Objectives

• Investigate the impact of linear development on population dynamics/ composition/ diversity of associated wildlife

• Investigate the impact of linear development on behaviour and interactions of associated wildlife

• Identify possible mitigation measures that can be used to minimize negative impacts arising due to linear developments