Research status and challenges of road impacts on wildlife in China

Background & Aim: Habitat loss and fragmentation, driven by expansion of global transport infrastructure networks, has become one of the significant factors contributing to the decline of biodiversity.Many studies on the impact of roads on wildlife have been conducted abroad, yet only a modest number of studies have been conducted in China.Summary: This review summarizes 144 case studies conducted in China by the year 2021 and 210 posts relating to roadkill from Sina Microblog.The impacts of roads on wildlife in China were divided into seven types: habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, avoid or gather at the roadside, hinder or promote migration, population isolation, wildlife crossing structures and roadkill.Recent, relevant studies in China are mainly concentrated in Hoh Xil, Changbai Mountains, and Qinling Mountains.The main species studied are ungulates on Tibetan Plateau, the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and Asian elephant (Elephas maximus).Perspectives: Collecting data on the impacts of roads on wildlife, is critical to inform interdisciplinary and multi-departmental management and conservation solutions of road-wildlife conflicts in China.Social media platforms can be important sources of data on roadkill occurrences.