Across Africa, transport infrastructure, including roads, is being built in over 30 planned
development corridors that are likely to have major impacts on remaining natural habitats
and associated biodiversity. Linked to this is the projected increase in human population
size, which is predicted to grow by 1.3 billion people by 2050. Road ecology is the study
of the ecological effects (both positive and negative) of roads and traffic but is perceived
to be under-researched in Africa. In this context, we undertook a systematic review of
road ecology research in Africa to understand the geographic and taxonomic scope
of work undertaken to date, as well as recommendations for reducing the impacts of
roads. We discovered 210 road ecology publications from Africa (published between
1954 and 2016), with most publications from the more affluent and politically stable
regions (e.g., southern and East Africa). We found more publications than expected,
with relevant research concealed within studies whose primary focus was on other
topics. Most publications (1) focused on single species, and in particular on mammals
(where chimpanzees and forest elephants were most studied); (2) were from southern
Africa; and 3) were conducted in the grassland and savannah biome and the tropical
and subtropical forest biome. Most publications examined the direct impacts of roads,
in particular wildlife-vehicle collisions. Only one-third of the publications provided some
form of recommendation for intervention to reduce or mitigate the impacts of roads,
based on evidence from the publication. Most recommended interventions related to
ecosystem or natural process recreation, as well as site and area stewardship. Gaps
and future directions for research include rigorous testing of measures to mitigate the
impacts of roads, inclusion of traffic monitoring in studies, understanding the impacts of
upgrading roads, and exploring livelihood, economic and moral incentives and education
and training as potential interventions for reducing the impacts of roads. Our review
has highlighted the need for accelerating the study of the impacts of roads on natural
habitats and biodiversity, in light of planned large-scale infrastructure development, and especially the study of appropriate mitigation measures that can be rigorously assessed
and implemented before and during construction and upgrading of roads in Africa.http://www.frontiersin.org/Ecology_and_Evolutionam2020Mammal Research Institut