Mammals responded to reduced road traffic - COVID-19 | Science

The frequency of animals crossing roadways is important to the conservation of countless species worldwide because roads cause mortality through vehicle collisions, reduce habitat, and limit movement of individuals. Road avoidance also limits dispersal, which increases isolation, inbreeding, and susceptibility of small populations to local extinction. Despite the global ubiquity of roads and their long-identified conservation implications, it has been difficult to determine whether road avoidance is caused by permanent road infrastructure or the day-to-day presence of vehicles. COVID-19 lockdowns during 2020 have provided an opportunity to answer this question.