Research overview: road ecology and barrier effects on felid movement

Roads affect cats through direct mortality and through the barrier effect that fragments populations, a central theme in carnivore conservation. This overview surveys research quantifying how highways impede movement, elevate collision risk, and structure genetics for species from bobcats to pumas to tigers, and how traffic volume and road design modulate permeability. It reviews mitigation including crossings, fencing, and traffic management, and the methods, telemetry, genetics, and roadkill mapping, used to assess impacts. The synthesis frames road ecology as a discipline at the intersection of infrastructure and wildlife, explaining why expanding road networks are among the most pervasive barriers to the connectivity that climate-adaptive felid conservation requires.