Assessment of the capacity of the national ecological network elements for road construction and operation

Abstract

Road construction and usage have a wide range of direct and indirect negative effects on protected areas. The impact of state roads on protected areas in Vojvodina was reviewed in this article, based on the orientation values of habitat loss and secondary negative effects originating from traffic functioning. Results of the assessment indicate that the use of existing roads constructed on habitats within the national ecological network exceeded the capacity of individual PA-protected areas (e.g., in case of Straža Natural Monument). Recorded capacity overflow on other PAs occurs solely as a consequence of overlapping between protected areas and areas of influence of roads routed along the borders of protected areas (which is the case with Slano Kopovo Special Nature Reserve and Selevenjske pustare Special Nature Reserve). The aim of this article is to show that even with the smallest values of the parameters related to the width of roads and critical distance from the habitat, the vulnerability of certain core areas of the national ecological network is evident.