Abstract
Linear infrastructure (LI) such as roads, railways, pipelines, and powerlines are ubiquitous and responsible for habitat loss and fragmentation worldwide. Solving environmental issues associated with LI often requires a multi-disciplinary team to work together. In this background, this dissertation takes an interdisciplinary approach to understand the breadth of knowledge on fragmentation caused by linear infrastructure (Chapter 2), the ecological impacts of LI on bird communities (Chapter 3), and spatiotemporal patterns of road kills (Chapter 4) in a tropical ecosystem, and finally to identify perceptions and challenges of key stakeholders in the LI development process (Chapter 5). This dissertation’s research discovered that there is a serious lack of socio-political studies and information regarding impacts of LI other than roads and their synergistic effects on wildlife. Then, concerning the impact of different LI types on bird communities, it was discovered that bird species richness and abundance both declined significantly from edge habitat next to railroad to interior forest plots, while community composition was significantly altered by the distance to all three studied LIs (roads, railroads, and powerlines). This study further uncovered spatiotemporal patterns in vertebrate road kills. Particular habitats (e.g., scrub) and drain structures on the roadside led to increased road kill numbers. The beginning of the wet season and night time were identified as the most critical times for vertebrate road mortalities. Finally, it was discovered that the decision-making process in LI development in Sri Lanka is mainly affected by individual attitudes, which may ultimately affect an entire institute’s attitudes. Taking measures toward increasing the coordination between government institutions and facilitating communication was identified as one of the immediate steps that can be taken to mitigate some of the identified challenges.