Assessment of Landscape Changes caused by Highway Construction: Case Study of Ruta del Canal Pargua Highway in Chile

Abstract

The constructed infrastructure that has made cities more livable to their human inhabitants not always has benefited the overall ecosystems, which has leading to some fragile land covers being the most affected (i.e., grasslands, wetlands, etc.). In this article, it is analyzed the relationship between the natural landscape and the highway “Ruta del Canal Pargua” in Puerto Montt, Chile. A comparison was performed/implemented based on a Land Use Land Cover Change (LULCC) analysis from a year before the construction of the highway (2012) to the most updated available image (2021). Three field spots were selected to observe the wetland’s landscape visual qualities, landscape natural features, and road management (2022). The results showed that anthropic interventions have been continuing to transform the natural features of wetland’s landscape, especially the native roadside vegetation, and noise pollution.This change was promoted by the lack of management of the highway inits surroundings, and, by the intrusive LULCC. This paper also discussesthe persistent lack of ecological management for highways in southernChile and sparks the conversation about the necessity to include anecological perspective in road infrastructure design in Chile that couldbe replicated in Latin America.