Rome's river was a corridor for some dispersers and a barrier for others
WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
Researchers modeled protected-area connectivity with circuit and graph theory under nine resistance scenarios representing three dispersal modes. The western and peripheral city sectors were generally more permeable than the center and east. The Tiber River appeared as either connective space or resistance depending on the assumed species' movement strategy. Shared candidate links often followed rivers and urban green spaces.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
Urban landscape plans should test which animals can actually cross a proposed corridor; a riverbank or park is not universally connected simply because it is green in an aerial image.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
Results are based on modeled resistance and dispersal assumptions, not observed migration or survival. Rome's urban form and species assemblages limit direct transfer of the identified corridor locations to other cities.
SOURCE
Landscape Ecology — Russo et al. (2026)
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Urban connectivity models suggest that no single green-link map represents all wildlife movement.
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