The Role of Sociodemographic Characteristics in Expert Perceptions of the Ecological Impacts of Forest Roads

This study examined whether experts’ perceptions of the ecological impacts of forest roads differed by age, gender, professional experience, and sector of employment. The research involved 120 participants from civil engineering, forestry engineering, landscape architecture, and urban and regional planning. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire consisting of three sections: sociodemographic characteristics, open-ended questions, and a set of 36 questionnaire statements specifically developed for this to assess expert perceptions of the ecological impacts of roads in natural ecosystems. The data were analysed using frequency analysis, the independent samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and post hoc multiple comparison tests. The findings indicated that participants generally had at least a moderate level of knowledge regarding the ecological impacts of forest roads. Significant differences in responses were observed by gender, age, professional experience, and sector of employment. In particular, differences in sociodemographic variables emerged for habitat integrity, fragmentation, stream improvement, road density, ecological design solutions, and wildlife corridors. The finding that most experts demonstrated at least a moderate knowledge suggests that sociodemographic differences in expert evaluations may provide useful input for improving ecological sensitivity, participatory decision-making, and mitigation-oriented planning in forest road management. Consequently, it was determined that expert assessments of the ecological impacts of forest roads are shaped by technical knowledge, as well ass by sociodemographic and professional characteristics.