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Road will ruin Serengeti

Nature volume 467, pages 272–273 (2010)Cite this article

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A Correction to this article was published on 13 October 2010

Tanzania's iconic national park must not be divided by a highway, say Andrew Dobson, Markus Borner, Tony Sinclair and 24 others. A route farther south would bring greater benefits to development and the environment.

Plans for building a two-lane road through 50 kilometres of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania must be halted. The road will cause an environmental disaster by curtailing the migration of wildebeest. Evidence from other ecosystems demonstrates that migratory species are likely to decline precipitously, causing the Serengeti ecosystem to collapse, and even flip from being a carbon sink into a major source of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Andrew P. Dobson is in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University, New Jersey 08544, USA. dobson@Princeton.edu,

    Andrew P. Dobson

  2. Markus Borner is director of the Africa Programme at Frankfurt Zoological Society, Arusha, Tanzania.,

    Markus Borner

  3. Anthony R. E. Sinclair is at the Centre for Biodiversity Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z4, Canada.,

    Anthony R. E. Sinclair

  4. Peter J. Hudson is director of the Huck Institute of Life Sciences, Penn State University, Pennsylvania 16802 USA.,

    Peter J. Hudson

  5. T. Michael Anderson is in the Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27109, USA.,

    T. Michael Anderson

  6. Gerald Bigurube is at the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS), Arusha, Tanzania.,

    Gerald Bigurube

  7. Tim B. B. Davenport is country director for the Wildlife Conservation Society in Tanzania, Zanzibar, Tanzania.,

    Tim B. B. Davenport

  8. James Deutsch is executive director, Africa Program, Wildlife Conservation Society, New York, New York 10460, USA.,

    James Deutsch

  9. Sarah M. Durant is at the Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, London NW1 4RY, UK.,

    Sarah M. Durant

  10. Richard D. Estes, 5 Granite Street, Peterborough, New Hampshire 03458, USA.,

    Richard D. Estes

  11. Anna B. Estes is in the Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903, USA.,

    Anna B. Estes

  12. John Fryxell is in the Department of Zoology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2WI, Canada.,

    John Fryxell

  13. Charles Foley is at the Wildlife Conservation Society, Arusha, Tanzania.,

    Charles Foley

  14. Division of International Conservation, Michelle E. Gadd is Africa programme officer, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Arlington, Virginia 22203 USA.,

    Michelle E. Gadd

  15. Dan Haydon is in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Glasgow, Scotland G12 8QQ, UK.,

    Dan Haydon

  16. Ricardo Holdo is in the Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211-7400, USA.,

    Ricardo Holdo

  17. Robert D. Holt is in the Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA.,

    Robert D. Holt

  18. Katherine Homewood is in the Department of Anthropology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.,

    Katherine Homewood

  19. J. Grant C. Hopcraft is in the Community and Conservation Ecology Group, University of Groningen, 9750 AA Haren, the Netherlands.,

    J. Grant C. Hopcraft

  20. Ray Hilborn is in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.,

    Ray Hilborn

  21. George L. K. Jambiya is in the Department of Geography, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.,

    George L. K. Jambiya

  22. M. Karen Laurenson, FZS, Arusha, Tanzania.,

    M. Karen Laurenson

  23. Lota Melamari is chief executive/coordinator, Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.,

    Lota Melamari

  24. Alais Ole Morindat, Kimmage East Africa Programme, Arusha, Tanzania.,

    Alais Ole Morindat

  25. Joseph O. Ogutu is at the Institute of Crop Science, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany.,

    Joseph O. Ogutu

  26. George Schaller, Panthera, New York, New York 10018, USA.,

    George Schaller

  27. Eric Wolanski is at the Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.,

    Eric Wolanski

Authors
  1. Andrew P. Dobson
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  2. Markus Borner
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  3. Anthony R. E. Sinclair
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  4. Peter J. Hudson
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  5. T. Michael Anderson
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  6. Gerald Bigurube
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  7. Tim B. B. Davenport
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  8. James Deutsch
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  9. Sarah M. Durant
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  10. Richard D. Estes
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  11. Anna B. Estes
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  12. John Fryxell
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  13. Charles Foley
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  14. Michelle E. Gadd
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  15. Dan Haydon
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  16. Ricardo Holdo
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  17. Robert D. Holt
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  18. Katherine Homewood
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  19. J. Grant C. Hopcraft
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  20. Ray Hilborn
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  21. George L. K. Jambiya
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  22. M. Karen Laurenson
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  23. Lota Melamari
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  24. Alais Ole Morindat
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  25. Joseph O. Ogutu
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  26. George Schaller
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  27. Eric Wolanski
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See Editorial, page 251 .

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Dobson, A., Borner, M., Sinclair, A. et al. Road will ruin Serengeti. Nature 467, 272–273 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/467272a

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