Objectives To comprehensively evaluate the current status of international cooperation, research trends, and differences between domestic and international studies in the field of road ecology,

Methods This paper analyzed relevant literatures on road ecology using several visualization analysis methods, including keyword clustering, keyword timezone, keyword burst, and national cooperation intensity in CiteSpace.

Results The results indicated that the total citation frequency of the five most frequently cited articles in the Web of Science (WOS) database (823) was much higher than that in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database (250). The research on the adverse effects of roads on wildlife has shifted from studies on single species and single roads to studies on road networks and mixed species. The term "disturbance" has emerged as a prominent research keyword in recent years. However, this direction did not receive widespread attention in the early years of research on mitigation measures. It was not until 2016 that a significant number of keywords appeared. With the deepening of research, the focus of this direction has also shifted from "underpasses" to "culverts." In terms of international cooperation, although China has made progress in international cooperation (cooperation intensity coefficient C=0.03), compared with the United States (C=0.46), the United Kingdom (C=0.22), Norway (C=0.17), and other countries, there was still a significant gap in cooperation intensity. A comparison of domestic and international studies revealed that domestic research tended to prioritize the evaluation of the effectiveness of measures for wildlife passages, wheras foreign research was more inclined to examine the underlying causes of road impacts. With regard to wildlife monitoring technology, the development in China was relatively lagging behind and required urgent catch-up with the international advanced level.

Conclusions The conclusions of this study underscored the importance of strengthening international cooperation, focusing on research hotspots, and improving monitoring technology, providing new perspectives and suggestions for future road construction and wildlife protection research.