Road ecology explains the effects of road systems on surrounding ecosystem patterns and processes. Much research describes the effects of higher order road networks in fragmenting landscapes and populations; or ecosystem effects caused by the presence of roads. This session builds on contributed road ecology sessions at past ESA meetings, by exploring the function of secondary and tertiary road networks, especially use, as a significant landscape ecological stimulus which cannot be ignored or separated from road network structure. Land use in remote areas, e.g. for resource extraction and utilization, requires accessibility, usually by roads. Shifts in climate are manifest in changing seasonal land use patterns, linked to changing accessibility of the landscape by road networks. Surmising the ecological effects of roads by measuring the structure of major road networks provides an incomplete picture. Rather, critical information about road use at local levels is necessary to model ecological effects, particularly at local and regional scales. To be able to model and evaluate change scenarios and their potential effects on ecosystems, information about this important stimulus, i.e. the function of the road network, must be included. The goal of this session is to advance ecological understanding about the relationship between the uses of lower order road networks, their structure and the remote landscapes where they are embedded. Specific objectives include: 1), establish the significance and rationale for studying the use and ecological effects of secondary and tertiary road networks; 2), present innovative case studies focusing on ecosystem and landscape responses to local road network structure and use; and, 3), describe methods that can be used by ecologists and land managers to study road use and integrate traffic data into ecological models and management systems. The first speaker will introduce the relevance of integrating road network function and structure in road ecology studies, and how such an approach could lead to advances in our understanding of road ecology. Subsequent speakers will focus on case studies and methods describing the integration of road-use data in ecological studies, the “nuts and bolts” of traffic data collection in remote landscapes, and the challenges of mapping and monitoring standards for secondary and tertiary roads in the United States. The final speaker will address the challenges of moving toward an integrated understanding of road network structure and function for ecological modeling and the potential for integrating climate change scenarios in road effect models.