What is the effect of urban sprawl on local ecosystems?

Urban sprawl primarily leads to habitat destruction and increased pollution. As cities expand outward into surrounding rural areas, natural habitats are often cleared to make way for new developments, such as housing, roads, and commercial buildings. This expansion can significantly disrupt local ecosystems, leading to the loss of flora and fauna that depend on those habitats for survival.

Furthermore, as more land is developed, it typically results in increased impervious surfaces like asphalt and concrete, which can lead to higher levels of water runoff and pollution in local waterways. The additional vehicles and infrastructure also contribute to air and noise pollution, which further degrades environmental quality. All of these factors combined significantly harm local ecosystems, making this choice the most accurate in describing the effect of urban sprawl.

The other options suggest outcomes that are inconsistent with the typical impacts of urban sprawl; for instance, while urban greenery can be developed, it does not outweigh the overall detrimental effects on habitat, and increased reliance on motor vehicles contradicts the nature of sprawling urban layouts, which generally promote car use due to greater distances and less public transport accessibility.