USGS · 70266267
Behavioral responses of terrestrial mammals to COVID-19 lockdowns
Abstract
COVID-19 lockdowns reduced human mobility, providing an opportunity to disentangle its effects on animals from those of landscape modifications. Using GPS data, we compared movements and road avoidance of 2300 terrestrial mammals (43 species) during the 2020 lockdowns to the same period in 2019. Individual responses were variable, with no change in average movements or road avoidance behavior, likely due to variable lockdown conditions. However, under strict lockdowns,10-day, 95th percentile displacements increased by 73%, suggesting increased landscape permeability. In areas of high human footprint, animals' 1-hour, 95th percentile displacements declined by 12%, and animals were 36% closer to roads, indicating reduced avoidance during lockdowns. Overall, lockdowns rapidly altered some spatial behaviors, highlighting the variable but substantial impact of human mobility on wildlife worldwide.
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Marlee A. Tucker, Aafke M. Schipper, Tempe S. F. Adams, Nina Attias, Tal Avgar, Natarsha Lauren Babic, Kristin J. Barker, Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau, Dominik M. Behr, Jerrold L. Belant, Dean E. Beyer, Niels Blaum, J. David Blount, Dirk Bockmühl, Ricardo Luiz Pires Boulhosa, Michael B. Brown, Buuveibaatar Bayarbaatar, Francesca Cagnacci, Justin M. Calabrese, Rok Černe, Simon Chamaillé-Jammes, Aung Nyein Chan, Michael J. Chase, Yannick Chaval, Yvette Chenaux-Ibrahim, Seth Cherry, Duško Ćirović, Emrah Çoban, Eric K. Cole, Laura Conlee, Courtemanch, Gabriele Cozzi, Sarah C Davidson, Darren DeBloois, Nandintsetseg Dejid, Vickie DeNicola, Arnaud L.J. Desbiez, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, David Drake, Michael Egan, William F. Fagan, Morgan J. Farmer, Julian Fennessy, Shannon P. Finnegan, Christen H. Fleming, Bonnie Fournier, N. L. Fowler, Mariela G. Gantchoff, Alexandre Garnier, Benedikt Gehr, Chris Geremia, Jacob R. Goheen, Morgan L. Hauptfleisch, Mark Hebblewhite, Morten Heim, Anne G. Hertel, Marco Heurich, A.J. Mark Hewison, James Hodson, Nicholas Hoffman, J. Grant C. Hopcraft, Djuro Huber, Edmund J. Isaac, Karolina Janik, Miloš Ježek, Örjan Johansson, Neil R. Jordan, Petra Kaczensky, Douglas N. Kamaru, Matthew J. Kauffman, Todd M. Kautz, Roland Kays, Allicia P Kelly, Jonas Kindberg, Miha Krofel, Josip Kusak, Clayton T. Lamb, Tayler N LaSharr, Peter Leimgruber, Horst Leitner, Michael Lierz, John Linnell, Purevjav Lkhagvaja, Ryan A. Long, José Vicente López-Bao, Matthias-Claudio Loretto, Pascal Marchand, Hans Martin, Lindsay A. Martinez, Roy T. McBride, Ashley A.D. McLaren, Erling Meisingset, Joerg Melzheimer, Evelyn Merrill, Arthur D. Middleton, Kevin Monteith, Seth A. Moore, Bram Van Moorter, Nicolas Morellet, Thomas Morrison. 2023-06-08. Behavioral responses of terrestrial mammals to COVID-19 lockdowns. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo6499
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