Johansson, Örjan
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Snow Leopard Trust
Research article2023Peer reviewedOpen access
Behavioral responses of terrestrial mammals to COVID-19 lockdowns
Tucker, Marlee A.; Schipper, Aafke M.; Adams, Tempe S. F.; Attias, Nina; Avgar, Tal; Babic, Natarsha L.; Barker, Kristin J.; Bastille-Rousseau, Guillaume; Behr, Dominik M.; Belant, Jerrold L.; Beyer, Dean E.; Blaum, Niels; Blount, J. David; Bockmühl, Dirk; Pires Boulhosa, Ricardo Luiz; Brown, Michael B.; Buuveibaatar, Bayarbaatar; Cagnacci, Francesca; Calabrese, Justin M.; Černe, Rok;
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Abstract
COVID-19 lockdowns in early 2020 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 lockdowns to the same period in 2019. Individual responses were variable with no change in averagemovements 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. Animals' 1-hour 95th percentile displacements declined by 12% and animals were 36% closer to roads in areas of high human footprint, indicating reduced avoidance during lockdowns. Overall, lockdowns rapidly altered some spatial behaviors, highlighting variable but substantial impacts of human mobility on wildlife worldwide.
Keywords
We used global positioning system (GPS) track; SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS
Published in
Science
2023, volume: 380, number: 6649, pages: 1059-1064
SLU Authors
Kindberg, Jonas
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA)
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
UKÄ Subject classification
Ecology
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo6499
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/122407