Behavioral responses of terrestrial mammals to COVID-19 lockdowns.
Marlee A TuckerAafke M SchipperTempe S F AdamsNina AttiasTal AvgarNatarsha L BabicKristin J BarkerGuillaume Bastille-RousseauDominik M BehrJerrold L BelantDean E BeyerNiels BlaumJ David BlountDirk BockmühlRicardo Luiz Pires BoulhosaMichael Butler BrownBuuveibaatar BayarbaatarFrancesca CagnacciJustin M CalabreseRok ČerneSimon Chamaillé-JammesAung Nyein ChanMichael J ChaseYannick ChavalYvette Chenaux-IbrahimSeth G CherryDuško ĆirovićEmrah ÇobanEric K ColeLaura ConleeAlyson B CourtemanchGabriele CozziSarah C DavidsonDarren DeBlooisNandintsetseg DejidVickie L DeNicolaArnaud Leonard Jean DesbiezIain Douglas-HamiltonDavid DrakeMichael EganJasper A J EikelboomWilliam F FaganMorgan J FarmerJulian T FennessyShannon P FinneganChristen H FlemingBonnie FournierNicholas L FowlerMariela G GantchoffAlexandre GarnierBenedikt GehrChris GeremiaJacob R GoheenMorgan L HauptfleischMark HebblewhiteMorten HeimAnne G HertelMarco HeurichA J Mark HewisonJames HodsonNicholas HoffmanGrant G J C HopcraftDjuro HuberEdmund J IsaacKarolina JanikMiloš JežekÖrjan JohanssonNeil R JordanPetra KaczenskyDouglas N KamaruMatthew J KauffmanTodd M KautzRoland KaysAllicia P KellyJonas KindbergMiha KrofelJosip KusakClayton T LambTayler N LaSharrPeter LeimgruberHorst LeitnerMichael LierzJohn D C LinnellPurevjav LkhagvajaRyan A LongJosé Vicente López-BaoMatthias-Claudio LorettoPascal MarchandHans W MartinLindsay A MartinezRoy T McBrideAshley A D McLarenErling MeisingsetJoerg MelzheimerEvelyn H MerrillArthur D MiddletonKevin L MonteithSeth A MooreBram van MoorterNicolas MorelletThomas A MorrisonRebekka MuellerMysterud AtleMichael J NoonanDavid O'ConnorDaniel OlsonKirk A OlsonAnna C OrtegaFederico OssiManuela PanzacchiRobert PatchettBrent R PattersonRogerio Cunha de PaulaJohn PayneWibke PetersTyler R PetroeljeBenjamin J PitcherBoštjan PokornyKim PooleHubert PotocnikMarie-Pier PoulinRobert M PringleHerbert H T PrinsNathan RancSlaven ReljicBenjamin RobbRalf RöderChrister Moe RolandsenChristian RutzAlbert R SalemgareyevGustaf SameliusHeather Sayine-CrawfordSarah L SchoolerÇağan Hakkı ŞekercioğluNuria SelvaPaola SemenzatoAgnieszka SergielKoustubh SharmaAvery L ShawlerJohannes SignerVáclav SilovskýJoão Paulo SilvaRichard SimonRachel A SmileyDouglas W SmithErling J SolbergDiego Ellis-SotoOrr SpiegelJared A StabachJenna Stacy-DawesDaniel R StahlerJohn StephensonCheyenne StewartOlav StrandPeter SundeNathan J SvobodaJonathan SwartJeffrey James ThompsonKatrina L ToalKenneth UisebMeredith C VanAckerMarianela VelillaTana L VerzuhBettina WachterBrittany L WaglerJesse WhittingtonMartin WikelskiChristopher C WilmersGeorge WittemyerJulie K YoungFilip ZiębaTomasz Zwijacz-KozicaMark A J HuijbregtsThomas MuellerPublished in: Science (New York, N.Y.) (2023)
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 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. 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.