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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
environmental science
Disturbance type and species life history predict mammal responses to humans
Global Change Biology, Volume 27, No. 16, Year 2021
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Description
Human activity and land use change impact every landscape on Earth, driving declines in many animal species while benefiting others. Species ecological and life history traits may predict success in human-dominated landscapes such that only species with “winning” combinations of traits will persist in disturbed environments. However, this link between species traits and successful coexistence with humans remains obscured by the complexity of anthropogenic disturbances and variability among study systems. We compiled detection data for 24 mammal species from 61 populations across North America to quantify the effects of (1) the direct presence of people and (2) the human footprint (landscape modification) on mammal occurrence and activity levels. Thirty-three percent of mammal species exhibited a net negative response (i.e., reduced occurrence or activity) to increasing human presence and/or footprint across populations, whereas 58% of species were positively associated with increasing disturbance. However, apparent benefits of human presence and footprint tended to decrease or disappear at higher disturbance levels, indicative of thresholds in mammal species’ capacity to tolerate disturbance or exploit human-dominated landscapes. Species ecological and life history traits were strong predictors of their responses to human footprint, with increasing footprint favoring smaller, less carnivorous, faster-reproducing species. The positive and negative effects of human presence were distributed more randomly with respect to species trait values, with apparent winners and losers across a range of body sizes and dietary guilds. Differential responses by some species to human presence and human footprint highlight the importance of considering these two forms of human disturbance separately when estimating anthropogenic impacts on wildlife. Our approach provides insights into the complex mechanisms through which human activities shape mammal communities globally, revealing the drivers of the loss of larger predators in human-modified landscapes. © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Authors & Co-Authors
Suraci, Justin P.
United States, Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
Gaynor, Kaitlyn M.
United States, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
Allen, Maximilian L.
United States, Urbana
University of Illinois Urbana-champaign
Brashares, Justin S.
United States, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
Crooks, Kevin R.
United States, Fort Collins
Colorado State University
Elbroch, L. Mark
United States, New York
Panthera Usa
Harris, Nyeema C.
United States, Ann Arbor
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Hebblewhite, Mark
United States, Missoula
University of Montana
Isbell, Forest I.
United States, Minneapolis
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Kays, Roland
United States, Raleigh
North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences
United States, Raleigh
Nc State University
McInturff, Alex
United States, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
McShea, William Joseph
United States, Front Royal
Conservation and Research Center National Zoo
Palmer, Meredith S.
United States, Princeton
Princeton University
Prugh, Laura R.
United States, Seattle
University of Washington
Schuttler, Stephanie G.
United States, Raleigh
North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences
Hakkı Şekercioğlu, Çağan
United States, Salt Lake City
The University of Utah
Turkey, Istanbul
Koç Üniversitesi
Whittington, Jesse
Canada, Gatineau
Parks Canada
Wittemyer, George
United States, Fort Collins
Colorado State University
Wilmers, Christopher C.
United States, Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
Statistics
Citations: 48
Authors: 19
Affiliations: 23
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/gcb.15650
ISSN:
13541013