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Moving in the Anthropocene: Global reductions in terrestrial mammalian movements

February 1, 2018

Animal movement is fundamental for ecosystem functioning and species survival, yet the effects of the anthropogenic footprint on animal movements have not been estimated across species. Using a unique GPS-tracking database of 803 individuals across 57 species, we found that movements of mammals in areas with a comparatively high human footprint were on average one-half to one-third the extent of their movements in areas with a low human footprint. We attribute this reduction to behavioral changes of individual animals and to the exclusion of species with long-range movements from areas with higher human impact. Global loss of vagility alters a key ecological trait of animals that affects not only population persistence but also ecosystem processes such as predator-prey interactions, nutrient cycling, and disease transmission.

Publication Year 2018
Title Moving in the Anthropocene: Global reductions in terrestrial mammalian movements
DOI 10.1126/science.aam9712
Authors Marlee A. Tucker, Katrin Böhning-Gaese, William F. Fagan, John Fryxell, Bram Van Moorter, Susan C Alberts, Abdullahi H. Ali, Andrew M. Allen, Nina Attias, Tal Avgar, Hattie Bartlam-Brooks, Buuveibaatar Bayarbaatar, Jerrold L. Belant, Alessandra Bertassoni, Dean Beyer, Laura Bidner, Floris M. van Beest, Stephen Blake, Niels Blaum, Chloe Bracis, Danielle Brown, P. J. Nico de Bruyn, Francesca Cagnacci, J.M. Calabrese, Constança Camilo-Alves, Simon Chamaillé-Jammes, Andre Chiaradia, Sarah C. Davidson, Todd Dennis, Stephen DeStefano, Duane R. Diefenbach, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Julian Fennessy, Claudia Fichtel, Wolfgang Fiedler, Christina Fischer, Ilya Fischhoff, Christen H. Fleming, Adam T. Ford, Susanne A. Fritz, Benedikt Gehr, Jacob R. Goheen, Eliezer Gurarie, Mark Hebblewhite, Marco Heurich, A. J. Mark Hewison, Christian Hof, Edward Hurme, Lynne A. Isbell, René Janssen, Florian Jeltsch, Petra Kaczensky, Adam Kane, Peter M. Kappeler, Matthew J. Kauffman, Roland Kays, Duncan Kimuyu, Flavia Koch, Bart Kranstauber, Scott LaPoint, Peter Leimgruber, John D. C. Linnell, Pascual López-López, A. Catherine Markham, Jenny Mattisson, Emilia Patricia Medici, Ugo Mellone, E. Merrill, Guilherme de Miranda Mourão, Ronaldo G. Morato, Nicolas Morellet, Thomas A. Morrison, Samuel L. Díaz-Muñoz, Atle Mysterud, Dejid Nandintsetseg, Ran Nathan, Aidin Niamir, John Odden, Robert B. O'Hara, Luiz G. R. Oliveira-Santos, Kirk A. Olson, Bruce D. Patterson, Rogerio Cunha de Paula, Luca Pedrotti, Björn Reineking, Martin Rimmler, T. L. Rogers, Christer Moe Rolandsen, Christopher S. Rosenberry, Daniel I. Rubenstein, Kamran Safi, Sonia Saïd, Nir Sapir, Hall Sawyer, Niels Martin Schmidt, Nuria Selva, Agnieszka Sergiel, Enkhtuvshin Shiilegdamba, João Paulo Silva, N. Singh, Erling J. Solberg, Orr Spiegel, Olav Strand, S.R. Sundaresan, Wiebke Ullmann, Ulrich Voigt, J. Wall, David W. Wattles, Martin Wikelski, Christopher C. Wilmers, John W. Wilson, George Wittemyer, Filip Zięba, Tomasz Zwijacz-Kozica, Thomas Mueller
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Science
Index ID 70196804
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Coop Res Unit Leetown