Moving in the Anthropocene: Global reductions in terrestrial mammalian movements

Marlee A. Tucker, Katrin Böhning-Gaese, William F. Fagan, John M. 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 BracisDanielle Brown, P. J.Nico De Bruyn, Francesca Cagnacci, Justin M. Calabrese, Constança Camilo-Alves, Simon Chamaillé-Jammes, Andre Chiaradia, Sarah C. Davidson, Todd Dennis, Stephen DeStefano, Duane 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 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, Evelyn Merrill, Guilherme De MirandaMourão, 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 Gustavo R. Oliveira-Santos, Kirk A. Olson, Bruce D. Patterson, Rogerio Cunha De Paula, Luca Pedrotti, Björn Reineking, Martin Rimmler, Tracey 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, Navinder Singh, Erling J. Solberg, Orr Spiegel, Olav Strand, Siva Sundaresan, Wiebke Ullmann, Ulrich Voigt, Jake Wall, David Wattles, Martin Wikelski, Christopher C. Wilmers, John W. Wilson, George Wittemyer, Filip Ziȩba, Tomasz Zwijacz-Kozica, Thomas Mueller

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

791 Scopus citations

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)466-469
Number of pages4
JournalScience
Volume359
Issue number6374
DOIs
StatePublished - 26 Jan 2018
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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