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Dryad

Data from: Moving in the Anthropocene: global reductions in terrestrial mammalian movements

Cite this dataset

Tucker, Marlee A. et al. (2019). Data from: Moving in the Anthropocene: global reductions in terrestrial mammalian movements [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.st350

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.

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