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Functional diversity loss and change in nocturnal behavior of mammals under anthropogenic disturbance.

ABSTRACT: In the Anthropocene, understanding the impacts of anthropogenic influence on biodiversity and behavior of vulnerable wildlife communities is increasingly relevant to effective conservation. However, comparative studies aimed at disentangling the concurrent effect of different types of human disturbance on multifaceted biodiversity and on activity patterns of mammals are surprisingly rare. We applied a multiregion community model to separately estimate the effects of cumulative human modification (e.g., settlement, agriculture, and transportation) and human presence (aggregated presence of dogs, people, and livestock) on species richness and functional composition of medium- and large-bodied mammals based on camera trap data collected across 45 subtropical montane forests. We divided the detected mammal species into three trophic guilds-carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores-and assessed the nocturnal shifts of each guild in response to anthropogenic activities. Overall, species richness tended to increase (β coefficient = 0.954) as human modification increased but richness decreased as human presence increased (β = -1.054). Human modification was associated with significantly lower functional diversity (mean nearest taxon distance [MNTD], β = -0.134; standardized effect sizes of MNTD, β = -0.397), community average body mass (β = -0.240), and proportion of carnivores (β = -0.580). Human presence was associated with a strongly reduced proportion of herbivores (β = -0.522), whereas proportion of omnivores significantly increased as human presence (β = 0.378) and habitat modification (β = 0.419) increased. In terms of activity patterns, omnivores (β = 12.103) and carnivores (β = 9.368) became more nocturnal in response to human modification. Our results suggest that human modification and human presence have differing effects on mammals and demonstrate that anthropogenic disturbances can lead to drastic loss of functional diversity and result in a shift to nocturnal behavior of mammals. Conservation planning should consider concurrent effects of different types of human disturbance on species richness, functional diversity, and behavior of wildlife communities.

SUBMITTER: Li X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9299805 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Zoonotic pathogens and parasites that are transmitted from vertebrates to humans are a major public health risk with high associated global economic costs. The spread of these pathogens and risk of transmission accelerate with recent anthropogenic land-use changes (LUC) such as deforestation, urbanisation, and agricultural intensification, factors that are expected to increase in the future due to human population expansion and increasing demand for resources.We systematically review the literature on anthropogenic LUC and zoonotic diseases, highlighting the most prominent mammalian reservoirs and pathogens, and identifying avenues for future research.The majority of studies were global reviews that did not focus on specific taxa. South America and Asia were the most-studied regions, while the most-studied LUC was urbanisation. Livestock were studied more within the context of agricultural intensification, carnivores with urbanisation and helminths, bats with deforestation and viruses, and primates with habitat fragmentation and protozoa.Research into specific animal reservoirs has improved our understanding of how the spread of zoonotic diseases is affected by LUC. The behaviour of hosts can be altered when their habitats are changed, impacting the pathogens they carry and the probability of disease spreading to humans. Understanding this has enabled the identification of factors that alter the risk of emergence (such as virulence, pathogen diversity, and ease of transmission). Yet, many pathogens and impacts of LUC other than urbanisation have been understudied.Predicting how zoonotic diseases emerge and spread in response to anthropogenic LUC requires more empirical and data synthesis studies that link host ecology and responses with pathogen ecology and disease spread. The link between anthropogenic impacts on the natural environment and the recent COVID-19 pandemic highlights the urgent need to understand how anthropogenic LUC affects the risk of spillover to humans and spread of zoonotic diseases originating in mammals.

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Functional diversity loss and change in nocturnal behavior of mammals under anthropogenic disturbance.

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