Humans Are Pushing Animals to Become More Nocturnal Than Ever Before

[Aloka]

Humans Are Pushing Animals to Become More Nocturnal Than Ever Before

A new study found that animals living near humans are considerably more likely to spend time being active at night in order to get away from them.

New research shows that an alarming number of mammals are now adopting a more nocturnal sleep schedule. The reason: to avoid humans as much as possible, the new study reports.

A team from the UC Berkeley studied 62 different species around the world and determined animals were more active at night and less active during the day whenever humans were near.

This could greatly affect how certain species of animals find food, as well as how those changes would, in turn, affect other species in the food chain.

“Catastrophic losses in wildlife populations and habitats as a result of human activity are well documented, but the subtler ways in which we affect animal behavior are more difficult to detect and quantify,” said Berkeley PhD candidate and study lead author Kaitlyn Gaynor.

In addition to the 62 species specifically studied by the team, there were an additional 76 studies taken into consideration. Those studies used GPS trackers, radio collars, and remote imaging in order to collect as much data as possible on the animals.

Continues at the link:

https://interestingengineering.com/h...an-ever-before

Any comments about the whole of the short article at the link?

[Olderon]

Hi, Aloka. Thanks for sharing the article.

Can't say that I have seen any evidence of this in our corner of the world. Right now in my back yard we are looking at "five" squirrels, "1" chipmunk, "2" redbirds (perhaps Cardinals), and our "dog". They are living in surprising harmony, perhaps due to my hanging plants shading three bird feeders.

Our neighbor's cat, named Puck, is sitting at the edge of our fence observing them all and wondering when it would be appropriate to slink in and take a meal.

The only nocturnal animal mentioned seems to be "Puck", but cats have always been so.

...Ron

[woodscooter]

The report describes what is probably an accurate observation, that non-domestic animals do more of their foraging when humans are not around.

It seems to me that it's another example of human life affecting wildlife.

The effect would really only be measurable around towns and cities, yet there are so very many ways in which we influence and change the world around us.

Even so, Buddhists accept that nothing stays the same, everything is subject to change. The animals will develop new patterns of behaviour, as they had been doing for centuries before cities were built.