{"id":3358,"date":"2020-04-06T10:53:25","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T17:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/?p=3358"},"modified":"2020-04-06T10:53:29","modified_gmt":"2020-04-06T17:53:29","slug":"humans-hide-and-wildlife-thrive-human-mediated-ecosystem-changes-during-a-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/2020\/04\/06\/humans-hide-and-wildlife-thrive-human-mediated-ecosystem-changes-during-a-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Humans Hide and Wildlife Thrive: Human-mediated ecosystem changes during a pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: <\/strong>Alexa Kownacki<\/strong><\/a>, Ph.D. Student, OSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife,\nGeospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Lab<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We live in an interesting time. Many of us academic\nscientists sit in the confines of our homes, reading scientific papers,\nanalyzing years-worth of data, working through a years-worth of house projects,\nor simply watching Netflix. While we are confined to a much smaller area,\nwildlife is not.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this challenging situation we have unique\nopportunities to study what happens when people are not outside for recreation.\nAll of us who feel trapped inside our homes are not only saving human lives, we\nare changing ecosystems. Humans are constantly molding our ecosystems on fine\nand grand scales, from xeriscaping our lawns with native, drought-resistant\nplants to developing large plots of land for new homes. We manipulate nature,\nfor better or for worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what happens when we change our behavior? Rather than\ndriving, we\u2019re gardening, instead of playing at parks, we\u2019re playing board\ngames at our kitchen tables; we as a society are completely changing our\nhabitat-use patterns. When any top predator changes its habitat-use, switches\nniches, or drastically changes its behaviors, there are top-down ecosystem\neffects. When one species changes its behavior, there are major downstream\nimpacts on predation, foraging, diet, and habitat use. For example, when\nbluegill sunfish underwent large shifts in both diet and habitat, major\npredator-mediated habitat use changes in other species occurred (Mittelbach\n1986). There are multiple studies describing the impacts of human-mediated\ndrivers on ecosystems worldwide. In coastal environments, anthropogenic\nactivities, specifically shipping, industry, and urban development, dramatically\nchange both the coastal and marine ecosystems (Mead et al. 2013). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The highly developed coastline along Los Angeles, CA is a prime example of urban development. (Image source: LA Magazine.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By far the most pronounced example of how an international halt on travel can alter ecosystems comes from the tragic terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Prior to this current, viral pandemic, the events following 9\/11 were the first time that nearly all major transit stopped in the USA\u2014including airplanes and major shipping traffic. This halt created a unique opportunity to study some of the secondary impacts, such as a reduction in shipping traffic noise, on cetaceans. Following 9\/11, there was a six decibel decrease in underwater noise that co-occurred with a decrease in stress hormones of endangered North Atlantic right whales (Rolland et al. 2012). When I first read about this study, my first thought was \u201cleave it to scientists to make the best out of a terrible situation.\u201d Truly, learning from nature, even in the darkest of days, is an incredible skillset. Research like this inspires me to ask questions about what changes are happening in ecosystems now because of recent events. For example, the entire port of San Diego, its beaches and bays, are closed for all recreational activity and I wonder how this reduction in traffic is similar to the post-9\/11 study but on bottlenose dolphins, gray whales, and pinnipeds that are coast-associated. Are urban and suburban neighborhoods slowly becoming more rural and making space for wildlife again? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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