Nature World Today

Nature's Best Site

Humans Cause Animals to Become Nocturnal

by 1,747 Comments

Many animals are now nocturnal as a way to avoid interacting with humans, according to a recent study published in the journal Science.  Humans constantly displace wildlife. However, as cities and towns continue to expand there are fewer places for animals to hide. As a result, many have switched their schedules from during the day to at night.

This finding comes from researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, who examined 72 studies from across the world and found that humans disrupt many animals’ daily routines. As such species commonly feed or roam when they feel safe, that shift caused them to only go out during dark. In fact, the mammals looked at in the new study were roughly 1.36 times more likely to be nocturnal around people than they were in natural environments.

“An animal that would typically split its activity equally between day and night, increased its night time activity to 68 percent of its total activity,” said lead author Kaitlyn Gaynor, a PhD student at the University of California, Berkeley, according to ABC.net. “This was a pretty striking change particularly as it was so consistent across the planet.”

Editorial content

The research showed that the shift towards a nocturnal lifestyle occurred no matter how harmless human encroachment was. That is concerning because it means that human presence — including mostly harmless acts like hiking — matters just as much as urban development. 

Such information is important because, through more research needs to be conducted on the overall ideas behind the study, the findings could shed light on how to better preserve both communities and native biodiversity. 

“We hope our findings will open up new avenues for wildlife research in human-dominated landscapes. We still have a lot to learn about the implications of altered activity patterns for the management of wildlife populations, interactions between species, and even human-induced evolution,” said Gaynor, in a statement.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. 631320 171874This web web site might be a walk-through for all with the details you wanted in regards to this and didnt know who to question. Glimpse here, and you will definitely discover it. 24586

  3. 613319 248730Some genuinely nice and utilitarian details on this web internet site , also I believe the style and style holds great functions. 645050

  6. 307135 918016Your weblog is one of the better blogs Ive came across in months. Thank you for your posts and all of the very best with your function and weblog. Seeking forward to reading new entries! 763382

  8. 762437 236834Exceptional blog here! Also your site loads up quite fast! What host are you employing? Can I get your affiliate link to your host? I wish my website loaded up as fast as yours lol xrumer 341064

  9. 185552 755316Id ought to seek advice from you here. Which is not something I do! I enjoy reading an write-up that could make people feel. Also, several thanks permitting me to comment! 270005

  16. 15703 767799Hi there, i just thought i would publish and now let you know your web sites style is genuinely smudged within the K-Melon browser. Anyhow preserve in the quite good work. 364026

  17. 175664 192599Hey there! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I genuinely enjoy reading through your articles. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same topics? Thank you so much! 590739

  666. 494624 394142Water-resistant our wales in advance of when numerous planking. The particular wales surely are a selection of heavy duty snowboards that this height ones would be exactly the same in principle as a new shell planking having said that with a lot much more height to help you thrust outward within the evening planking. planking 68883