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The effect of decreasing human activity from COVID‐19 on the foraging of fallen fruit by omnivores

In 2020, a lockdown was implemented in many cities around the world to contain the COVID‐19 pandemic, resulting in a significant cessation of human activity which have had a variety of impacts on wildlife. But in many cases, due to limited pre‐lockdown information, and there are limited studies of h...

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Autores principales: Osugi, Shigeru, Baek, Seungyun, Naganuma, Tomoko, Tochigi, Kahoko, Allen, Maximilian L., Koike, Shinsuke
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9790803/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36582777
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9657
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author Osugi, Shigeru
Baek, Seungyun
Naganuma, Tomoko
Tochigi, Kahoko
Allen, Maximilian L.
Koike, Shinsuke
author_facet Osugi, Shigeru
Baek, Seungyun
Naganuma, Tomoko
Tochigi, Kahoko
Allen, Maximilian L.
Koike, Shinsuke
author_sort Osugi, Shigeru
collection PubMed
description In 2020, a lockdown was implemented in many cities around the world to contain the COVID‐19 pandemic, resulting in a significant cessation of human activity which have had a variety of impacts on wildlife. But in many cases, due to limited pre‐lockdown information, and there are limited studies of how lockdowns have specifically affected behaviors. Foraging behavior is inherently linked to fitness and survival, is particularly affected by changes in temporal activity, and the influence of human disturbance on foraging behavior can be assessed quantitatively based on foraging duration and quantity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether and how the fruit‐foraging behaviors of two omnivores, the Japanese badger (Meles anakuma) and the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides), were influenced by the decrease of human activity associated with lockdowns. Specifically, by comparing to a previous study in 2019–2020, we attempted to determine (1) whether foraging behavior increases during the daytime? (2) whether the duration of foraging per visit increases? and (3) what factors animals select for in fruiting trees? The results of the initial investigation showed that the foraging behavior of both species in 2019 was almost exclusively restricted to the nighttime. But as opportunities for foraging behavior without human interference increased in 2020 due to the lockdown, both species (but especially raccoon dogs) showed substantial changes in their activity patterns to be more diurnal. The duration of foraging per visit also increased in 2020 for both species, and the selection during foraging for both species shifted from selecting trees that provided greater cover in 2019 to trees with high fruit production in 2020. Our results show how human activity directly affects the foraging behavior of wildlife in an urban landscape.
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spelling pubmed-97908032022-12-28 The effect of decreasing human activity from COVID‐19 on the foraging of fallen fruit by omnivores Osugi, Shigeru Baek, Seungyun Naganuma, Tomoko Tochigi, Kahoko Allen, Maximilian L. Koike, Shinsuke Ecol Evol Research Articles In 2020, a lockdown was implemented in many cities around the world to contain the COVID‐19 pandemic, resulting in a significant cessation of human activity which have had a variety of impacts on wildlife. But in many cases, due to limited pre‐lockdown information, and there are limited studies of how lockdowns have specifically affected behaviors. Foraging behavior is inherently linked to fitness and survival, is particularly affected by changes in temporal activity, and the influence of human disturbance on foraging behavior can be assessed quantitatively based on foraging duration and quantity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether and how the fruit‐foraging behaviors of two omnivores, the Japanese badger (Meles anakuma) and the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides), were influenced by the decrease of human activity associated with lockdowns. Specifically, by comparing to a previous study in 2019–2020, we attempted to determine (1) whether foraging behavior increases during the daytime? (2) whether the duration of foraging per visit increases? and (3) what factors animals select for in fruiting trees? The results of the initial investigation showed that the foraging behavior of both species in 2019 was almost exclusively restricted to the nighttime. But as opportunities for foraging behavior without human interference increased in 2020 due to the lockdown, both species (but especially raccoon dogs) showed substantial changes in their activity patterns to be more diurnal. The duration of foraging per visit also increased in 2020 for both species, and the selection during foraging for both species shifted from selecting trees that provided greater cover in 2019 to trees with high fruit production in 2020. Our results show how human activity directly affects the foraging behavior of wildlife in an urban landscape. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2022-12-25 /pmc/articles/PMC9790803/ /pubmed/36582777 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9657 Text en © 2022 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Articles
Osugi, Shigeru
Baek, Seungyun
Naganuma, Tomoko
Tochigi, Kahoko
Allen, Maximilian L.
Koike, Shinsuke
The effect of decreasing human activity from COVID‐19 on the foraging of fallen fruit by omnivores
title The effect of decreasing human activity from COVID‐19 on the foraging of fallen fruit by omnivores
title_full The effect of decreasing human activity from COVID‐19 on the foraging of fallen fruit by omnivores
title_fullStr The effect of decreasing human activity from COVID‐19 on the foraging of fallen fruit by omnivores
title_full_unstemmed The effect of decreasing human activity from COVID‐19 on the foraging of fallen fruit by omnivores
title_short The effect of decreasing human activity from COVID‐19 on the foraging of fallen fruit by omnivores
title_sort effect of decreasing human activity from covid‐19 on the foraging of fallen fruit by omnivores
topic Research Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9790803/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36582777
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9657
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