Interacting Effects of Human Presence and Landscape Modification on Birds and Mammals
Publication Date
5-21-2026
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Science
Volume
392
Issue
6800
DOI
10.1126/science.adq3396
First Page
879
Last Page
884
Abstract
Sustainable human–wildlife coexistence requires a mechanistic understanding of the many ways that humans affect animals. However, progress is hampered by the lack of accessible data measuring the dynamic presence of people. Here, we leverage mobile- device data to disentangle how human presence and landscape modification differentially influence the use of geographic and environmental space for 37 mammal and bird species across the United States. Human presence affected more than 65% of species, with substantial variation across species. For ~60% of species that responded to human activities, the effects were interdependent—animals tended to react more strongly to human presence in less modified habitats. Our results demonstrate that human presence and landscape modification have complex combined effects on wildlife, which need to be considered for effective management.
Funding Number
W-127-R-1
Funding Sponsor
Knobloch Family Foundation
Department
Research Foundation
Recommended Citation
Oliver, R. Y., Yanco, S. W., Ellis-Soto, D., Jesmer, B. R., Cohen, J., Gao, S., Patchett, R., Avgar, T., Bildstein, K., Bakner, N. W., Barber, D., Barker, K., Barnes, J. G., Bastille-Rousseau, G., Belant, J. L., Benson, J. F., Bêty, J., Beyer, D. E., Bird, D., . . . Jetz, W. (2026). Interacting effects of human presence and landscape modification on birds and mammals. Science, 392(6800), 879–884. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adq3396
Comments
Full author list:
Ruth Y. Oliver, Scott W. Yanco, Diego Ellis-Soto, Brett R. Jesmer, Juliet Cohen, Song Gao, Robert Patchett, Tal Avgar, Keith Bildstein, Nicholas W. Bakner, David Barber, Kristin Barker, Joseph G. Barnes, Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau, Jerrold L. Belant, John F. Benson, Joël Bêty, Dean E. Beyer, Jr., David Bird, Nathaniel Bowersock, Andy J. Boyce, Ben S. Carlson, Michael L. Casazza, Michael J. Chamberlain, Michael J. Cherry, Bret A. Collier, Alyson Courtemanch, Sarah C. Davidson, Darren DeBloois, Vickie DeNicola, Christopher R. DeSorbo, Robert C. Dowler, Daniel Dupont, L. Mark Elbroch, John Elliott, Betsy A. Evans, W. Mark Ford, David Hancock, Molly Hardesty-Moore, Jason E. Hawley, Mackenzie R. Jeffress, Scott Jennings, Matthew J. Kauffman, Roland Kays, Marcella J. Kelly, Bryan M. Kluever, Myles Lamont, Scott LaPoint, Tayler N. LaSharr, Josee Lefebvre, Pierre Legagneux, Matthias-Claudio Loretto, David Lumpkin, Lindsay A. Martinez, John M. Marzluff, Douglas McCauley, Fiona McDuie, Tony W. Mong, Kevin L. Monteith, Thomas Mueller, Levi Newediuk, Anna C. Ortega, Federico Ossi, Cory Overton, J. Clint Perkins, Tyler R. Petroelje, Laura Prugh, Kimberly A. Sager-Fradkin, Michael Seer, Avery L. Shawler, Shannon Skalos, Rachel A. Smiley, Julia Sommerfeld, Daniel R. Stahler, John A. Stephenson, Richard D. Stevens, Nathan J. Svoboda, Jean-Francois Therrien, Philippe J. Thomas, Meredith VanAcker, Eric Vander Wal, Dan E. Varland, Tana L. Verzuh, Brittany L. Wagler, Nils Warnock, Stephen L. Webb, Christopher K. Williams, Christopher C. Wilmers, David W. Wolfson, Julie K. Young, Christian Rutz, and Walter Jetz