Paris (AFP)
Forced to move further to escape the consequences of human activity, the survival of many wildlife is threatened, according to a study released Monday.
United Nations biodiversity experts warned in 2019 that more than three-quarters of the land and 40% of the world's oceans have already been "seriously degraded" by humans.
But there are relatively few studies looking at specific species and how humans change their behavior.
For this study, published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, Australian researchers investigated the consequences of activities such as road building, tourism, recreation, hunting, transport and fishing on 167 species, ranging from a 0.05 gram butterfly to the two ton great white shark.
And according to them, most species have increased the distance they travel by 70% on average because of humans.
For a third, these movements have increased, or decreased, by half.
"This tells us that humans largely impact animal movements, but generally it goes unnoticed and nothing is being done," lead author Tim Doherty of the University of Sydney told AFP. .
“Usually, we only see animals in nature for short periods of time and we don't fully understand their movements and the space they use,” the researcher continues.
However, many species, including most mammals, spend almost all of their energy finding food and breeding partners.
The extra energy they need to move away from humans therefore complicates their survival, he explains.
Among the animals studied, birds and insects moved more to avoid coming into contact with humans.
The study warns of "cascading consequences" on natural processes such as pollination if these movements were to continue at a sustained rate, with "potentially profound impacts on populations, species and ecosystem processes" .
Researchers call for better preservation of natural habitats by increasing protected areas, but also to regulate construction and tourism, and to limit seasonal hunting during breeding periods.
© 2021 AFP