Global COVID-19 lockdown highlights humans as both threats and custodians of the environment.

• Published in: Biological Conservation
• Main Authors: Bates, Amanda E, Primack, Richard B, Biggar, Brandy S, Bird, Tomas J, Clinton, Mary E, Command, Rylan J, Richards, Cerren, Shellard, Marc, Geraldi, Nathan R, Vergara, Valeria, Acevedo-Charry, Orlando, Colón-Piñeiro, Zuania, Ocampo, David, Ocampo-Peñuela, Natalia, Sánchez-Clavijo, Lina M, Adamescu, Cristian M, Cheval, Sorin, Racoviceanu, Tudor, Adams, Matthew D, Kalisa, Egide, Kuuire, Vincent Z, Aditya, Vikram, Anderwald, Pia, Wiesmann, Samuel, Wipf, Sonja, Badihi, Gal, Henderson, Matthew G, Loetscher, Hanspeter, Baerenfaller, Katja, Benedetti-Cecchi, Lisandro, Bulleri, Fabio, Bertocci, Iacopo, Maggi, Elena, Rindi, Luca, Ravaglioli, Chiara, Boerder, Kristina, Bonnel, Julien, Mathias, Delphine, Archambault, Philippe, Chauvaud, Laurent, Braun, Camrin D, Thorrold, Simon R, Brownscombe, Jacob W, Midwood, Jonathan D, Boston, Christine M, Brooks, Jill L, Cooke, Steven J, China, Victor, Roll, Uri, Belmaker, Jonathan, Zvuloni, Assaf, Coll, Marta, Ortega, Miquel, Connors, Brendan, Lacko, Lisa, Jayathilake, Dinusha R M, Costello, Mark J, Crimmins, Theresa M, Barnett, LoriAnne, Denny, Ellen G, Gerst, Katharine L, Marsh, R L, Posthumus, Erin E, Rodriguez, Reilly, Rosemartin, Alyssa, Schaffer, Sara N, Switzer, Jeff R, Wong, Kevin, Cunningham, Susan J, Sumasgutner, Petra, Amar, Arjun, Thomson, Robert L, Stofberg, Miqkayla, Hofmeyr, Sally, Suri, Jessleena, Stuart-Smith, Rick D, Day, Paul B, Edgar, Graham J, Cooper, Antonia T, De Leo, Fabio Cabrera, Garner, Grant, Des Brisay, Paulson G, Schrimpf, Michael B, Koper, Nicola, Diamond, Michael S, Dwyer, Ross G, Baker, Cameron J, Franklin, Craig E, Efrat, Ron, Berger-Tal, Oded, Hatzofe, Ohad, Eguíluz, Víctor M, Rodríguez, Jorge P, Fernández-Gracia, Juan, Elustondo, David, Calatayud, Vicent, English, Philina A, Archer, Stephanie K, Dudas, Sarah E, Haggarty, Dana R, Gallagher, Austin J, Shea, Brendan D, Shipley, Oliver N, Gilby, Ben L, Ballantyne, Jasmine, Olds, Andrew D, Henderson, Christopher J, Schlacher, Thomas A, Halliday, William D, Brown, Nicholas A W, Woods, Mackenzie B, Balshine, Sigal, Juanes, Francis, Rider, Mitchell J, Albano, Patricia S, Hammerschlag, Neil, Hays, Graeme C, Esteban, Nicole, Pan, Yuhang, He, Guojun, Tanaka, Takanao, Hensel, Marc J S, Orth, Robert J, Patrick, Christopher J, Hentati-Sundberg, Jonas, Olsson, Olof, Hessing-Lewis, Margot L, Higgs, Nicholas D, Hindell, Mark A, McMahon, Clive R, Harcourt, Rob, Guinet, Christophe, Hirsch, Sarah E, Perrault, Justin R, Hoover, Shelby R, Reilly, Jennifer D, Hobaiter, Catherine, Gruber, Thibaud, Huveneers, Charlie, Udyawer, Vinay, Clarke, Thomas M, Kroesen, Laura P, Hik, David S, Cherry, Seth G, Del Bel Belluz, Justin A, Jackson, Jennifer M, Lai, Shengjie, Lamb, Clayton T, LeClair, Gregory D, Parmelee, Jeffrey R, Chatfield, Matthew W H, Frederick, Cheryl A, Lee, Sangdon, Park, Hyomin, Choi, Jaein, LeTourneux, Frédéric, Grandmont, Thierry, de-Broin, Frédéric Dulude, Bêty, Joël, Gauthier, Gilles, Legagneux, Pierre, Lewis, Jesse S, Haight, Jeffrey, Liu, Zhu, Lyon, Jarod P, Hale, Robin, D'Silva, Dallas, MacGregor-Fors, Ian, Arbeláez-Cortés, Enrique, Estela, Felipe A, Sánchez-Sarria, Camilo E, García-Arroyo, Michelle, Aguirre-Samboní, Giann K, Franco Morales, Juan C, Malamud, Shahar, Gavriel, Tal, Buba, Yehezkel, Salingré, Shira, Lazarus, Mai, Yahel, Ruthy, Ari, Yigael Ben, Miller, Eyal, Sade, Rotem, Lavian, Guy, Birman, Ziv, Gury, Manor, Baz, Harel, Baskin, Ilia, Penn, Alon, Dolev, Amit, Licht, Ogen, Karkom, Tabi, Davidzon, Sharon, Berkovitch, Avi, Yaakov, Ofer, Manenti, Raoul, Mori, Emiliano, Ficetola, Gentile Francesco, Lunghi, Enrico, March, David, Godley, Brendan J, Martin, Cecilia, Mihaly, Steven F, Barclay, David R, Thomson, Dugald J M, Dewey, Richard, Bedard, Jeannette, Miller, Aroha, Dearden, Amber, Chapman, Jennifer, Dares, Lauren, Borden, Laura, Gibbs, Donna, Schultz, Jessica, Sergeenko, Nikita, Francis, Fiona, Weltman, Amanda, Moity, Nicolas, Ramírez-González, Jorge, Mucientes, Gonzalo, Alonso-Fernández, Alexandre, Namir, Itai, Bar-Massada, Avi, Chen, Ron, Yedvab, Shmulik, Okey, Thomas A, Oppel, Steffen, Arkumarev, Volen, Bakari, Samuel, Dobrev, Vladimir, Saravia-Mullin, Victoria, Bounas, Anastasios, Dobrev, Dobromir, Kret, Elzbieta, Mengistu, Solomon, Pourchier, Cloé, Ruffo, Alazar, Tesfaye, Million, Wondafrash, Mengistu, Nikolov, Stoyan C, Palmer, Charles, Sileci, Lorenzo, Rex, Patrick T, Lowe, Christopher G, Peters, Francesc, Pine, Matthew K, Radford, Craig A, Wilson, Louise, McWhinnie, Lauren, Scuderi, Alessia, Jeffs, Andrew G, Prudic, Kathleen L, Larrivée, Maxim, McFarland, Kent P, Solis, Rodrigo, Hutchinson, Rebecca A, Queiroz, Nuno, Furtado, Miguel A, Sims, David W, Southall, Emily, Quesada-Rodriguez, Claudio A, Diaz-Orozco, Jessica P, Rodgers, Ku'ulei S, Severino, Sarah J L, Graham, Andrew T, Stefanak, Matthew P, Madin, Elizabeth M P, Ryan, Peter G, Maclean, Kyle, Weideman, Eleanor A, Şekercioğlu, Çağan H, Kittelberger, Kyle D, Kusak, Josip, Seminoff, Jeffrey A, Hanna, Megan E, Shimada, Takahiro, Meekan, Mark G, Smith, Martin K S, Mokhatla, Mohlamatsane M, Soh, Malcolm C K, Pang, Roanna Y T, Ng, Breyl X K, Lee, Benjamin P Y-H, Loo, Adrian H B, Er, Kenneth B H, Souza, Gabriel B G, Stallings, Christopher D, Curtis, Joseph S, Faletti, Meaghan E, Peake, Jonathan A, Schram, Michael J, Wall, Kara R, Terry, Carina, Rothendler, Matt, Zipf, Lucy, Ulloa, Juan Sebastián, Hernández-Palma, Angélica, Gómez-Valencia, Bibiana, Cruz-Rodríguez, Cristian, Herrera-Varón, Yenifer, Roa, Margarita, Rodríguez-Buriticá, Susana, Ochoa-Quintero, Jose Manuel, Vardi, Reut, Vázquez, Víctor, Requena-Mesa, Christian, Warrington, Miyako H, Taylor, Michelle E, Woodall, Lucy C, Stefanoudis, Paris V, Zhang, Xiangliang, Yang, Qiang, Zukerman, Yuval, Sigal, Zehava, Ayali, Amir, Clua, Eric E G, Carzon, Pamela, Seguine, Clementine, Corradini, Andrea, Pedrotti, Luca, Foley, Catherine M, Gagnon, Catherine Alexandra, Panipakoochoo, Elijah, Milanes, Celene B, Botero, Camilo M, Velázquez, Yunior R, Milchakova, Nataliya A, Morley, Simon A, Martin, Stephanie M, Nanni, Veronica, Otero, Tanya, Wakeling, Julia, Abarro, Sarah, Piou, Cyril, Sobral, Ana F L, Soto, Eulogio H, Weigel, Emily G, Bernal-Ibáñez, Alejandro, Gestoso, Ignacio, Cacabelos, Eva, Cagnacci, Francesca, Devassy, Reny Palliparambil, Loretto, Matthias-Claudio, Moraga, Paula, Rutz, Christian, Duarte, Carlos M.
• Other Authors: Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Computer Science Program, Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Science and Engineering (CEMSE) Division, Computational Biosciences Research Center (CBRC), Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering (CEMSE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, 23955 Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, Marine Science Program, Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE) Division, Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL A1C 5S7, Canada., Biology Department, Boston University, 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Elsevier BV 2021
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Restoration; Pandemic; Global Monitoring; Canada; ArcticNet
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10754/669287; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109175

The global lockdown to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic health risks has altered human interactions with nature. Here, we report immediate impacts of changes in human activities on wildlife and environmental threats during the early lockdown months of 2020, based on 877 qualitative reports and 332 quantitative assessments from 89 different studies. Hundreds of reports of unusual species observations from around the world suggest that animals quickly responded to the reductions in human presence. However, negative effects of lockdown on conservation also emerged, as confinement resulted in some park officials being unable to perform conservation, restoration and enforcement tasks, resulting in local increases in illegal activities such as hunting. Overall, there is a complex mixture of positive and negative effects of the pandemic lockdown on nature, all of which have the potential to lead to cascading responses which in turn impact wildlife and nature conservation. While the net effect of the lockdown will need to be assessed over years as data becomes available and persistent effects emerge, immediate responses were detected across the world. Thus, initial qualitative and quantitative data arising from this serendipitous global quasi-experimental perturbation highlights the dual role that humans play in threatening and protecting species and ecosystems. Pathways to favorably tilt this delicate balance include reducing impacts and increasing conservation effectiveness. The Canada Research Chairs program provided funding for the core writing team. Field research funding was provided by A.G. Leventis Foundation; Agence Nationale de la Recherche, [grant number ANR-18-32–0010CE-01 (JCJC PEPPER)]; Agencia Estatal de Investigaci; Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação (ARDITI), [grant number M1420-09-5369-FSE-000002]; Alan Peterson; ArcticNet; Arkadaşlar; Army Corp of Engineers; Artificial Reef Program; Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), National Collaborative; ...