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Human disturbance changes predator-prey temporal overlap by body size

Ecology research
A. Scott, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain · Public domain

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Research area:biology-genetics

What the study found

The study found no overall effect of human disturbance on temporal overlap, which is the amount of shared daily activity time between species. Instead, the effect depended on the body mass ratio between dominant and subordinate mammals: when subordinate species were larger, human disturbance increased overlap, and when dominant species were larger, it reduced overlap.

Why the authors say this matters

The authors suggest that these changes matter because human disturbance may alter predator-prey interactions by changing when animals are active. They conclude that as the human footprint expands globally, temporal niche changes may affect species interactions, population persistence, community structure, and evolutionary dynamics.

What the researchers tested

The researchers used a global meta-analysis, which combines results from multiple studies, to test whether human disturbance affects diel activity and temporal overlap. Their dataset covered 480 mammalian predator-prey and intraguild predator dyads from 57 studies.

What worked and what didn't

Human disturbance did not show an overall effect on temporal overlap across the full dataset. However, body size differences changed the pattern: humans compressed the temporal niche, meaning higher diel overlap, when subordinate animals were larger than dominant ones, and expanded it, meaning lower overlap, when dominant animals were larger than subordinate ones.

What to keep in mind

The abstract does not describe detailed study limitations beyond the scope of the meta-analysis. The findings are based on mammalian dyads from the studies included, so the summary provided here is limited to that dataset.

Key points

  • The meta-analysis found no overall effect of human disturbance on temporal overlap.
  • Body mass ratio between dominant and subordinate species shaped the effect of human disturbance.
  • When subordinate species were larger, human disturbance increased diel overlap.
  • When dominant species were larger, human disturbance decreased diel overlap.
  • The dataset included 480 mammalian dyads from 57 studies.

Disclosure

Research title:
Human disturbance changes predator-prey temporal overlap by body size
Authors:
Eamonn I. F. Wooster, Erick J. Lundgren, Dale G. Nimmo, Mitchell A. Cowan, Evan C. Fricke, Anke S. K. Frank, Alexandra J. R. Carthey, K. Grabowski, Jennifer R. Green, Grant D. Linley, T. McEvoy, Amy Simpson, Dylan M. Westaway, Kwasi Wrensford, Nicholas S. Wright, Shinichi Nakagawa, Kaitlyn M. Gaynor
Institutions:
Charles Sturt University, Charles Sturt University, Charles Sturt University, Charles Sturt University, Charles Sturt University, Charles Sturt University, Charles Sturt University, Macquarie University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Queensland Department of Environment and Science, The University of Queensland, The University of Western Australia, University of Alberta, University of Alberta, University of British Columbia, University of British Columbia, University of British Columbia, University of British Columbia, University of British Columbia, University of Technology Sydney
Publication date:
2026-02-04
DOI:
10.1038/s41467-026-69113-9
OpenAlex record:
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Image credit:
A. Scott, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
AI provenance: This post was generated by gpt-5.4-mini (OpenAI). The original authors did not write or review this post.

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