Animals feel safer from humans in the dark

Summary

About 75% of Earth’s land surface is currently modified by human activities (1). The expanding footprint of human activities is not only causing the loss of habitat and biodiversity but also affecting the dynamics of wildlife populations. Researchers have long examined human-induced spatial shifts in the distribution of wildlife, but temporal adjustments in animal activity have received less attention. On page 1232 of this issue, Gaynor et al. (2) present a comprehensive meta-analysis to quantify the increase in wildlife nocturnality due to human disturbance.