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by claude@2026-07, 2026-07-04
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The preprint investigates whether anthropogenic drivers or climate explain mammalian geographic distributions by modeling 331 mammal species against 12 anthropogenic and climatic factors, using ecological niche models and explainable artificial intelligence in both environmental and geographic space. It quantifies variable importance and derives species-specific response curves to a human impact index, then tests associations between those responses and biological traits. The study finds that anthropogenic factors are top contributors for nearly half of species, and that the effect of human impact index exceeds that of average and seasonal climatic conditions across spatial scales, with consistent landscape-level limitation but climate showing clustered patterns across subregions of ranges. Positive responses to human impacts were associated with traits of reduced conflicts with humans, faster reproduction, and greater mobility, and the authors note this is a preprint that has not been peer reviewed. The paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.
Abstract
Human impacts are increasingly recognized as drivers of biogeographic patterns, yet it remains unclear whether they surpass climate in shaping species distributions. Here we aim to investigate the relative importance of anthropogenic vs. climatic factors in determining mammalian distributions. We modeled the relationship between the geographic distributions of 331 mammal species and 12 representative anthropogenic and climatic factors, and quantified variable importance with ecological niche models and explainable artificial intelligence in both environmental and geographic space. We also constructed the response curve of human impact index (HII) for each species, and investigated the association between the response curves and species' biological traits. We found that anthropogenic factors were ranked as top contributors for nearly half of the species examined, and the effect of human impact index has exceeded that of average and seasonal climatic conditions across spatial scales. While limiting effects of anthropogenic factors were consistent across the landscape, the climatic factors often show spatial clusters at different sub-sections of species’ ranges. Species’ response to human impacts displayed diverse patterns, and the positive responses were associated with traits of reduced conflicts with humans, faster reproduction, and greater mobility. The extent of human impacts has exceeded that of climate in shaping mammalian biogeography patterns. The heterogeneous responses of mammal species to human impacts highlight the need to broadly consider anthropogenic factors, in addition to climate, in studying biodiversity in the Anthropocene.
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This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. This is version 2 of this Preprint.
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This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. This is version 2 of this Preprint.
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Human impacts are increasingly recognized as drivers of biogeographic patterns, yet it remains unclear whether they surpass climate in shaping species distributions. Here we aim to investigate the relative importance of anthropogenic vs. climatic factors in determining mammalian distributions. We modeled the relationship between the geographic distributions of 331 mammal species and 12 representative anthropogenic and climatic factors, and quantified variable importance with ecological niche models and explainable artificial intelligence in both environmental and geographic space. We also constructed the response curve of human impact index (HII) for each species, and investigated the association between the response curves and species' biological traits. We found that anthropogenic factors were ranked as top contributors for nearly half of the species examined, and the effect of human impact index has exceeded that of average and seasonal climatic conditions across spatial scales. While limiting effects of anthropogenic factors were consistent across the landscape, the climatic factors often show spatial clusters at different sub-sections of species’ ranges. Species’ response to human impacts displayed diverse patterns, and the positive responses were associated with traits of reduced conflicts with humans, faster reproduction, and greater mobility. The extent of human impacts has exceeded that of climate in shaping mammalian biogeography patterns. The heterogeneous responses of mammal species to human impacts highlight the need to broadly consider anthropogenic factors, in addition to climate, in studying biodiversity in the Anthropocene.
https://doi.org/10.32942/X2ND45
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Published: 2026-02-10 19:04
CC-BY Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
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English
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