Human disturbance impacts on wildlife sociality and group sizes

Human disturbance impacts on wildlife sociality and group sizes | Authorea try { document.documentElement.classList.add('js'); } catch (e) { } var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'G-8VDV14Y67G']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Skip to main content Preprints Collections Wiley Open Research IET Open Research Ecological Society of Japan All Collections About About Authorea FAQs Contact Us Quick Search anywhere Search for preprint articles, keywords, etc. Search Search ADVANCED SEARCH SCROLL This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. 3 September 2025 V1 Latest version Share on Human disturbance impacts on wildlife sociality and group sizes Authors : Shin-Yen Chiu [email protected] and Matthew Luskin 0000-0002-5236-7096 Authors Info & Affiliations https://doi.org/10.22541/au.175692152.27279907/v1 138 views 100 downloads Contents Abstract Supplementary Material Information & Authors Metrics & Citations View Options References Figures Tables Media Share Abstract Human disturbances affect multiple aspects of wildlife ecology, including occupancy, density, and activity patterns. Animals also adjust their sociality, such as grouping behaviours, to adapt to humans and their disturbances. However, while animal sociality has been extensively studied from evolutionary perspectives, the role of humans has received less attention, particularly how responses vary across taxa and disturbance contexts. Here, for terrestrial mammals, we first conducted a systematic review comparing group sizes across different levels of human disturbances. Our synthesis encompassed 215 observations from 151 studies, covering 129 species and eight disturbance types. A meta-analysis of 71 effect sizes revealed that human disturbances reduced group size by an average of 14%, although responses were highly variable. We then developed a conceptual framework that outlines the pathways and mediators through which humans influence group size, including the interplay of species traits, habitat characteristics, and local human behaviours. This framework offers broad applicability for understanding the complex relationships between human disturbance and wildlife sociality. By integrating empirical evidence with conceptual synthesis, our work highlights the need to consider social dynamics in conservation and provides a foundation for future studies across mammals and other taxa. Title page • Article title: Human disturbance impacts on wildlife sociality and group sizes • Authors: • Shin-Yen Chiu; The University of Queensland; [email protected] ; https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7530-5535 • Matthew Scott Luskin; The University of Queensland; [email protected] ; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5236-7096 • Statement of authorship: SC and MSL designed the study, SC collected the data, performed the systematic review and meta-analyses. SC wrote the first draft of the manuscript, and all authors contributed to the final version of the paper. • Data accessibility statement: The data and R code supporting this study are openly available on Figshare at https://figshare.com/s/89ef3e1f1e93f1721a0d. These resources can be used to reproduce the analyses presented in this study. Please cite this publication if using the data or code in your work. • Short running title: Human disturbance impacts on wildlife sociality • Keywords: human disturbance, group size, sociality, grouping behaviour, terrestrial mammal, meta-analysis, conceptual framework • Type of article: Synthesis • The number of words in • The abstract: 191 • The main text (excluding abstract, acknowledgements, references, table and figure legends): 7491 • Each text box: • Box 1: 299 • Box 2: 426 • Box 3: 311 • The number of references: 141 • The number of • Figures: 6 • Tables: 1 • Text boxes: 3 • The name and complete mailing address (including telephone and fax numbers and e-mail address) of the person to whom correspondence should be sent: Shin-Yen Chiu School of the Environment, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia Brisbane, 4072 QLD, Australia. Email: [email protected] Tel. +61 422479991 Supplementary Material File (el manuscript - human disturbance impacts on wildlife sociality and group sizes 20250821.docx) Download 2.93 MB Information & Authors Information Version history V1 Version 1 03 September 2025 Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License. Keywords conceptual framework group size grouping behaviour human disturbance meta-analysis sociality systematic review terrestrial mammal Authors Affiliations Shin-Yen Chiu [email protected] The University of Queensland View all articles by this author Matthew Luskin 0000-0002-5236-7096 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Washington DC Offices View all articles by this author Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 138 views 100 downloads .FvxKWukQNSOunydq8rnd { width: 100px; } Citations Download citation Shin-Yen Chiu, Matthew Luskin. Human disturbance impacts on wildlife sociality and group sizes. Authorea . 03 September 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.175692152.27279907/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu . Format Please select one from the list RIS (ProCite, Reference Manager) EndNote BibTex Medlars RefWorks Direct import Tips for downloading citations document.getElementById('citMgrHelpLink').addEventListener('click', function() { popupHelp(this.href); return false; }); $(".js__slcInclude").on("change", function(e){ if ($(this).val() == 'refworks') $('#direct').prop("checked", false); $('#direct').prop("disabled", ($(this).val() == 'refworks')); }); View Options View options PDF View PDF Figures Tables Media Share Share Share article link Copy Link Copied! Copying failed. 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