Do pauses in human activity affect biodiversity?

A new study has delved deeper into the effect that COVID-19 lockdowns had on the habitat quality of various species.

Satellite data on environmental variables and polluting particles, as well as information on human mobility and species distribution obtained between 2017 and 2022 confirm that human inactivity, as a consequence of COVID-19 lockdowns, had positive effects on biodiversity, specifically on the quality of species’ habitat. When human mobility and pollution decrease, the quality of the space in which amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and plants live improves, which opens the door to promoting practices that pause or reduce human activity, such as teleworking.

This has been proven in a study carried out by Salvador Arenas Castro, researcher in the Ecology Area of ​​the University of Córdoba (UCO) in Spain, together with Portuguese researchers Neftalí Sillero, João Carlos Campos and João Alírio. To do this, the team studied the quality of the habitat every eight days, and for a period of 5 years, for almost 400 species of the Iberian Peninsula based on data obtained by satellites that report different characteristics of the ecosystems, such as the quality of vegetation or functional characteristics of ecosystems. Specifically, they were interested in albedo (which informs about energy balance), evapotranspiration (water balance), vegetation indices (which inform about biomass or productivity) and the reflectance and temperature of the Earth’s surface. They analyzed these data from July 2017 to August 2022 (that is, before, during and after the pandemic), observing a general negative trend in habitat quality.

Once this information was obtained, the team compared the results with other data related to the paralysis of human activity as a consequence of the confinements: toxic particles in suspension resulting from the burning of fossil fuels (nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide), suspended particles of less than ten microns (dust, ash, soot, pollen, etc.) and mobility data.

By overlaying the results of the habitat quality of the species with the data on particles and mobility, the team saw that there was a relationship since at the moment when a lockdown occurs, pollution decreases and habitat quality increases for all species, without being related to seasonality. “In the first lockdown, for example, habitat quality increased when the lockdown had already been in progress for a few days, causing a decrease in suspended particles and in the mobility of people,” explains Arenas Castro.

Salvador Arenas Castro. (Photo: UCO)

Although long-term lockdowns have had certain negative effects on nature (such as an increase in fires or poaching) and can cause unrest in society, research shows the benefits they have not only for species, but also for people. “If the quality of the habitat in which species live improves, there will be more and better quality water, the air will be cleaner and natural resources will be more accessible, which will make us happier, healthier and more connected,” says Arenas Castro, concluding that “greater biodiversity provides health and social well-being.”

The study is titled “Species habitat suitability increased during COVID-19 lockdowns.” It has been published in the academic journal Global Ecology and Conservation. (Source: UCO)