Animals feel safer from humans in the dark

Mammals shift their activities to twilight and night hours in response to human disturbance 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.