Sharing space on a crowded planet: spatiotemporal responses of large mammals to human disturbance
03 Feb 2026 - Kaitlyn Gaynor, University of British Columbia | 15h00 | Hybrid Seminar
CASUAL SEMINAR IN BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION
The global expansion of human activity has had profound consequences for wildlife. In addition to the well-documented effects of habitat destruction and harvest on species and ecosystems, human disturbance can also alter the natural world by modifying animal behaviour. Our presence can instil strong fear in wild animals, but it can also be associated with attractants like food subsidies, creating complex trade-offs as animals navigate human-modified landscapes in space and time. In her talk, Dr. Kaitlyn Gaynor will discuss the influence of human activity and infrastructure on wildlife diel activity, habitat selection, movement, and species interactions. She will draw on case studies from a diversity of large mammals, including elephants in Mozambique and black bears in the United States, and present findings from global meta-analyses.
Dr. Kaitlyn Gaynor is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Zoology and Botany at the University of British Columbia. Research in Kaitlyn’s lab at UBC examines the effects of human activity on large terrestrial mammals, with emphases on the behavioural responses of animals to human presence, the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on predator-prey and other species interactions, and the socio-ecological dynamics of conservation and coexistence. Her work involves large-scale data synthesis and meta-analyses, and local field studies in North America, Africa, and Asia.