Changes in Wildlife Due to COVID-19

Does the presence of humans on Sonoma State campus impact the amount of wildlife that is recorded on wildlife cameras, and therefore overall wildlife activity? It was hypothesized that human presence on Sonoma State campus impacts the amount of wildlife that is observed. Because of this, during the stay-at-home order, it was expected that human presence on campus would decrease, while wildlife activity recorded on the wildlife camera would increase. Camera data was recorded from February 14th, 2020, through August 7th, 2020, and has been analyzed both based on human or wildlife, as well as species types and frequency of appearance. Overall, there was an increase in the percent of wildlife that was recorded during the stay-at-home order, but also a surprising number of photographs recording human presence. There was a drastic increase in the variety of species recorded after the stay-at-home order, which was implemented March 12th, 2020. Species whose presence increased substantially during the stay-at-home order included Deer, Opossums and Turkeys. Based on recorded data, human presence was still high during the stay-at-home order, but there was an overall increase in wildlife activity. Differences in results may be because the Pre-Covid photographs were recorded early in 2020 (February-March) when the weather is colder and not always optimal for species activity. The photographs recorded during the stay-at-home order included spring and summer months, and therefore included species breeding seasons. In closing, in order to determine if human presence on Sonoma State campus impacts total wildlife activity, yearlong data of both Pre-Covid and during Covid must be analyzed.