The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic at the start of 2020 led to dramatic reduction and alteration of human activity. People were confined to their homes, and international travel essentially ceased. National parks and other protected areas either closed or limited visitation, though some parks, particularly in urban areas, showed dramatically increased use. Universities and schools closed or shifted to online teaching, and field work was suspended or disrupted. Businesses closed and economic activity was reduced or changed in substantial ways.

All of these societal shifts have implications for the conservation of biological diversity, and the functioning of ecological communities. At the start of the pandemic lockdown in March and April of 2020, we, along with our colleagues, wrote a series of papers describing how the pandemic might affect conservation in the broadest sense, including education, research, ecotourism, citizen science programs, and wildlife protection (Corlett et al., 2020; Bates et al., 2020; Rutz et al., 2020). We pointed out that even though the pandemic is tragedy of enormous significance, it is also an opportunity to study the relationship between humans and the environment. What happens when tourism to natural areas rapidly declines? What happens when management actions are abruptly suspended? What happens when people's options for recreation are limited to exploring their local communities? How does wildlife respond to reduction of traffic, both on land and in the water, and associated noise? These types of questions both describe the effects of the pandemic, and illuminate the wider impacts we have on biodiversity through management and consumption of natural resources. It is also important to understand how the disruption of university courses, research activities, and employment will impact on research programs and the careers of students and recent graduates, as well as how public opinion and policy towards wildlife will change as a result of the pandemic.