Anthropause on tardigrade urban communities during COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in Salta, Argentina.

This article examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic-induced "anthropause"—a period of drastically reduced human activity and vehicular traffic—on urban tardigrade communities in Salta, Argentina. By comparing samples collected before (2019) and during (2020) the lockdown, the study found that species richness of tardigrades increased during the anthropause, including the discovery of previously unrecorded species, while overall abundance decreased. Environmental variables such as temperature, moisture, pH, and particulate matter were affected differently across habitats with varying traffic levels, influencing tardigrade diversity and community structure. The research highlights species turnover as the primary driver of changes in community composition and suggests that urban tardigrade diversity patterns may be reversible over time in response to fluctuations in anthropogenic disturbance.