Abstract:
The nocturnal activities of predators and prey are influenced by several factors, including physiological adaptations, habitat quality and, we suspect, corresponds to changes in brightness of moonlight according to moon phase. In this study, we used a dataset from 102 camera traps to explore which factors are related to the activity pattern of North China leopards (Panthera pardus japonensis) in Shanxi Tieqiaoshan Provincial Nature Reserve (TPNR), China. We found that nocturnal activities of leopards were irregular during four different lunar phases, and while not strictly lunar philic or lunar phobic, their temporal activity was highest during the brighter moon phases (especially the last quarter) and lower during the new moon phase. On the contrary, roe deer (Capreolus pygargus) exhibited lunar philic activity, while wild boar (Sus scrofa) and tolai hare (Lepus tolai) were evidently lunar phobic, with high and low temporal activity during the full moon, respectively. In terms of temporal overlap, there was positive overlap between leopards and their prey species, including roe deer and tolai hare, while leopard activity did not dip to the same low level of wild boar during the full moon phase. Human activities also more influenced the temporal activity of leopards and wild boar than other species investigated. Generally, our results suggested that besides moonlight risk index (MRI), cloud cover and season have diverse effects on leopard and prey nocturnal activity. Finally, distinct daytime and nighttime habitats were identified, with leopards, wild boar, and tolai hare all using lower elevations at night and higher elevations during the day, while leopards and roe deer were closer to secondary roads during the day than at night.
摘要:
捕食者和猎物的夜间活动受几个因素的影响,包括生理适应,栖息地质量和,我们怀疑,对应于月光亮度根据月相的变化。在这项研究中,我们使用来自102个相机陷阱的数据集来探索哪些因素与山西铁桥山省级自然保护区(TPNR)的华北豹(Pantherapardusjaponensis)的活动模式有关,中国。我们发现豹子的夜间活动在四个不同的月相中是不规则的,虽然不是严格意义上的月球亲性或月球恐惧症,他们的时间活动在更亮的月相(尤其是最后一个季度)最高,在新月阶段较低。相反,ro(Capreoluspygargus)表现出月球亲亲活动,虽然野猪(Susscrofa)和托莱野兔(Lepustolai)显然是月球恐惧症,在满月期间有高低的时间活动,分别。就时间重叠而言,豹子和它们的猎物物种之间存在正重叠,包括roe和tolai兔,而在满月阶段,豹子的活动没有下降到野猪的低水平。与所研究的其他物种相比,人类活动对豹子和野猪的时间活动的影响更大。一般来说,我们的结果表明,除了月光风险指数(MRI),云层和季节对豹子和猎物的夜间活动有不同的影响。最后,确定了不同的白天和夜间栖息地,和豹子在一起,野猪,和托莱兔都在夜间使用较低的海拔,白天使用较高的海拔,而豹子和罗伊鹿白天比晚上更靠近次要道路。