Abstract
Understanding what influences the activity of organisms is important for both ecological understanding and species conservation. Using data from 2,707 camera trap days distributed across 24 forest sites, we present quantitative analyses of the activity pattern of Cuniculus paca (Linnaeus, 1766) in southern Amazonia. We compared the activity pattern of this species across four designated subsets of the 24-hours diel cycle (dawn, dusk, day and night). Using linear regression models we tested the influence of season, temperature and rainfall on the activity patterns of C. paca (paca). We also evaluated the nocturnal photos of paca (N = 111) as a function of the degree of lunar illumination in order to test the prediction that pacas minimize their activity during moon phase when illumination is brighter. Pacas were not recorded during the day but were active at dawn, dusk and night time. We found differences in the influence of the abiotic variables on the nocturnal activity of pacas in the study area. There was no significant difference between the observed (expressed as the frequency of total counts of independent photos over the five classes of lunar illumination) and the expected activity of pacas, based on the frequency of days in the lunar cycle with different classes of lunar illumination, whereas lunar illumination had a weak negative influence on the timing of paca activity (i.e. pacas were active closer to sunset with increasing lunar illumination). However, the timing of nocturnal activity in pacas was not influenced by season, temperature or rainfall. Our findings highlight the ecological plasticity of this Neotropical rodent which has a key function in the maintenance of Neotropical forests.
Highlights
Animal behavior changes throughout the day, the temporal aspect of activity is an important dimension of an individual’s ecological niche, and patterns of diel behavior can directly influence individual fitness (KRONFELD-SCHOR & DAYAN 2003)
By evaluating the responses in diel and nocturnal activity of pacas in the Brazilian Amazon to abiotic variables such as degree of lunar illumination, we have provided insights for the ecology and conservation of the species
Through the breakdown of temporal activity from coarse scale to hourly periods we have demonstrated the importance of considering the temporal scale in understanding species responses over the 24 hours diel cycle
Summary
Animal behavior changes throughout the day, the temporal aspect of activity is an important dimension of an individual’s ecological niche, and patterns of diel behavior can directly influence individual fitness (KRONFELD-SCHOR & DAYAN 2003). “Lunar phobia”, where nocturnal species avoid bright moonlight, has been frequently documented This avoidance can be expressed in different behaviors, such as: reducing the use of open areas (GILBERT & BOUTIN 1991, KOTLER et al 1993), restricting foraging activity (CRESSWELL & HARRIS 1988, KOTLER et al 1993), and/or reducing the duration of an activity (KOTLER et al 1993). The application of techniques which remotely monitor species can overcome some of the difficulties facing behavioral studies of wild populations and reveal unknown or poorly documented behavior in situations where direct observation is not logistically or financially possible (ALTMANN & ALTMANN 2003)
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