Daily activity patterns of Mohave ground squirrels in a camera trapping study

The Mohave ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus mohavensis) is endemic to the western Mojave Desert of California. It is listed as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act, yet there is little published information on its habitat requirements. We studied the diet of Mohave ground squirrels at 4 sites in desert scrub habitat in Inyo County, California, primarily by microhistological analysis of 754 samples of fecal pellets collected from live-trapped animals. Over all sites and seasons, shrub foliage was the largest component of the diet (39.8% relative density) and mainly derived from several taxa of Chenopodiaceae: winterfat (Krascheninnikovia lanata), spiny hopsage (Grayia spinosa), and saltbushes (Atriplex spp.). Forb leaves were next in importance (34.1% relative density), especially from Fabaceae (Astragalus and Lupinus), Polemoniaceae (Gilia and Linanthus), and Asteraceae. Flowers, pollen, and seeds were also major components (20.3% relative density). Leaves composed nearly all of the diet in spring, whereas pollen, flowers, and seeds made up about a third of the diet in summer. Following dry winters when annual forbs were limited, Mohave ground squirrels depended primarily on foliage from perennial shrubs and forbs. Following wet winters when spring annuals were abundant and most plant species flowered and set seed prolifically, squirrels consumed a high proportion of leaves plus flowers, pollen, and seeds of annual forbs. Mohave ground squirrels reproduced only after winter rainfall >80 mm that resulted in a standing crop of herbaceous annuals ≥100 kg · ha-1. Mohave ground squirrels consumed very little of the nonnative annual plant biomass present on our study sites (Erodium, Salsola, Bromus, and Schismus contributed <3% overall to the diet). Conservation implications include the following: (1) priority should be given to protecting habitats supporting preferred perennial forage plants, including winterfat and spiny hopsage; (2) habitats with an understory dominated by native annual forbs have higher value than those dominated by nonnative plants, especially annual grasses; and (3) if climate change results in lower and less regular winter precipitation, suitable habitat for Mohave ground squirrels may be reduced and fragmented in the drier portions of the geographic range.

Daily and Seasonal Activity Patterns in Two Species of High Altitude Skink, Niveoscincus microlepidotus and N. metallicus, from Tasmania

This study aimed to detect the presence and the daily activity patterns of large mammals in a mixed forest in north-western Turkey. Field studies were carried out at 21 camera trap stations with a total sampling effort of 1046 camera trap days, covering an area of approximately 70 km 2 between June 2009 and January 2010. Brown bear ( Ursus arctos ), wolf ( Canis lupus ), Eurasian lynx ( Lynx lynx ), red deer ( Cervus elaphus ), wild boar ( Sus scrofa ), red fox ( Vulpes vulpes ), European badger ( Meles meles ) and European hare ( Lepus europaeus ) were not known to be present in the area. European hare was the most captured species among the others and Eurasian lynx was the most captured carnivore. There was a positive relationship between spatial distributions and daily activity patterns of European hare and Eurasian lynx. European hare, Eurasian lynx and red fox were found to have nocturnal activity in the study area. The number of records between the activity classes (nocturnal and diurnal) did not differ for red deer and wolf. This study revealed the ecological importance of the area by determining both the species present in this area and their activity patterns.

پیچیدگی فرایند تبخیر از پیکره‌های آبی مانند دریاچه‌ها و مخازن سدها، کمبود اطلاعات کافی و معتبر مورد نیاز و از طرفی عدم اتکاء مدیریت این منابع و مخازن به داده‌های زمانی و مکانی دقیق‌تر، موجب کند شدن پیشرفت‌های تحقیقاتی و کاربردی در این زمینه نسبت به سایر مولفه‌های هیدرولوژیکی شده است. مدیریت و بهره‌برداری از ذخایر سدها به‌ویژه در مناطق خشک و نیمه‌خشک نیاز به برآوردهای مطمئن‌تری از تبخیر دارد. این وضعیت در شرایطی مانند سد دوستی که منبع استراتژیک تامین بخش وسیعی از آب شرب مشهد نیز می‌باشد، اهمیتی دوچندان می‌یابد. تحقیق حاضر با هدف ارزیابی جامع روش‌های برآورد تبخیر از سطح آب و مقایسه آن‌ها با بیلان انرژی دریاچه سد دوستی با استفاده از داده‌های اندازه‌گیری شده، انجام پذیرفت. به منظور بررسی رفتار روش‌های مختلف ضمن مقایسات سالانه، ماهانه و روزانه، تحلیل حساسیت این مدل‌ها به داده‌های ورودی به منظور سنجش پایداری برآوردهای حاصل از هر روش نیز انجام پذیرفت. در نهایت 19 روش برآورد تبخیر بر اساس بیلان انرژی دریاچه به لحاظ دقت برآوردها رتبه‌بندی گردیدند. بر اساس نتایج حاصل شده، روش‌های جنسن ـ هیز، مککینک، دبروین و پنمن، با مقادیر RMSD به ترتیب برابر با 2/1، 34/1، 62/1 و 65/1 میلی‌متر بر روز نتایج مطلوب‌تری نسبت به سایر روش‌ها حاصل نمودند. در این میان، روش‌های جنسن ـ هیز و مککینک، به دلیل سادگی، دقت مطلوب، داده‌های ورودی اندک و حساسیت کمتر به این داده‌ها، گزینه‌های مناسب‌تر و مقرون به صرفه‌ای برای برآورد تبخیر از دریاچه سد دوستی هستند.

The impacts of climate change on snowfall have received great interest in cold regions for water resource and flood risk management. This study investigated the effects of rises in air and sea surface temperatures and sea ice on snowfall in Hokkaido, northern Japan, over the period from 1961 to 2020 (60 years). Climate data observed at the 22 weather stations operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) were analyzed. Statistics describing the effects of climate change on snowfall were computed. The trend in these quantities was obtained using Sen’s slope estimator, and their statistical significance was evaluated by the Mann–Kendall test. The warming trends obtained at these stations were all positive and statistically significant. Annual snowfall increased at seven stations but decreased at two stations. The snowfall period decreased mainly on the southern coast. This is attributed to the fact that these sites are on the leeward side of the Eurasian monsoon, and that air temperatures on the coast and the surface temperature of the sea off Kushiro have risen sufficiently. The results suggest that the flood risk may increase in response to the acceleration of the increase in the level of a river due to early melting snow in spring (March and April). Although the weather stations on the east coast are also on the leeward side, the snowfall period has not shortened. The warming trends in April are very weak on the east coast. The correlation between the air temperature in March and April and the period of sea ice accumulation suggests that melting sea ice in spring plays an important role in preventing the winter period from shortening. Decrease in sea ice due to a rise in both air and sea surface temperatures may increase flood risk in early spring, and thus, some measures may need to be taken in the future.

BackgroundTime spent in daily activities (sleep, sedentary behaviour and physical activity) has important consequences for health and wellbeing. The amount of time spent varies from day to day, yet little is known about the temporal nature of daily activity patterns in adults. The aim of this review is to identify the annual rhythms of daily activity behaviours in healthy adults and explore what temporal factors appear to influence these rhythms.MethodsSix online databases were searched for cohort studies exploring within-year temporal patterns (e.g. season effects, vacation, cultural festivals) in sleep, sedentary behaviour or physical activity in healthy 18 to 65-year-old adults. Screening, data extraction, and risk of bias scoring were performed in duplicate. Extracted data was presented as mean daily minutes of each activity type, with transformations performed as needed. Where possible, meta-analyses were performed using random effect models to calculate standardised mean differences (SMD).ResultsOf the 7009 articles identified, 17 studies were included. Studies were published between 2003 and 2019, representing 14 countries and 1951 participants, addressing variation in daily activities across season (n = 11), Ramadan (n = 4), vacation (n = 1) and daylight savings time transitions (n = 1). Meta-analyses suggested evidence of seasonal variation in activity patterns, with sleep highest in autumn (+ 12 min); sedentary behaviour highest in winter (+ 19 min); light physical activity highest in summer (+ 19 min); and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity highest in summer (+ 2 min) when compared to the yearly mean. These trends were significant for light physical activity in winter (SMD = − 0.03, 95% CI − 0.58 to − 0.01, P = 0.04). Sleep appeared 64 min less during, compared to outside Ramadan (non-significant). Narrative analyses for the impact of vacation and daylight savings suggested that light physical activity is higher during vacation and that sleep increases after the spring daylight savings transition, and decreases after the autumn transition.ConclusionsResearch into temporal patterns in activity behaviours is scarce. Existing evidence suggests that seasonal changes and periodic changes to usual routine, such as observing religious events, may influence activity behaviours across the year. Further research measuring 24-h time use and exploring a wider variety of temporal factors is needed.

The Ecology of the Skink Mabuya frenata in an Area of Rock Outcrops in Southeastern Brazil

Effect of no-night light environment on behaviour, learning performance and personality in zebra finches

Climate temporality is a phenomenon that affects species activity and distribution patterns across spatial and temporal scales. Despite the global availability of microclimatic data, their use to predict activity patterns and distributions remains scarce, particularly at fine temporal scales (e.g. < month). Predicting activity patterns based on climatic data may allow us to foresee some of the consequences of climate change, particularly for ectothermic vertebrates. The Gila monster exhibits marked daily and seasonal activity patterns linked to physiology and reproduction. Here we evaluate whether ecological niche models fitted using microclimate data can predict temporal activity patterns using the Gila monster Heloderma suspectum as a study system. Furthermore, we identified whether the activity patterns are related to physiological constraints. We used dated occurrences from museum specimens and human observations to generate and test ecological niche models using minimum volume ellipsoids. We generated hourly microclimatic data for each occurrence site for 10 years using the NicheMapR package. For ecological niche modelling, we compared the traditional seasonal approach versus a daily activity pattern strategy for model construction. We tested both using the omission rate of independent observations (citizen science data). Finally, we tested whether unimodal and bimodal activity patterns for each season could be recreated through ecological niche modelling and whether these patterns followed known physiological constraints. The unimodal and bimodal activity patterns previously reported directly from tracking individuals across the year were recovered using niche modelling and microclimate across the species' geographical range. We found that upper thermal tolerances can explain the daily activity patterns of this species. We conclude that ecological niche models trained with microclimatic data can be used to predict activity patterns at high temporal resolutions, particularly on ectotherm species of arid zones coping with rapid climate modifications. Furthermore, the use of high temporal resolution variables can lead to a better niche delimitation, enhancing the results of any research objective that uses correlative models.

A majority (83%) of the 246 species of land snails in Sri Lanka is endemic. The reduction of forest cover affects the diversity of land snail species and therefore it is important to study the status of the existing species. In the preset study, the villages of Mahalakotuwa (Elevation-752m), Illukkumbura (616m), Atanwala (1256m) and Pitawala (787m) in the Northern part of the Knuckles mountain range were selected as the 4 study sites. (Average annual rain fall 3000-5000 mm, Temperature 5.5- 35oC). The project was carried out from December 2011 to April 2012. The objectives were to identify the land snail species present in the study area, calculate the species richness and the abundance of species, identify the pattern of distribution of the population of land snail species, recognize the effect of soil pH, soil temperature, air temperature, relative humidity and depth of leaf litter on the distribution of land snail species Four 30 х 2 m belt transects were used for each study site. Each transect was divided in to 5 х 1 m plots. Number of shells in one plot was calculated within 20 minutes. Likewise all the plots were covered by using Timed Direct Transect method. Soil pH, soil temperature, air temperature, relative humidity and depth of leaf litter were recorded. Data were compared by using Minitab 15 software. Shells were identified according to the morphology of the shell, using a key. Live snails were identified by visual observations. A shell collection was made from collected shells. SPECDIV version 1.3 was used to calculate the Evenness, Shannon diversity index, Simpson index and Margalef Diversity Index. Species Density was calculated A total of 45 species were found in the 4 study sites (Mahalakotuwa: 31, Illukkumbura: 20, Pitawala: 14 and Atanwala: 7). Twenty eight species were identified up to species level; 14 up to generic level and 3 species were not identified. Out of the species identified up to species level, 26 were endemic (92.8%). Highest percentage of species belonged to family Ariophantidae (53.57%). Diversity of land snail species was higher in lower elevations (Mean value of Margalef Diversity in Illukkumbura: 2.422, Mahalakotuwa: 2.099). Diversity was lower in higher elevations (Atanwala: 1.309, Pitawala: 1.018). There was a significant difference between soil temperatures (p = 0.038), air temperatures (p = 0) and relative humidities (p =0.035) among the four study sites. In the sites with highest diversity, soil temperature ranged between 220C -24 0C and air temperature between 210C-260C. But there was no significance difference in the soil pHs (p =0.282) which ranged between 6.1-7.9 and depth of leaf litter (p=0.103) which ranged between 1cm-3cm among the four study sites. There was no evident correlation between soil temperature/ air temperature/ relative humidity and the diversity of snails despite the presence of a significant difference of these three parameters among the four study sites. Information on the distribution of land snails is an important prerequisite for monitoring habitat quality.

It is well-known that physical activity is key in the prevention of many diseases and disability in old age. Much less is, however, known about the pattern of activity in relation to health. While there are differences in how people spread their activity and sedentary behavior over the day or over the week, we don’t know which activity pattern of most beneficial for health. This symposium focuses on patterns of physical activity and sedentary behavior and health in five different studies with accelerometry data in Europe and the USA. Dr. Rosenberg will show how sedentary behavior patterns are associated with various health outcomes in the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) study. Using data from The Maastricht Study, Dr. Vandercappellen will present how weekly activity patterns, in particular comparing regularly actives to weekend warriors, are associated with arterial stiffness. Dr. Shiroma will show how patterns of physical activity and sedentary behavior, taking the volume, intensity, and frequency of sessions into account, are associated with mortality in the Women’s Health Study. Dr. Caserotti will present the association between physical activity fragmentation and physical function in the SITLESS Study. Dr. Stenholm will present data from the Finish Retirement and Aging Study, using latent class trajectory analyses to identify daily activity patterns and how these patterns are associated with health-related physical fitness. Taken together, this symposium will provide insight into different ways patterns of activity can be operationalized using accelerometer data and if the patterns of activity and sedentary behavior are associated with health.

Spatiotemporal estimation of air temperature patterns at the street level using high resolution satellite imagery.

1. The assumption that the primary limitations on reproductive success differ between the sexes is inherent in traditional sexual selection theory. Although the energy that can be allocated to reproduction is assumed to be the main limitation to females, the ability to attract and defend oestrous females is assumed to be the primary limitation to males. 2. Estimates of the energetic costs of reproduction in male mammals are, however, limited and have largely been obtained from sexually dimorphic species exhibiting female defence mating systems. These studies often reveal that the energetic cost of male reproduction is similar to or even exceeds that of females, and therefore challenge long-held assumptions of inter-sexual reproductive limitations, but their generality is little known. 3. We coupled measurements of energy expenditure with detailed behavioural observations of reproductive male North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). This species displays minimal sexual dimorphism and exhibits a scramble competition mating system, under which sexual selection favours enhanced mate searching effort by males. 4. We conducted the study over 2 years characterized by a substantial variation in upcoming natural food availability and across two study populations that experienced either natural food abundance or an ad libitum food-supplementation to investigate the influence of resource availability on male reproductive energy expenditure. 5. Under natural conditions, mean energy expenditure of males across the 2 years was high, approximating that of females during lactation. Furthermore, in the anticipation of high upcoming natural food availability and resultant offspring survival, expenditure approximately doubled (from 290 +/- 7 to 579 +/- 73 kJ day(-1)). When current food availability (and consequently the density of receptive females) was experimentally elevated, males displayed the highest levels of energy expenditure we recorded (873 +/- 98 kJ day(-1)). 6. Our results provide compelling evidence that the energy available for reproductive allocation places a strong limitation on reproduction in male North American red squirrels and contribute to previous work suggesting that high and limiting energetic costs of male reproduction may be a general feature of mammalian reproduction.

Identifying the most appropriate bait for a camera trap study is an important step in sampling design, as some baits may perform better than others in attracting different animal species. In this study, we compare the vertebrate communities detected using five different widely used baits (i.e., fruit, sardines, valerian extract, a mix of sweet fruits and peanut butter, and a combination of valerian extract and sardines). We assess their performance and characterize the species best detected by each bait in the diverse Cerrado biome. We identified a total of 46 species of vertebrates: 15 mammals, 4 reptiles, and 27 birds. The baits differed in their estimates of community composition, richness, and abundance. In general, valerian extract detected fewer individuals and species than any of the other baits. Fruits detected the largest number of bird species. Sardines detected the largest number of species overall and were the best bait for felines and reptiles. Baits of an animal origin performed similarly to those of a plant origin. Our study shows that baits should be selected based on the objective of the study.

The Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Parris Island, SC, is surrounded by tidal salt marshes, which are breeding habitats for many pestiferous biting flies. Knowledge of biting fly behavior patterns is needed to develop effective pest management strategies in urban areas adjacent to salt marshes. We measured biting midge (Ceratopogonidae) and mosquito (Culicidae) seasonal abundance and diel activity patterns on Parris Island using CO(2)-baited suction traps from November 2001 - November 2004. Of the three biting midge species collected, Culicoides furens was most abundant (86.2% of total) and was present in high numbers from late March to November. Culicoides hollensis (12.0% of total) was present during spring and fall but absent in summer and winter; and Culicoides melleus (1.7% of total) was present in spring through fall but absent in winter. Abundance of C. furens had a positive linear correlation with air temperature and rainfall. There were nonlinear correlations between air temperature and C. hollensis and C. melleus numbers, which were most abundant at moderate temperatures. Of 18 mosquito species collected, the most abundant were Aedes taeniorhynchus (42.7% of total), Aedes sollicitans (26.3% of total), Culex salinarius (15.6% of total), Culex quinquefasciatus (7.3% of total), and Aedes vexans (5.7% of total); other species comprised <5% of collections. Aedes taeniorhynchus numbers were positively correlated with temperature and rainfall, and Cx. salinarius was correlated with soil moisture. Activity of most biting midges and mosquitoes were highest the first two hours following sunset. Species of biting flies were present in all months, suggesting that year-round control measures are necessary to reduce exposure to potential disease vectors and nuisance biting.