Impact of human disturbance in Japan on the distribution and diel activity pattern of terrestrial mammals

Abstract

Human disturbance has been identified as a contributing factor to the worldwide changes in wildlife ecology. Particularly, the human disturbance forced wildlife from diurnal to nocturnal activity patterns. However, the impact of human disturbances on the spatiotemporal patterns small- and medium-sized terrestrial mammals is unknown. In this study, we then aimed to evaluate the impact of anthropogenic factors on spatial pattern and to clarify the differences in temporal patterns between human disturbed and undisturbed habitats. Our camera trap survey was conducted in northern Gifu Prefecture in central Japan from November 2019 to April 2021. We investigated the impact of human activity on relative abundance indices and the influence of the quantitative difference in human activities on diel activity patterns of 12 terrestrial mammals. In this study, the human population and bamboo forest category negatively affected the RAIs of sika deer and wild boars. Moreover, Asian black bears and wild boars showed crepuscular/nocturnal and cathemeral activity in the human undisturbed habitat, respectively, and nocturnal activity in the human disturbed habitat. Consequently, three large mammals avoided human activity temporally (Asian black bears), spatially (sika deer), and spatiotemporally (wild boars). On the other hand, there was no significant impact of human activity on the spatiotemporal patterns of other mammals. However, it is necessary for residents in the human disturbed habitat to be recognize the risk of human-wildlife conflicts.