Occupancy, relative abundance and activity patterns of three sympatric deer in ponds of Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, Campeche

Abstract

Calakmul Biosphere Reserve is one of the largest tropical forests in the Americas, home to three species of deer, the white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, the Yucatan brown brocket deer, Odocoileus pandora, and the Central American red brocket deer, Mazama temama. Important ecological aspects on the conservation of these species have been poorly studied. The aim of this study was to determine the occupancy, relative abundance and activity patterns of these species through 9 years of camera-trapping in ponds of a Neotropical Forest in southern Mexico, contributing to the understanding of the ecological patterns and conservation of Neotropical deer. To determine abundance, occupancy and activity patterns, 18 ponds were monitored from 2014 to 2022. The general relative abundance index was used to calculate abundance and the temporal kernel density was used to evaluate the overlap in daily activity of the species. The dynamic occupancy model was used to obtain the occupancy, colonization, extinction and detection of deer, while species co-occurrence occupancy models were used to assess the interaction of water and species. White-tailed deer were the most abundant (Table 1) during the nine years of the study, with low pond occupancy, but with a high probability of colonization. The brown brocket deer was the one with the highest probability of occupancy, showing a low abundance (Table 1), followed by the red brocket deer, with a very low occupancy and abundance (Table 1). Interaction with water was positive in two of the three analyzed species and activity was diurnal for Odocoileus species and cathemeral for Mazama (Fig. 3). The use of ponds by deer is varied in quantity and activity, but they are important places for their development. The protection of the ponds should be fundamental for the conservation of the species in the area, being one of the few semi-perennial water sources and places of food and shelter for wildlife.