Daily Activity Patterns Research Articles

Daily activity patterns in agoutis (Dasyprocta spp) in response to relaxed predation

Animals' fitness is determined in a large proportion by the balance in energetic requirements maintained during daily activities, in response to environmental factors. Predation is a major environmental factor influencing the activity patterns of prey, and the deployment of adaptive responses to predation represents a significant cost to prey populations and communities. Experimental removal of predators to study the effect on activity patterns of prey is impractical for vertebrate species. However, islands are often deprived of predators and provide an excellent arena to study prey's responses in the absence of any cue related to predation risk. Here, we investigated whether natural absence of predators in islands has influenced the activity patterns of diurnal agoutis in Panama, by monitoring activity in three sites in each habitat type (predator-free vs predator). We predicted that agoutis in predator-free sites can expand their activity patterns towards the night, which is the period of highest predation risk, in sites with predators. One of our predator-free sites showed relative high activity at night, with no evidence of nocturnality in sites with predators. A clear pattern across our three predator-free sites was that agoutis started their daily activity earlier, before sunrise, which is a period with significant predation risk as well. Our study highlights the role that felids play in regulating agoutis' daily activity patterns and we discuss the implications of our finding. Finally, we also offer a review on agoutis' activity pattern in the Neotropics.

Using Apple Watches to Monitor Health and Behaviors of Individuals with Cognitive Impairment: A Case Series Study.

This study explores the potential of developing digital biomarkers from wearables for monitoring individuals with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias, focusing on the feasibility of using Apple Watches for tracking health and behaviors in older adults with cognitive impairment. Data collection used the Amissa Health technology stack, which passively collects time-series data from smartwatches and provides a high-frequency cloud database for secure data storage, query, and visualization by clinicians and researchers. The platform consists of i) AmissaWear, a software app that runs on smartwatches and sends information to a cloud database using a secure API; and ii) AmissaOrbis, a centralized cloud portal for the collected data. Each participant was provided an Apple Watch configured to collect steps, calories burned, accelerometer and gyroscope readings, heart rate, and sleep information. Seven participants, with cognitive impairment diagnosed by a neurologist, were enrolled in the study from December 2023 through June 2024. The watches successfully collected more than 700,000 observations during the study. Each observation contains data recorded from over a dozen sensors (e.g., heart rate, pedometer, gyroscope, accelerometer). The participants wore Apple Watches for an average of 11.48 hours/day for 84.91% of days during a 6-month period without a decrease in usage over time. Overall, the technology yielded high wear adherence and participation within this pilot. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using widely available Apple Watches for continuous monitoring of individuals with cognitive impairment and provides insights into their daily health and activity patterns, which could aid in future development of digital biomarkers.

Around the clock: unveiling giraffe rest-activity rhythms and social dynamics

Understanding the daily activity patterns and social dynamics of giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) is crucial for their management and conservation. In this study, a comprehensive 24-hour observational analysis of three female reticulated giraffes kept for three weeks at the Opel-Zoo in Kronberg, Germany, was conducted. Using infrared-sensitive cameras, the study captured behavioral data across baseline and two intervention phases involving changes in group composition. Social network analysis was performed using the Mantel test to assess changes in social interactions between day and night and across different study periods, while the MRQAP was applied to evaluate the influence of individual subtypes on the social structure. During the day, the giraffes exhibited a high level of activity, primarily engaging in walking, standing, and feeding behaviors. Diurnal resting was minimal, with sporadic lying phases. Night-time behavior was markedly different, with the giraffes spending most of the night lying down, interspersed with periods of feeding. The presence of a male giraffe during one intervention phase significantly altered diurnal activity patterns, increasing standing behaviors and decreasing feeding time. Social interactions, including nearest neighbor preferences, varied across day and night periods and changed with alterations in group composition. The study highlights the complexity of giraffe social dynamics and their adaptation to different social contexts. These findings provide valuable insights into the natural behavioral rhythms and social behaviors of giraffes, which are essential for effective zoo management and conservation strategies.

Cougar spatiotemporal response to human activities in a multi‐use forest landscape on southern Vancouver Island

Recreational activities have been shown to induce fear responses in carnivores, causing both spatial and temporal displacement that can have cascading effects on the wider ecological community. Cougars Puma concolor are one species that are particularly sensitive to human disturbances as they have been found to be impacted by various forms of recreational activities. This research aimed to quantify the spatial and temporal responses of cougars to human activities on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Fifty camera traps were deployed in a systematic probabilistic sampling design and data from the summer season of 2022 was used for analyses. We modeled cougar weekly occurrence frequency in relation to human (hikers and bikers) occurrence frequency, vehicle occurrence frequency, and landscape features, using generalized linear mixed models. Temporal responses of cougars were investigated using activity pattern analysis to compare activity patterns within a recreation area and a restricted public access reserve. Cougars avoid occurring at sites where recreationalists frequently visited, but not sites frequented by vehicles on unpaved roads. We observed minimal influence of habitat features or prey availability on cougar occurrence frequency, as measured by information loss (AICc scores). Activity pattern analysis did not demonstrate significant differences in cougar daily activity patterns between the recreation area and no‐entry reserve, suggesting a lack of temporal response. These results suggest recreational activities on southern Vancouver Island are impacting cougar spatial – but not temporal – behavioral dynamics. Insights on how cougars respond to recreational activities can help inform landscape management and policies by providing information that can be used to mitigate negative impacts and thus ensure that recreational activities are remaining compatible with conservation efforts.

Utilizing graph neural networks for adverse health detection and personalized decision making in sensor-based remote monitoring for dementia care

Background:Sensor-based remote health monitoring is increasingly used to detect adverse health in people living with dementia (PLwD) at home, aiming to prevent hospitalizations and reduce caregiver burden. However, home sensor data is often noisy, overly granular, and suffers from unreliable labeling, data drift and high variability between households. Current anomaly detection methods lack generalizability and personalization, often requiring anomaly-free training data and frequent model updates. Objective:To develop a lightweight, explainable, self-supervised approach with personalized alert thresholds to detect adverse health events in PLwD, using changes in home activity. Methods:We hypothesized that health downturns manifest as detectable shifts in household movement patterns. Our approach leverages a Graph Barlow Twins contrastive model, which uses granular activity data and a macroscopic view to extract noise-robust, high-level and low-level discriminative features that represent daily activity patterns. Household-personalized alert thresholds are calculated based on clinician-set target alert rates, and daily anomaly scores are compared against these thresholds, triggering alerts for the clinical monitoring team. Model attention weights support explainability. Data were collected from a real-world dataset by the UK Dementia Research Institute (August 2019-April 2022). Results:Our model outperformed state-of-the-art temporal graph algorithms in detecting agitation and fall events across three patient cohorts, achieving 81% average recall and 88% generalizability at a target alert rate of 7%. Conclusion:We developed a novel, lightweight, explainable, and personalized Graph Barlow Twins model for real-world remote health monitoring in dementia care, with potential for broader applications in healthcare and sensor-based environments.

Daily activity rhythm of sympatric ungulate species in Fanjingshan Reserve, China

Sympatric species inhabiting similar ecological niches can coexist by partitioning aspects of available ecological resources, such as temporal, spatial, and nutritional niches. Ungulates often coexist in the same habitat, resulting in temporal partitioning and divergence in foraging strategies and spatial utilization. To understand the temporal patterns of ecological differentiation and coexistence mechanisms among sympatric ungulates, we analyzed the monitoring data in Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve, Guizhou, China, from 2017 to 2022. Kernel density estimation was used to scrutinize disparities in diurnal activity patterns among four ungulates [tufted deer (Elaphodus cephalophus), Reeves' muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi), wild boar (Sus scrofa), and mainland serow (Capricornis milneedwardsii)] as well as the interspecies variances during different seasons, at diverse altitudes, and between breeding and non-breeding periods. Daily activity patterns differed significantly among four species, with those of tufted deer, Reeves' muntjac, and wild boar affected significantly by season and breeding cycle. In addition, the daily activity rhythms of four species were affected by altitude. Thus, the daily activity rhythms of these ungulates were resulted from a combination of environmental factors and interspecific competitive interactions, as well as the reproductive cycle of each species. Our results provided a scientific reference for the effective management of wildlife and forest ecosystems, and we suggest that knowledge of temporal dynamics should be integrated into conservation planning for these sympatric species.

Spatiotemporal responses of ungulates to hunting in a fenced multi-use area

Context Human activities, such as tourism and hunting, affect the spatiotemporal behaviour of wildlife. For example, it is well documented that ungulates change their spatiotemporal behaviour as a response to hunting pressure, but less is known about ungulate responses to hunting in areas where human activity is common throughout the year and ungulates are constrained by fences. Aims In this camera-trap study, we analysed the change in spatiotemporal behaviour of wild ungulates (elk, Cervus canadensis (3519 events), moose, Alces alces (1153 events), and white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus (2708 events)) in response to the hunting period in a recreational and fenced park, the Cooking Lake–Blackfoot Provincial Area, Canada. Methods We used general linear models to compare species-specific patterns of intensity of use, calculated as events per week, in response to changes in the nature of human disturbance, namely a shift from recreation to hunting activity. In particular, we compared intensity of use in and out of the hunting season to determine whether species engaged in spatial patterns of avoidance with respect to hunting. We used daily and seasonal patterns of activity to determine how ungulates shifted their temporal use in response to hunting activity and whether they became more nocturnal as a result. Key results We found that ungulates responded temporally to the hunting period by generally shifting their activity to more nocturnal hours, with white-tailed deer showing the biggest temporal shift, suggesting that the ungulates distinguish between consumptive and non-consumptive human activities. Nevertheless, temporal overlap between humans and all ungulate species increased during the hunting period as humans targeted times of increased ungulate activity. Spatially, the response was less distinctive and was species-specific. Elk showed little change in spatial behaviour in response to the hunting period. In contrast, moose decreased the use of trail areas and other areas frequented by humans, whereas deer, counterintuitively, increased the use of trail areas, albeit their use became much more nocturnal. Conclusions We have shown that responses of ungulates to hunting exceed those to non-consumptive recreational use, and whereas temporal responses (increased nocturnality) were consistent across ungulate species, spatial responses were species-specific. Implications Management in small fenced multi-use areas needs to account for shifts in the intensity of disturbance resulting from a change in human disturbance from recreational activity to hunting. Providing spatial opportunities for avoidance of humans is key for most species if hours of operation in these areas already limit the timing of human activity.

Experimentally Elevated Levels of Testosterone Advance Daily Onset of Activity in Short-Day Housed Male House Sparrows (Passer domesticus).

Seasonal changes in sleep/wake cycles and behaviors related to reproduction often co-occur with seasonal fluctuations in sex hormones. Experimental studies have established that fluctuations in circulating testosterone mediate circadian rhythms. However, most studies are performed under constant lighting conditions and fail to investigate the effects of testosterone on the phenotypic output of circadian rhythms, that is, chronotype (daily activity patterns under light:dark cycles). Here, we experimentally elevated testosterone with implants during short nonbreeding daylengths in male house sparrows (Passer domesticus) to test if observed seasonal changes in chronotype are directly in response to photoperiod or to testosterone. We fitted individuals with accelerometers to track activity across treatment periods. Birds experienced three treatments periods: short day photoperiods before manipulation (SD), followed by testosterone implants while still on short days (SD + T). Implants were then removed. After a decrease in cloacal protuberance size, an indicator of low testosterone levels, birds were then photostimulated on long days (LD). Blood samples were collected at night, when testosterone peaks, to compare testosterone levels to daily onset/offset activity for experimental periods. Our results indicate that experimentally elevated testosterone under short nonbreeding photoperiods significantly advanced daily onset of activity and total daily activity relative to daylength. This suggests that testosterone, independent of photoperiod, is responsible for seasonal shifts in chronotypes and daily activity rhythms. These findings suggest that sex steroid hormone actions regulate timing of daily behaviors, likely coordinating expression of reproductive behaviors to appropriate times of the day.

Livestock guarding dogs shape activity patterns of sympatric mesocarnivores in sheep ranches of the Patagonia region

Predation of livestock by wild carnivores is a source of human-wildlife conflict. Livestock Guarding Dogs (LGDs) are one of the most effective non-lethal methods used. LGDs could impact wildlife due to their possible top predator role; their effect on mesocarnivores has been studied mainly in terms of space use, however, temporal effects may also exist. Our study sought to determine the possible effects of LGD presence on the activity patterns of the native foxes Lycalopex griseus and L. culpaeus in southern Chile. Activity patterns were estimated from fox detections with camera traps set on ranches with and without LGDs in Isla Riesco, Magallanes region, Chile, between 2016 and 2018. We quantified the activity patterns of each fox species in presence/absence of LGDs, and under different conditions including breeding vs non-breeding season, moon phase and vegetation cover. Both species modified their daily activity pattern, avoiding times of day of high LGD activity; nevertheless, these modifications did not change the temporal interaction between the native foxes. Activity patterns of foxes without LGDs did not differ from those in natural areas. The effect of LGDs on fox activity patterns was stronger than other ecological variables (breeding season, moon phase or vegetation cover). Since LGDs change the activity patterns of foxes, they cannot be seen as a totally innocuous predation control tool; however, carnivores’ temporal avoidance of areas with a fear-evoking agent like LGDs would result in fewer livestock-predators encounters, thus reducing sheep predation risk. LGDs appear to exert non-lethal effects upon carnivores that would contribute to reduced predation rates and may help decrease producers’ economic losses, as well as the retaliatory hunting of wild carnivores. Thus, our results support that LGDs could be contributing to the co-existence with native predators in areas destined for livestock production.

Exploring the association between daily distributional patterns of physical activity and cardiovascular mortality risk among older adults in NHANES 2003-2006

PurposeCardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Physical activity (PA) has previously been shown to be a prominent risk factor for CVD mortality. Traditionally, measurements of PA have been self-reported and based on various summary metrics. However, recent advances in wearable technology provide continuously monitored and objectively measured physical activity data. This facilitates a more comprehensive interpretation of the implications of PA in the context of CVD mortality by considering its daily patterns and compositions. MethodsThis study utilized accelerometer data from the 2003–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) on 2816 older adults aged 50–85 and mortality data from the National Death Index (NDI) in December 2019. A novel partially functional distributional analysis method was used to quantify and understand the association between daily distributional patterns of physical activity and cardiovascular mortality risk through a multivariable functional Cox model. ResultsA higher mean intensity of daily PA during the day was associated with a reduced hazard of CVD mortality after adjusting for other higher order distributional summaries of PA and age, gender, race, body mass index (BMI), smoking and coronary heart disease (CHD). A higher daily variability of PA during afternoon was associated with a reduced hazard of CVD mortality, after adjusting for the other predictors, particularly on weekdays. The subjects with a lower variability of PA, despite having same mean PA throughout the day, could have a lower reserve of PA and hence could be at increased risk for CVD mortality. ConclusionsOur results demonstrate that not only the mean intensity of daily PA during daytime, but also the variability of PA during afternoon could be an important protective factor against the risk of CVD-mortality. Considering circadian rhythm of PA as well as its daily compositions can be useful for designing time-of-day and intensity-specific PA interventions to protect against the risk of CVD mortality.

Changepoint detection on daily home activity pattern: a sliced Poisson process method.

The problem of health and care of people is being revolutionized. An important component of that revolution is disease prevention and health improvement from home. A natural approach to the health problem is monitoring changes in people's behavior or activities. These changes can be indicators of potential health problems. However, due to a person's daily pattern, changes will be observed throughout each day, with, eg, an increase of events around meal times and fewer events during the night. We do not wish to detect such within-day changes but rather changes in the daily behavior pattern from one day to the next. To this end, we assume the set of event times within a given day as a single observation. We model this observation as the realization of an inhomogeneous Poisson process where the rate function can vary with the time of day. Then, we propose to detect changes in the sequence of inhomogeneous Poisson processes. This approach is appropriate for many phenomena, particularly for home activity data. Our methodology is evaluated on simulated data. Overall, our approach uses local change information to detect changes across days. At the same time, it allows us to visualize and interpret the results, changes, and trends over time, allowing the detection of potential health decline.

Daily Activity Rhythms of Animals in the Southwest Mountains, China: Influences of Interspecific Relationships and Seasons

Temporal and spatial factors regulate the interactions between apex predators, mesocarnivores, and herbivores. Prey adjust their activity patterns and spatial utilization based on predator activities; in turn, predators also adapt to the activities of their prey. To elucidate the factors influencing the daily activity rhythms of animals, 115 camera traps were established from September 2019 to June 2023 to assess the influences of interspecific relationships and seasons on the daily activity rhythms of animals in the southwest mountains of China. The species captured by the cameras included six Carnivora (such as Panthera pardus and Lynx lynx), six Artiodactyla (such as Moschus spp. and Rusa unicolor), one Primate (Macaca mulatta), and two Galliformes (Crossoptilon crossoptilon, Ithaginis cruentus). The results demonstrated that the 15 species exhibited different activity rhythms and peak activities to reduce intense resource competition. There were differences in the species’ activity rhythms in different seasons, with competition among different species being more intense in the cold season than in the warm season. In predation relationships, the overlap coefficient in the cold season exceeded that of the warm season, possibly due to the abundant resources in summer and food scarcity in winter. In competitive relationships, 15 pairs of species exhibited significantly higher overlap coefficients in the cold season compared to the warm season, possibly due to increased demands for energy during the cold period or seasonal changes in predatory behavior. By analyzing the daily and seasonal activity patterns of dominant species in the study area, temporal niche overlaps were established to compare the competition levels between species. These findings indicate that the activity rhythms of the animals in this area not only result from evolutionary adaptation but are also influenced by season, food resources, and interspecific relationships (predation and competition). Thus, efforts should be made to reduce human interference, protect food resources in the winter, and monitor animals’ interspecific relationships to protect animal diversity and maintain the stability of the ecosystem in this biodiversity hotspot in China.

Night life: Positional behaviors and activity patterns of the Neotropical kinkajou, Potos flavus (Carnivora, Procyonidae)

AbstractStudying positional behaviors is important for understanding how animals interact with their immediate environment. This is particularly important in arboreal species since arboreal milieus are primarily characterized by three‐dimensional problems that arboreal species must overcome to efficiently access resources. Similarly, a fundamental aspect of an animal's ecology is its daily activity pattern. This information is important for understanding the basic ecology of animal species and their eco‐evolutionary dynamics. This study sought to understand the habitat use and nocturnal lifestyle of the highly arboreal kinkajou (Potos flavus) by documenting variation in positional behaviors and activity patterns using 2223 photographs obtained from 27 camera traps in French Guiana. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Kernel density estimation (KDE), and Gantt charts. Our results indicate that kinkajous show a strictly nocturnal activity pattern beginning from 19:00 h to 05:57 h, with peak active periods between 01:00 h and 02:00 h. The most frequent activities were scanning (48.33%) and traveling (47.13%). Quadrupedal walking (95.43%) was the main locomotor behavior during traveling. However, when crossing gaps between two substrates, kinkajous would either bridge (42.22%), leap (33.33%), or drop (26.67%) across gaps. Inactive periods were characterized by grooming (77.32%) and resting (27.84%) while mostly assuming a sitting (90.67%) or a catlike body curl posture (92.59%), interchangeably. This study highlights the broad array of positional behaviors displayed by kinkajous, further providing information to understand its basic ecology and eco‐evolutionary dynamics.

Anthropogenic noise and light pollution decrease the repeatability of activity patterns and dampen expression of chronotypes in a free-living songbird

Anthropogenic environmental change is introducing a suite of novel disturbance factors, which can have wide-ranging effects on mean behavior and behavioral repeatability. For example, exposure to sensory pollutants, such as anthropogenic noise and artificial light at night (ALAN), may affect consistent and repeatable individual-level timing of daily activity, which is referred to as chronotypes. Although chronotypes have been increasingly documented in wild animal populations and may affect fitness, evidence for long-term stability across life-history stages and seasons is notably lacking. Furthermore, how multiple anthropogenic stressors may interact to erode or magnify the expression of chronotypes remains unclear. We tested for existence of chronotypes across life-history stages and seasons in suburban female great tits (Parus major), using emergence time from nest boxes in the morning as a proxy for activity onset. We then examined joint effects of noise pollution and ALAN on expression of chronotypes, and tested for effects of noise, ALAN, and weather conditions on mean emergence time. We found repeatability of daily activity patterns (emergence times) across life-history stages and seasons, providing evidence of chronotypes, as well as interactive effects of anthropogenic disturbance factors and weather conditions on population mean behavior. Furthermore, across-season repeatability of emergence times was approximately double in magnitude in low light and low noise conditions, relative to in conditions with higher light and/or noise pollution. Thus, joint exposure to these sensory pollutants tends to erode expression of chronotypes. This effect was driven by higher among-individual variance in the relatively undisturbed environment and collapse of this variance in the more disturbed environments. Decreased repeatability in environments with high disturbance levels may reduce potential for behavioral traits, such as chronotype, to be the target of selection and limit adaptability.

Distribution and habitat use by the Audouin's Gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii) in anthropized environments

Human activities provide wildlife with highly abundant and predictable food subsidies, which can affect population dynamics and have wide-ranging ecological impacts. A key ecological question is how species adapt their foraging behaviour to capitalize on these new feeding opportunities. We investigate habitat use by Audouin's Gulls (Ichthyaetus audouinii) off the Western Mediterranean Sea, an opportunistic seabird that has recently expanded to diverse breeding colonies subjected to varying degrees of human influence. By combining GPS tracking, remote sensing, and GIS, we assessed the resource selection and habitat preferences of gulls from five colonies across their breeding latitudinal range, including interactions with industrial fisheries. Overall, the use of terrestrial habitats was slightly higher (57 % of total positions) compared to the marine environment (42 %), with individuals preferentially feeding on urban and related areas or fishing ports. However, habitat utilization varied among studied colonies, likely in response to contrasting food availability and accessibility of human related food resources on land (e.g., agriculture and livestock areas, landfills or rice fields). At sea, individuals largely distributed over highly productive and persistent marine areas with intense fishing pressure. Individuals also adapted their daily activity patterns to match food availability: gulls preferentially feed on the marine environment during the night, while the use of terrestrial habitats increases during daylight hours. Individuals' daily activity patterns also matched that for the two main fishing gears operating in the area: diurnal trawlers and nocturnal purse-seiners. Our findings offer perspectives on the reliance of opportunistic seabird species on anthropogenic food subsidies and inform on potential implications for the conservation and management of these under changes in fishing policies (EU discard ban). Broadly, we provide further insights on how this species can adapt to changing environments.

Characterizing daily physical activity patterns with unsupervised learning via functional mixture models

Characterizing daily physical activity patterns with unsupervised learning via functional mixture models

Thermal constraints and gender-related differences in the activity patterns of the monomorphic rodent Clyomys laticeps

Abstract The daily activity pattern of animals can be classified as diurnal, nocturnal, crepuscular, and cathemeral reflecting strategic decisions to maximize mating and foraging while reducing predation risks and thermal constraints. Among monomorphic mammals, competition for resources and gender-related differences in physiology and reproductive strategies may translate into different activity patterns of males and females. Therefore, to understand the daily activity pattern both aboveground and belowground of the semifossorial rodent Clyomys laticeps, we tested the following hypotheses: (1) males and females differ in their diel activity patterns; (2) males are active for longer periods than females due to a promiscuous mating system and female site fidelity; and (3) higher maximum temperatures restrain C. laticeps activity. The study was carried out in the Serra de Caldas Novas State Park (Goiás, Brazil) in the Cerrado biome. The activity of C. laticeps was recorded using the telemetry technique over 5 days and nights (twice in each season, rainy and dry, between 2019 and 2021). Clyomys laticeps activity was bimodal, with 2 peaks around dawn and dusk, resembling a crepuscular pattern. Temporal segregation in male and female activity patterns was restricted to the dry season, when female activity was more diurnal than males who were mainly nocturnal. Intersexual competition for resources or male-avoidance behavior by females during the dry food scarcity season could contribute to this pattern, although it may also be explained by gender-related differences in thermal tolerances. Overall, males were active for longer periods than females, probably as a strategy to increase mating opportunities among the former and site fidelity in the latter. Finally, temperature imposed major constraints on C. laticeps activities who preferred milder temperatures and avoided being active in temperatures above their thermoneutral zone.

Site fidelity trumps disturbance: aerial shooting does not cause surviving fallow deer (Dama dama) to disperse

Context Aerial shooting is an important tool for managing the economic and environmental impacts of widespread wild fallow deer populations in eastern Australia and could be crucial for mounting an effective response to an emergency animal disease incursion. However, there is a concern that the disturbance caused by aerial shooting could cause infected animals to disperse, thereby transmitting pathogens to previously uninfected areas. Aims We sought to describe the nature and extent of spatial behavioural changes in fallow deer exposed to aerial shooting to: (1) assess the risk that aerial shooting poses to disease spread, and (2) better understand how aerial shooting can contribute to routine deer management programs. Methods We contrasted movement rates, activity range areas, and daily activity patterns of 48 GPS-collared fallow deer before, during and after exposure to aerial shooting at three sites in New South Wales. Key results No collared deer left its pre-shoot activity range area during shooting or within 30 days after shooting finished. Observed behaviour changes included increased daily and hourly distance travelled by female deer during and after shooting, increased activity range areas for female deer after shooting, and increased nocturnal activity in female and male deer during shooting. However, observed changes were minor, temporary, localised, and variable among sites. Conclusions Collared deer showed strong site fidelity despite repeated intense disturbance and substantial population reductions. We found no evidence to support concerns that aerial shooting poses a hazard of disease spread. Implications Aerial shooting should be retained as a key control tool for managing wild fallow deer populations in Australia, including for reducing disease host population densities in the event of an emergency animal disease incursion.

Summer daily activity patterns of mountain rock lizards of the Balkan Peninsula (Dinarolacerta spp.)

Summer daily activity patterns of mountain rock lizards of the Balkan Peninsula (Dinarolacerta spp.)

Climate change and deer in boreal and temperate regions: From physiology to population dynamics and species distributions.

Climate change causes far-reaching disruption in nature, where tolerance thresholds already have been exceeded for some plants and animals. In the short term, deer may respond to climate through individual physiological and behavioral responses. Over time, individual responses can aggregate to the population level and ultimately lead to evolutionary adaptations. We systematically reviewed the literature (published 2000-2022) to summarize the effect of temperature, rainfall, snow, combined measures (e.g., the North Atlantic Oscillation), and extreme events, on deer species inhabiting boreal and temperate forests in terms of their physiology, spatial use, and population dynamics. We targeted deer species that inhabit relevant biomes in North America, Europe, and Asia: moose, roe deer, wapiti, red deer, sika deer, fallow deer, white-tailed deer, mule deer, caribou, and reindeer. Our review (218 papers) shows that many deer populations will likely benefit in part from warmer winters, but hotter and drier summers may exceed their physiological tolerances. We found support for deer expressing both morphological, physiological, and behavioral plasticity in response to climate variability. For example, some deer species can limit the effects of harsh weather conditions by modifying habitat use and daily activity patterns, while the physiological responses of female deer can lead to long-lasting effects on population dynamics. We identified 20 patterns, among which some illustrate antagonistic pathways, suggesting that detrimental effects will cancel out some of the benefits of climate change. Our findings highlight the influence of local variables (e.g., population density and predation) on how deer will respond to climatic conditions. We identified several knowledge gaps, such as studies regarding the potential impact on these animals of extreme weather events, snow type, and wetter autumns. The patterns we have identified in this literature review should help managers understand how populations of deer may be affected by regionally projected futures regarding temperature, rainfall, and snow.