Daily activity patterns of medium and large neotropical mammals in an area of Atlantic rain forest at altitude

Authors

  • Rosane Vera Marques Unidade de Assessoramento Ambiental Gabinete de Assessoramento Técnico Ministério Público do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5026-8481
  • Marta Elena Fabián Curso de Pós-graduação em Biologia Animal, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34019/2596-3325.2018.v19.24736

Abstract

Camera traps were used to study the daily activity patterns of medium and large mammals (> 1 kg) in an area of Mixed Rain Forest (High Altitude Atlantic Forest) in the South of Brazil. Species that exhibited diurnal tendencies were Dasyprocta azarae, Eira barbara, Nasua nasua and Puma yagouaroundi. The nocturnal species observed were Dasypus novemcinctus, Tamandua tetradactyla and Procyon cancrivorusDidelphis aurita, Leopardus pardalis and L. wiedii exhibited nocturnal tendencies. Cerdocyon thous tended to be more crepuscular than nocturnal. Puma concolor exhibited a tendency to nocturnal and crepuscular activity, but diurnal activity was also observed. Finally, the species Mazama gouazoubira and Leopardus tigrinus were defined as cathemeral. While many species exhibited a tendency for the majority of their activity to be concentrated at certain times, there was no time during which medium and large mammal activity entirely ceased, demonstrating a balanced daily distribution of activity in a Mixed Rain Forest. There were differences in activity patterns between different seasons, especially between summer and winter, with nocturnal species exhibiting a tendency to more intense activity during the first half of the night during the winter and diurnal species tending to be more active at the end of the day during the same season.

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Author Biography

Rosane Vera Marques, Unidade de Assessoramento Ambiental Gabinete de Assessoramento Técnico Ministério Público do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul

Graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Licenciatura e Bacharelado) pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (1984). Mestrado em Biociências (Zoologia) pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica do RS (1991). Doutorado em Biologia Animal pela UFRGS (2013). Bióloga servidora concursada no Ministério Público do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. 

 

 

Published

2018-12-12