Search

Bats are typically nocturnal. However, daylight activity (ie between one hour after sunrise and one hour before sunset) is known for a small subset of species, often associated with small oceanic islands with no diurnal avian predators. Here, we describe numerous observations of diurnal activity of Horsfield's bat (Myotis horsfieldii), in Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak, Malaysia. Between 2015 and 2020, bats were repetitively observed flying along streams and rivers at 14 localities during various hours of the day. Daylight active bats exhibited a flight pattern concurrent with prey hunting strategies and, through bioacoustics, foraging was confirmed by the presence of feeding buzzes. Despite the occurrence of numerous sympatric avian diurnal predators known to hunt bats (eg bat hawk Macheiramphus alcinus) and avian competitors (eg cave swiftlet Aerodramus spp.), the relatively wide temporal and spatial coverage of the records suggests that diurnal activity of this water-associated bat might be a common phenomenon in the area. We speculate that this atypical behaviour might have arisen to circumvent night-time competition with the high numbers of bats roosting in nearby caves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Domestic cats (Felis catus) thrive at high densities alongside humans in urban and rural environments and are responsible for excessive wildlife predation worldwide. As urbanisation and farmland expands, and domestic cats inevitably reach previously unoccupied habitats, management plans will rely on understanding cat ranging behaviours. Cat movements and habitat selection may differ depending on their surroundings, and consequently, we sought to assess how male and female cat behaviours varied during different seasons in urban, suburban, and rural environments. In cities and farmland in the UK, the location of 56 owned cats (26 F:30 M) was recorded every 5 min for a total of 5237 h using GPS collars (454 ± 25 fixes over c. 4 days per individual). Urban and rural cats exhibited similar patterns of home ranges, maximum distances travelled from their owner’s house, and habitat selection, where they selected for built-up areas with good cover and avoided open spaces. Cats spent an average of 75% of their time outside their owners’ house or garden and therefore had great potential to encounter wild prey. Males in rural areas were almost twice as active than other males but all exhibited crepuscular activity patterns compared to cathemeral or diurnal females. In summer, cats had smaller home ranges and were more nocturnal, poentially concentrating their impacts around core areas during hotter months. Similarities in cat ranging behaviours across the urban–rural gradient suggest management plans can be equally applied in areas alongside cities as well as farmland. Buffer or exclusion zones of 750 m around protected areas would exclude 95% of cats, but specialised management, such as periodic confinement during specific active periods, could prove effective during vulnerable prey species’ breeding seasons. These findings improve our understanding of how cat ranging is affected by urbanisation under seasonal variation, and can be used to tailor management strategies as new species and populations are exposed to domestic cat predation.

Designing mitigation strategies for invasive species requires a clear understanding of their ecology and behaviour. Chilla (or grey fox; Lycalopex griseus) were introduced to Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego (Tierra del Fuego Island) in 1951 to control European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) populations. Although this management strategy was unsuccessful, the chilla spread across the island and are now considered invasive. Despite this, there is a lack of research concerning their ecology and behavioural patterns, particularly on the Argentinian side of the island. We assessed the detection rates and temporal activity patterns of chillas using camera traps in the Argentinian region of Tierra del Fuego Island. Chilla had average detection rates of 61.7 (SD ± 33.3, range = 13.5–105.7) per 100 trap nights. Although analysis by clock time suggested cathemeral activity patterns, when analysed by sun time the chillas exhibited distinct nocturnal activity patterns. These findings offer the first information on the detection rates of chilla on the Argentinian side of Tierra del Fuego Island and reveal new insights into their temporal activity patterns, providing an important basis for future research that may aid the development of more effective management and conservation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domestic cats (Felis catus) thrive at high densities alongside humans in urban and rural environments and are responsible for excessive wildlife predation worldwide. As urbanisation and farmland expands, and domestic cats inevitably reach previously unoccupied habitats, management plans will rely on understanding cat ranging behaviours. Cat movements and habitat selection may differ depending on their surroundings, and consequently, we sought to assess how male and female cat behaviours varied during different seasons in urban, suburban, and rural environments. In cities and farmland in the UK, the location of 56 owned cats (26 F:30 M) was recorded every 5 min for a total of 5237 h using GPS collars (454 ± 25 fixes over c. 4 days per individual). Urban and rural cats exhibited similar patterns of home ranges, maximum distances travelled from their owner's house, and habitat selection, where they selected for built-up areas with good cover and avoided open spaces. Cats spent an average of 75% of their time outside their owners' house or garden and therefore had great potential to encounter wild prey. Males in rural areas were almost twice as active than other males but all exhibited crepuscular activity patterns compared to cathemeral or diurnal females. In summer, cats had smaller home ranges and were more nocturnal, poentially concentrating their impacts around core areas during hotter months. Similarities in cat ranging behaviours across the urban–rural gradient suggest management plans can be equally applied in areas alongside cities as well as farmland. Buffer or exclusion zones of 750 m around protected areas would exclude 95% of cats, but specialised management, such as periodic confinement during specific active periods, could prove effective during vulnerable prey species' breeding seasons. These findings improve our understanding of how cat ranging is affected by urbanisation under seasonal variation, and can be used to tailor management strategies as new species and populations are exposed to domestic cat predation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predator populations persisting in desert landscapes may be especially vulnerable to habitat fragmentation and changing climates, but many are chronically understudied and at risk of extirpation. The Asiatic subspecies of caracal, Caracal caracal schmitzi, inhabit the mountainous landscapes of the western and southern Arabian Peninsula, but they are thought to be in decline across the region. In Saudi Arabia, a recent extensive study used camera traps and face-to-face questionnaires to survey Arabian leopards and other medium- to large-size mammals, simultaneously generating vast bycatch data on Asiatic caracal presence. We assessed interspecific temporal overlap and identified factors that influence caracal occupancy, and predict their potential distribution across their historical range in Saudi Arabia. From fourteen camera trap surveys, 497 independent captures of caracals were recorded at only the nine south-western sites. Occupancy modelling showed caracals occurred in areas with higher gross primary productivity and elevations, as well as with a higher relative abundance of free-roaming cats and dogs, striped hyaena, and wild prey. Higher abundances of large predators decreased detection of caracals. Caracals displayed a cathemeral activity pattern with peaks of activity around sunrise and sunset, and had a high diel overlap with free-roaming cats and dogs, and wild Arabian wolves. Predictive modelling identified the south western mountains as a stronghold for Asiatic caracals, with low occupancy or recent extirpation in the north and elsewhere, and was highly congruous with predictions from false-positive occupancy modelling from 843 questionnaires. The persistence of caracal populations is likely driven by the increased vegetation and wild prey associated with the southern regions, as well as a more frequent human presence that potentially increases availability of alternative prey, including free-roaming cats. Caracals persisting in dry and desert regions may be particularly vulnerable to climatic changes affecting vegetation and prey abundance, but may have the ability to adapt and benefit from limited human presence if conflict can be avoided.

How animals use the diel period (24‐h light–dark cycle) is of fundamental importance to understand their niche. While ecological and evolutionary literature abound with discussion of diel phenotypes (e.g. diurnal, nocturnal, crepuscular, cathemeral), they lack clear and explicit quantitative definitions. As such, inference can be confounded when evaluating hypotheses of animal diel niche switching or plasticity across studies because researchers may be operating under different definitions of diel phenotypes.We propose quantitative definitions of diel phenotypes using four alternative hypothesis sets (maximizing, traditional, general and selection) aimed at achieving different objectives. Each hypothesis set is composed of mutually exclusive hypotheses defined based on the activity probabilities in the three fundamental periods of light availability (twilight, daytime and night‐time).We develop a Bayesian modelling framework that compares diel phenotype hypotheses using Bayes factors and estimates model parameters using a multinomial model with linear inequality constraints. Model comparison, parameter estimation and visualizing results can be done in the Diel.Niche R package. A simplified R Shiny web application is also available.We provide extensive simulation results to guide researchers on the power to discriminate among hypotheses for a range of sample sizes (10–1280). We also work through several examples of using data to make inferences on diel activity, and include online vignettes on how to use the Diel.Niche package. We demonstrate how our modelling framework complements other analyses, such as circular kernel density estimators and animal movement modelling.Our aim is to encourage standardization of the language of diel activity and bridge conceptual frameworks and hypotheses in diel research with data and models. Lastly, we hope more research focuses on the ecological and conservation importance of understanding how animals use diel time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Designing mitigation strategies for invasive species requires a clear understanding of their ecology and behaviour. Chilla (or grey fox; Lycalopex griseus) were introduced to Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego (Tierra del Fuego Island) in 1951 to control European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) populations. Although this management strategy was unsuccessful, the chilla spread across the island and are now considered invasive. Despite this, there is a lack of research concerning their ecology and behavioural patterns, particularly on the Argentinian side of the island. We assessed the detection rates and temporal activity patterns of chillas using camera traps in the Argentinian region of Tierra del Fuego Island. Chilla had average detection rates of 61.7 (SD ± 33.3, range = 13.5–105.7) per 100 trap nights. Although analysis by clock time suggested cathemeral activity patterns, when analysed by sun time the chillas exhibited distinct nocturnal activity patterns. These findings offer the first information on the detection rates of chilla on the Argentinian side of Tierra del Fuego Island and reveal new insights into their temporal activity patterns, providing an important basis for future research that may aid the development of more effective management and conservation strategies.

Patterns of vocal activity vary among tropical bird species, with some tending to sing before or close to dawn (“dawn chorus”) whereas others are more likely to vocalize later in the morning. Timing of vocal activity can, therefore, affect the results of bird counts which often rely heavily on vocalizations for species identification. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM), which uses autonomous recording units (ARUs) to record vocalizations at a set schedule, allows birds to be sampled at multiple points simultaneously and can be set to record over extended time periods at single points. Thus, monitors provide an effective way to document vocal activity patterns during the morning when birds are typically most active. I used ARUs to record vocal activity of birds at a lowland forest site in eastern Ecuador during 2013-2017 on two 100-ha study plots. Monitors were set to record for 10-min periods followed by a 5-min break from 0545 to 0810. Species were identified by listening to the recordings, with presence of species noted during each 10-min period. Activity (number of species occurrences per period) was examined by strata (understory, canopy), guild, and by individual species. Overall patterns of activity (all species combined) increased rapidly from before dawn to about 0630 and then gradually decreased. The pattern was the same on both plots and consistent across years on each plot. Activity patterns differed among strata, guilds, and individual species. Understory birds peaked in activity before canopy birds and then declined to a point where there was less vocal activity than among canopy birds. Terrestrial granivores, omnivores, and frugivores all showed an early morning peak followed by a rapid decrease in contrast to arboreal species that increased in activity throughout the morning. Terrestrial insectivores did not differ from bark insectivores in their patterns of activity even though bark insectivores forage at higher strata. Substantial variation among species within different guilds also was apparent and illustrates that patterns of activity can vary even among species that forage in similar ways. Passive acoustic monitoring is a useful method for sampling bird activity because multiple monitors can be active at the same time across multiple points.

Context. Adding an attractant to remote camera traps has become a popular method to increase detections of cryptic carnivores. However, there is ongoing debate about whether this practice can biasthe behaviour and activity patterns of these species. Aims. Our aim wasto determine how using a popular attractant at camera traps could affect carnivore detection probabilities and temporal activity. Methods. We used an experimental design in which we randomly set half of our camera traps on arrays at two sites in western North Carolina with an attractant: canned sardines in oil. Halfway through the survey season, we switched which camera traps had sardines and which did not. We estimated detection probability for each carnivore species observed using occupancy models, and we used kernel density estimations to evaluate changes in diel activity patterns between camera traps with and without an attractant. Key results. We found that when sardines were used at camera traps, detectability of bobcats (Lynx rufus), coyotes (Canis latrans), northern raccoons (Procyon lotor), Virginia opossums(Didelphisvirginiana), and eastern spotted skunks(Spilogale putorius) more than doubled, but there waslittle or no effect on striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) detectability. Of the species we most frequently detected (coyotes, raccoons, and opossums), activity patterns between camera traps with and without a sardine attractant overlapped moderately to highly, and a significant effect on diel activity patterns was observed only for raccoons. Conclusions. Use of attractants can greatly increase the probability of detecting nearly all carnivores at camera traps. The effects of attractants on diel activity patterns are species-specific, with two of our three most-detected species unaffected by their use, suggesting that attractants can be used to effectively study these behaviours in some carnivore species. Implications. A sardine attractant can increase the detection of many carnivore species, using camera traps, without causing a significant deviation of diel activity patterns, thus allowing for unbiased investigations into most species’ spatio–temporal behaviour in the Appalachian Mountains – and likely other systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans can derive enormous benefit from the natural environment and the wildlife they see there, but increasing human use of natural environments may negatively impact wildlife, particularly in urban green spaces. Few studies have focused on the trade-offs between intensive human use and wildlife use of shared green spaces in urban areas. In this paper, we investigate the impacts of humans and their dogs on wildlife within an urban green space using camera trap data from Hampstead Heath, London. Spatial and temporal activity of common woodland bird and mammal species were compared between sites with low and high frequency of visits by humans and dogs. There was no significant difference in the spatial or temporal activity of wildlife species between sites with lower and higher visitation rates of humans and dogs, except with European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) which showed extended activity in the mornings and early evenings in sites with lower visitation rates. This may have implications for the survival and reproductive success of European hedgehogs. Our results suggest that adaptation to human and dog activity deserves greater study in urban green spaces, as would a broader approach to measuring possible anthropogenic effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological traits have flourished in insect-based studies, resulting in a substantial and growing list of measurable traits. One trait that will likely become more attractive as data quality and curation improve is the diel patterns of insect activities. Diel patterns in ants can help better understand vital ecological processes such as competition and invasion biology. Because diel activity has the potential to be an informative trait in ants, we assessed the diel designations of foraging ants across the literature to quantify and assess the variation and sampling extent of this particular trait. We collected diel designations from 104 peer-reviewed scientific articles and quantified these data across important and documented ecological traits. We found that a disproportionate amount of solitary foraging ants were primarily diurnal foragers relative to ants that cooperatively forage. Our data show that diel patterns in foraging vary widely within and across ant genera. Importantly, we highlight the undersampling of this crucial ecological trait, which currently limits its utility. Our efforts highlight the importance of assessing an ecologically important trait’s landscape of reported data.

Habitat disturbance affects, directly or indirectly, the predation risk and food available to animals. One group of animals that may be negatively affected by habitat disturbance are forest-dependent aerial insectivorous bats, especially in the Amazon rainforest, where forest clearance and degradation continue unabated. However, we still have a limited understanding of the mechanisms underlying the negative effect of habitat disturbance on forest aerial insectivorous bats. Evaluating the changes in prey-predator interaction in disturbed habitats can provide helpful information for protected area management. We evaluated how predation risk, insect biomass, and moonlight intensity affect bat activity levels in continuous primary and disturbed forests (fragments and secondary forest) at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, Central Amazon, Brazil. We sampled bats using autonomous ultrasound recorders in continuous forest, forest fragments, and secondary forest. To assess insect biomass, we placed malaise traps close to the recorders and conducted a playback experiment consisting of owl calls to assess the influence of increased predation risk by natural predators on bat activity. We found that continuous forest had higher bat activity than fragments and secondary forest, probably reflecting higher insect biomass in continuous primary forest compared to secondary forest. Insect biomass was the best predictor of activity in disturbed habitats compared to predation risk and moonlight. Predation risk did not modulate bat activity in any habitat type. The effect of moonlight intensity on activity was only apparent in three species in different habitats. Our results suggest that these responses were related to the abundance of specific insect orders and not predation risk. Overall, our findings emphasize the importance of evaluating the effects of prey-predator interactions on the distribution of bats in disturbed tropical forests, as habitat disturbance can negatively affect lower trophic levels and consequently influence not only bats but other insect consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The odor of various fermented organic materials acts as an attractant for oviposition by gravid females of the black soldier fly (BSF) to find larval food sources. Females display oviposition site selection on various organic materials, but little work has been done on the response to substrate attractants under caged conditions similar to those in a BSF farm production system. Methods. Fifty of each reproductive status (mated and virgin) and sex (males and females) of BSF adults were marked and then exposed to one of five different oviposition attractants in a transparent acrylic chamber: no substrate (control) plus pineapple, mixed vegetables, okara, and fermented fish to represent fruit-, vegetable-, plant protein-, and animal protein-based substrates, respectively. The frequency of the perching activity on the oviposition apparatus and flying behavior under the LED illumination, including the laid egg weight, were recorded. Results. The sexually-related activities of BSF adults were clearly observed. A majority of the females preferred to perch on the oviposition apparatus and fly around the illuminated area compared to the very low activities of the mated males. The BSF adults displayed different behavioral responses to the different tested attractants. While active flying was common when using plant protein- and animal protein-based substrates, mated females showed the greatest perching preference for plant-based substrates (fruit and vegetables) and this correlated with the laid egg weight. Discussion. Egg-laying was more likely to happen on the plant-based substrate than on the animal protein-based substrate. However, the strong smell of the animal proteinbased substrate could strongly trigger lekking behavior, which is an important part of mating behavior. This knowledge can support egg trapping in nature and also improve the efficiency of egg production in mass-rearing facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are ubiquitous across Australia and have the ability to influence native species directly and indirectly. Despite this, limited research focuses on interspecific interactions between rabbits and native mammals. We aimed to determine how site occupancy, detection probability, and temporal activity periods of native mammals changed in response to the presence or absence of rabbits. We monitored three native mammal species using 85 camera traps in a systematic grid at Mt Rothwell Conservation and Research Reserve (Victoria, Australia), a predator‐barrier fenced reserve with two distinct sections—an area with rabbits and an area without. Bettongs (rufous Aepyprymnus rufescens and eastern Bettongia gaimardi), eastern barred bandicoots (Perameles gunni), and southern brown bandicoots (Isoodon obesulus) had a naïve site occupancy of 71%, 42%, and 24%, respectively. Site occupancy for both bandicoot species decreased in areas with more clumping grass with eastern barred bandicoot occupancy increasing with leaf litter cover, and southern brown bandicoots with vegetation height. Rabbit presence did not influence site occupancy of any species. Species detection probabilities were generally positively associated with open vegetation and rabbit presence, except for southern brown bandicoots which were more detectable without rabbits. Both bandicoot species shifted their peak activity periods in the absence of rabbits having an earlier, and more defined activity peak. Our results demonstrate that the presence of rabbits in the absence of invasive predators may not influence the site occupancy of co‐occurring native mammals, however, could influence the behaviour of smaller co‐occurring mammals, either directly or indirectly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The odor of various fermented organic materials acts as an attractant for oviposition by gravid females of the black soldier fly (BSF) to find larval food sources. Females display oviposition site selection on various organic materials, but little work has been done on the response to substrate attractants under caged conditions similar to those in a BSF farm production system. Methods Fifty of each reproductive status (mated and virgin) and sex (males and females) of BSF adults were marked and then exposed to one of five different oviposition attractants in a transparent acrylic chamber: no substrate (control) plus pineapple, mixed vegetables, okara, and fermented fish to represent fruit-, vegetable-, plant protein-, and animal protein-based substrates, respectively. The frequency of the perching activity on the oviposition apparatus and flying behavior under the LED illumination, including the laid egg weight, were recorded. Results The sexually-related activities of BSF adults were clearly observed. A majority of the females preferred to perch on the oviposition apparatus and fly around the illuminated area compared to the very low activities of the mated males. The BSF adults displayed different behavioral responses to the different tested attractants. While active flying was common when using plant protein- and animal protein-based substrates, mated females showed the greatest perching preference for plant-based substrates (fruit and vegetables) and this correlated with the laid egg weight. Discussion Egg-laying was more likely to happen on the plant-based substrate than on the animal protein-based substrate. However, the strong smell of the animal protein-based substrate could strongly trigger lekking behavior, which is an important part of mating behavior. This knowledge can support egg trapping in nature and also improve the efficiency of egg production in mass-rearing facilities.

Tropical forests experience high levels of anthropogenic pressure from human activities for the collection of forest products, hunting, and movement of domestic animals that affect circadian temporal activity patterns of mammals. Areas with different protection statuses might show differences in mammal circadian activity because of variation in human use intensity. In this study, we assess if human activity could be a predictor shaping the mammal circadian activity patterns in the Eastern Ghats, a neglected tropical forest landscape in India that experiences high human activity. We present results from camera trap surveys of mammal circadian temporal activity patterns in Papikonda National Park (PNP) and its buffer in the Northern Eastern Ghats hill region. We observed a high overlap between human and mammal activity patterns, particularly with herbivorous species. Mammals displayed high crepuscular activity, particularly herbivores; carnivores, however, were also active during the day. This study provides the first insights on circadian temporal activity patterns of mammals in a protected area and its buffer in India's poorly known Eastern Ghats. We discuss these findings in the context of hunting pressure by humans, protection status, and its implications for mammal behavior in the Eastern Ghats and tropical forests across India. Abstract in Telugu is available with online material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influence maximization has attracted significant attention with the aim to find k individuals that can eventually maximize the influence individuals. The diverse applications include viral marketing, career prediction, and much more. In the classic influence maximization problem, most literature considers the dynamic of relationships between users on social networks, which results in high time complexity. Instead of relationships, from the perspective of users, we capture the dynamic through the temporal activity prediction of each user. In this paper, we introduce a Topic relevance and Temporal activity for the Influence Maximization (TTIM) problem, which is proved to be NP-hard in theory. We propose the Reverse Influence Set based framework for TTIM (RIS-TTIM), a quick, accurate, and unsupervised algorithm to solve the TTIM problem. This novel algorithm can obtain an approximation rate of (1-1/e - ε) under the general information diffusion model. Specifically, the RIS-TTIM algorithm is divided into two phases: (i) sampling topic relevance Reverse Reachable (RR) sets based on temporal activity degree, and (ii) selecting final influential nodes that can maximize the largest topic relevance nodes. Moreover, a novel method is proposed to predict the temporal activity degree of each user in the future. Experimental results on five real-world datasets demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed algorithm when compared with the baseline approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding spatial and temporal behavior of large carnivores is critical to developing conservation strategies that mitigate the limiting factors of prey availability and human disturbance. Dholes (Cuon alpinus) are endangered, pack-living canids persisting in tropical forests of Asia, yet significant knowledge gaps remain about their basic ecology. We estimated spatial occurrence and temporal activity of dholes relative to prey availability, anthropogenic disturbance, and landscape features using camera traps in two protected areas in Southern India. Estimated detection probability of dholes was 0.14 (95 % CI: 0.11, 0.18), while estimated occupancy probability was 0.33 (95 % CI: 0.26, 0.40). Prey availability was the strongest driver of spatial occurrence of dholes, followed by multiple measures of human disturbance. Dholes responded to human activity and human infrastructure differently in space and time, which appeared to free them to overlap with their primary prey. Dholes avoided roads spatially, avoided livestock in space and time, and avoided human activity temporally. Dholes exhibited high temporal overlap with chital, barking deer, and wild pig activity, which are likely important prey. We recommend regulating livestock presence within protected areas and limiting new road development within habitat occupied by endangered species. A proposed reservoir project to create drinking water and electricity would inundate important forested habitat for dholes along the River Cauvery where occupancy was high. This removal of habitat would significantly impact dhole presence in this landscape. Our findings advance understanding of behavioral responses by an understudied, endangered large carnivore to its primary limiting factors: prey and human disturbance. • We estimated occupancy and temporal activity of an understudied, endangered species. • Prey availability was a stronger driver of dhole occurrence than human disturbance. • Dholes responded differently to human activity and infrastructure in space and time. • Livestock and roads have strong negative impacts on dhole occurrence. • Our results clarify behavioral responses of dholes to their key limiting factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Although less studied than interspecific interactions, interactions among members of the same species can influence space use and temporal activity. Using techniques commonly applied to the analysis of interspecific interactions—multispecies occupancy modeling and the analysis of temporal activity patterns—we studied intraspecific interactions within a high‐density population of Persian leopards (Panthera pardus saxicolor) in Tandoureh National Park, northeastern Iran. Using camera‐trap data, we investigated spatiotemporal interactions between male leopards, lone female leopards, and families (cubs/females with cubs). While we hypothesized that male and female leopards would display different temporal activity patterns, we did not predict spatial avoidance between these groups. We also predicted that leopard families would exhibit spatiotemporal avoidance from male leopards due to the risk of infanticide. Contrary to our expectations, we did not find any evidence for spatial or temporal avoidance between leopard families and adult male leopards. Male and lone female leopards exhibited positive pairwise co‐occurrence, consistent with reports of high overlap between male and female leopard home ranges. While a high level of overlap in temporal activity patterns was found between males/lone females and males/families, there was evidence for variation in the proportion of time each leopard group was active in particular periods of the diel cycle. Male leopards showed cathemeral activity, while lone females and families were more active during daylight hours. The application of these techniques to interactions within a species has improved understanding of the ecology and behavior of this endangered solitary carnivore.

In mammals, ecological interactions are difficult to observe directly, so they are usually inferred from co‐occurrence data. Direct interpretation of co‐occurrence patterns can be complicated since they may be the result of different processes such as habitat selection. We propose a logical framework along with multispecies occupancy models, to distinguish which process or interaction of processes gives rise to co‐occurrence patterns. We also used temporal kernel density estimates to explore the overlap in diel activity patterns, and ecological knowledge of the species as a complement to explain the drivers that generate co‐occurrence. To test our framework, we analyzed three mammal species: the bobcat (Lynx rufus), the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), and their potential prey, the eastern cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus), in a tropical dry habitat at Tehuacán‐Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve, Mexico. Data were collected across 67 camera trap stations that operated from February to August 2018. The best‐fitted model described the spatial interaction between U. cinereoargenteus and L. rufus with S. floridanus; in both cases, the occupancy probability of the predatory species was higher in the presence of their prey than in their absence. Additionally, the three species presented a high overlap in their temporal activity patterns. Based on the knowledge of the species' ecology and our results, we identified that trophic interactions could be an important process shaping the co‐occurrence patterns of these species. In short, our framework highlights that it is possible to discern among the processes that influence the co‐occurrence patterns for species with well‐defined ecological roles, such as in our study system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildlife are under continuous pressure to adapt to new environments as more land area is converted for human use and human populations continue to concentrate in suburban and exurban areas. This is especially the case for terrestrial mammals, which are forced to navigate these habitat matrices on foot. One way in which mammals may occupy urbanized landscapes is by altering their temporal activity behavior. Typically, studies have found that mammals increase their nocturnal activity within urbanized environments to avoid overlap with humans. However, to date, the majority of studies on this topic have focused on single species, and studying whether this trend holds across an entire community has important ecological implications. Specifically, understanding how differences in species temporal activity response alters predator-prey dynamics and sympatric interspecies competition can provide insight into urban wildlife community assembly and provide a mechanistic understanding of species co-occurrence within these systems. In this study, we used data from a community science camera trapping project in northern Utah to elucidate how human influence alters the temporal activity behavior of five medium- to large-sized mammals and how differences in species response affect predator-prey, human, and sympatric competitor temporal niche overlap. We found community-wide changes in activity across study sites, with increases in late night and midday activity and decreases in crepuscular activity within the more-urbanized site. However, species-specific behavioral changes varied, and these changes resulted in reduced overlap, especially between coyotes (Canis latrans) and their potential prey species. These results provide information on how human influence may alter community assembly and species-species interactions within a wildland-urban interface.

As urbanization increases, impacts on urban wildlife behavior are becoming more apparent. Using camera traps, we compared activity times of Raccoons (Procyon lotor) with those of Virginia Opossums (Didelphis virginiana) in natural areas of Seattle, Washington. Previous studies found that Virginia Opossums and Raccoons are significantly more active at night than at any other time. However, these studies occurred exclusively in forested or agricultural landscapes. We deployed motion-triggered camera traps in greenspaces of Seattle to test the hypothesis that Raccoons and Virginia Opossums are both primarily active at night in an urban environment. Our results demonstrated a statistically significant difference in activity time distributions between the species. Virginia Opossums were exclusively nocturnal, whereas Raccoons allocated their activity between nocturnal and crepuscular periods. This study provides a snapshot of mesopredator behavior in an environment heavily influenced by humans and informs the effective management of Raccoons in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication pattern is drifting from conventional audio to multimedia applications, streaming live and on-demand digital video contents over telecommunications and broadcasting networks. Currently, some businesses deploy video in promoting products in a far more enriching, entertainment and informative approach than typical traditional audio would allow. However, users of multimedia applications are interested in paying for a good acceptable video quality. Thus, this paper reviews methods used in Peak Signal-to- Noise Ratio (PSNR), Structural Similarity Index Metric (SSIM) and Video Quality Metric (VQM) with the objective of providing useful information to wireless video services providers in assessing and monitoring of quality of multimedia services delivered to users. Experimental comparison of PSNR, SSIM and VQM assessment methods to examine their performances in evaluation of multimedia applications has been performed. Comparing the quality performance of PSNR, SSIM and VQM metrics for Akiyo and Crew standard test sequences, it has been observed that the quality performance of the metrics improves when the bitrates allocation increase. For the test of consistency and quality performance of the metrics, observation shows that for a given bitrates of 3.84Mb/s, under CABA test configuration, Akiyo test sequence, experienced better quality performance of 46.63dB (PSNR), 99.10% (SSIM) and 11.00% (VQM) compared to lower quality performance of 36.18dB (PSNR), 90.40% (SSIM) and 22.00% (VQM) experienced by Crew test sequence. Experimental results of the media quality metrics for Akiyo and Crew standard test sequences with different temporal activity levels show that the quality performance of media content also depends on the temporal activity of the media content. The experimental results further show consistency in quality performance of PSNR, SSIM and VQM metrics for CABA and UBA test configurations. Thus, the objective metrics can be harnessed for evaluation of quality performance of multimedia applications at different channel conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most extinctions worldwide have occurred on islands, primarily due to interactions with exotic species, but rarely due to interactions among endemic species. This potential exists on two of the California Channel Islands, Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa, as endemic island spotted skunks (Spilogale gracilis amphiala) appear to have rapidly declined to rarity, possibly due to interference competition with endemic island foxes (Urocyon littoralis). Niche partitioning is expected in response to interference competition; hence, it is surprising that skunks and foxes show extensive overlap in macrohabitat use and circadian activity. However, the role of microhabitat associations and fine-scale temporal activity in facilitating coexistence of the two species has not been explored. We evaluated microhabitat associations of island spotted skunks and island foxes across both islands using data from live traps and wildlife cameras collected during 2015–2017, and we analyzed fine-scale temporal activity using camera data from 2016 and 2017. On both islands, skunks had a positive response to ground-level cover provided by rugged topography or woody vegetation such as shrubs or trees, whereas foxes had a weak or negative response, suggesting partitioning of these microhabitat characteristics. Additionally, on both islands the peak in timing of skunk activity offset the peak for foxes, which implies that skunks use fine-scale adjustments in activity to avoid foxes. Past grazing by exotic herbivores likely reduced habitat refuges for skunks; however, as vegetation on both islands recovers, regrowth of shrubs and trees may provide cover that will improve prospects for coexistence of island spotted skunks and island foxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining the efficacy of artificial water developments for desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis mexicana) populations is an important conservation concern as projected climatic changes pose potentially severe effects to the species in the southwestern United States. We monitored daily visitation frequencies and temporal activity patterns of bighorn sheep at 20 water developments on the Barry M. Goldwater Range‐East in Arizona, USA, from January 2015 to December 2018. We evaluated the effects of weather, landscape, and interspecific presence on these data using zero‐inflated modeling and temporal activity analysis. Approximately 95% of visits by sheep occurred during summer primarily in response to relatively high temperatures and low precipitation. Conversely, sheep were nearly absent from developments during non‐summer when vegetative moisture was relatively high, especially if temperature was low and precipitation high. The frequency of visits by bighorn sheep increased when interspecifics were present owing to high use of water developments by all species during summer. Bighorn sheep altered their temporal activity to avoid the high activity periods of predators and competitors in all seasons. Water developments with terrain offering antipredator protection also had greater frequencies of visits, but these features did not affect the probability of absence. Overall, our study indicates that water developments provide hydration and thermoregulatory relief to bighorn sheep during the hot and water‐limited conditions of summer and sites lacking adequate antipredator terrain limit water development efficaciousness. We also find that temporal partition by sheep potentially reduces fitness during summer and recommend further analysis based on motion‐sensitive cameras to explore this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although less studied than interspecific interactions, interactions among members of the same species can influence space use and temporal activity. Using techniques commonly applied to the analysis of interspecific interactions—multispecies occupancy modeling and the analysis of temporal activity patterns—we studied intraspecific interactions within a high‐density population of Persian leopards (Panthera pardus saxicolor) in Tandoureh National Park, northeastern Iran. Using camera‐trap data, we investigated spatiotemporal interactions between male leopards, lone female leopards, and families (cubs/females with cubs). While we hypothesized that male and female leopards would display different temporal activity patterns, we did not predict spatial avoidance between these groups. We also predicted that leopard families would exhibit spatiotemporal avoidance from male leopards due to the risk of infanticide. Contrary to our expectations, we did not find any evidence for spatial or temporal avoidance between leopard families and adult male leopards. Male and lone female leopards exhibited positive pairwise co‐occurrence, consistent with reports of high overlap between male and female leopard home ranges. While a high level of overlap in temporal activity patterns was found between males/lone females and males/families, there was evidence for variation in the proportion of time each leopard group was active in particular periods of the diel cycle. Male leopards showed cathemeral activity, while lone females and families were more active during daylight hours. The application of these techniques to interactions within a species has improved understanding of the ecology and behavior of this endangered solitary carnivore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite their extensive distribution globally, recent reports indicate leopards are declining, especially in Southeast Asia. To support conservation efforts we analyzed the behavioral interactions between leopards (Panthera pardus), their prey, and tigers to determine if leopards fine-tune their activity to maximize contact with four prey species (sambar; wild boar; barking deer; banteng) and avoid tigers and if prey alter their temporal activity in response to variation in their relative abundance ratio with leopards. A lower density of sambar in the northern part of our study area and a lower density of wild boar and a higher density of tigers in the southern part allowed us to examine fine-grained differences in the behavior of leopards and their prey. We used camera trap data to investigate spatial and temporal overlap. Differences in tiger relative abundance did not appear to impact the temporal activity of leopards. Leopards had similar cathemeral activity at all sites with highest activity at dawn and dusk. This behavior appears to be a compromise to provide access to diurnal wild boar and barking deer and nocturnal sambar and banteng. Sambar showed higher temporal avoidance of leopards in the north where its RAI was lowest; in contrast, wild boar had the highest temporal avoidance in the south where its density was lowest. This is the first study in Southeast Asia to quantify spatial and temporal interactions between the leopard, its primary ungulate prey, and the tiger. It provides new insights for conserving this declining subspecies.

Inferring the mechanisms that facilitate sympatry amongst large mammalian carnivores in anthropogenically altered habitats is critical if conservation initiatives aimed to recover populations are to be effective. In this study, we assessed the utilization of space, time and prey resources by tigers Panthera tigris, leopards P. pardus and dholes Cuon alpinus in Manas National Park (MNP), India – a site where prey densities are not limiting, yet anthropogenic influences alter the spatial and temporal behaviour of prey. We use photographic capture data and predator scats collected over three sampling years (2014–15, 2015–16 and 2016–17) to assess patterns of (a) spatial use using a multispecies species occupancy framework, (b) time–activity patterns and overlap between predators and prey using non‐parametric circular kernel‐density functions, (c) fine‐scale spatio‐temporal behaviour by comparing time‐to‐encounters of subsequent events and (d) predator diets by analysing prey remains in predator scats. Our results highlight that the predators segregate through fine‐scale spatio‐temporal avoidance rather than displaying population‐level changes in space‐use, activity patterns or food habits. Overlap in space‐use between tigers and leopards was high and time–activity patterns of the predators closely matched those of prey, suggesting that predators likely maximize resource acquisition in this prey‐rich environment. Ungulate prey dominated the diet of predators, resulting in the high dietary overlap. From our results, we infer patterns of sympatry among large carnivores in the face of anthropogenic influences and highlight the need to understand interspecific interactions within a community before initiating conservation actions aimed at recovering these endangered species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Atacama Myotis is an endangered and poorly studied bat species, endemic from Peru and Chile. Using mist nets and ultrasonic recordings we release new information on activity patterns and roost use by M. atacamensis in Chile. We also report new records for the species, extending its distribution range to Santiago Metropolitan region. Our results suggest a wide distribution and relative abundance of M. atacamensis in northern Chile, in addition to remarkable habitat diversity for populations of this species. Bats were active in both natural and anthropogenic habitats. Abandoned mines and buildings in rural villages were the roosts most used by the species. These data provide additional information on the distribution, ecology, and natural history of M. atacamensis and can be useful in the design of conservation action plans for populations in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coexistence between humans and large carnivores may depend on carnivore adaptations to use developed landscapes while reducing human encounters. Roads are a widespread form of human development that carnivores may perceive as efficient travel routes or centers of human activity and associated risk. We compared the spatio-temporal responses of carnivores to human road use with high-resolution tracking of a large carnivore guild including American black bears (Ursus americanus), bobcats (Lynx rufus), coyotes (Canis latrans), and wolves (C. lupus) in Michigan, USA. All carnivores selected for roads when traveling at night but avoided roads during the day when human activity was greatest. Human activity explained 90% of temporal variation in road use across carnivore species, with a 3.2–3.7-fold increase in road use at times of low human activity which reduced carnivore activity overlap with humans by 27–42%. Similar but less pronounced activity changes occurred in areas up to 500 m from roads. Bears and wolves increased nocturnal activity with more roads in their home range, but not bobcats or coyotes. Despite increased diurnal activity in areas farther from roads, temporal overlap among carnivores was high regardless of road proximity. Our results suggest that spatio-temporal responses to roads were similar among carnivores and emphasized avoidance of humans over other carnivore species. Further, we provide support that carnivores can be diurnally active while avoiding humans by using areas farther from roads. However, carnivores which are primarily diurnal (e.g., black bears) or have a strong proclivity for using roads (e.g., wolves) likely require greater behavioral changes to avoid humans. Behavioral adaptations allowing multiple species to use and cross roads while avoiding humans are encouraging for human-carnivore coexistence.

Large carnivore populations are declining worldwide due to anthropogenic causes such as habitat loss and human expansion into wild areas. Competition between large carnivores can exacerbate this decline. While brown hyena Parahyaena brunnea and spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta belong to the same family, they are rarely found in the same area or co‐occur at low densities as spotted hyena are known to exclude brown hyena. In Central Tuli, Botswana, however, brown hyena and spotted hyena are both found at high densities. We undertook a camera trap survey in this area to estimate the densities of both species, and to examine temporal overlap and co‐detection patterns of brown and spotted hyena. Estimated population densities based on spatial capture–recapture models were 10.5 ± 1.9/100 km2 for brown hyena and 14.9 ± 2.2/100 km2 for spotted hyena. These population densities are among the highest reported estimates in southern Africa. Strong temporal overlap was found between brown and spotted hyena, while there was no decrease in detection rate of brown hyena at camera sites where spotted hyena were also detected, which indicates that both hyena species did not tend to avoid encounters. Although both species compete for the same prey, we suggest as possible explanations that prey densities are high and that competition does not significantly negatively impact brown hyena, because brown hyena is a scavenger whereas spotted hyena scavenge and kill prey. With the found high densities of both carnivores, this study adds to the known variation in composition of existing large carnivore communities and suggests testable explanations for these densities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insectivorous bats make a significant contribution to mammalian diversity in central Australia, with 12 known extant species; however, little is known about their habitat preferences and how these interact with temporal patterns in their abundance and activity. Although most species forage widely and in a variety of habitats, we expected that woodlands associated with ephemeral rivers would constitute high-value habitat for bats because they provide tree hollows, suitable structural habitat for foraging, and canopies rich in invertebrate biomass. The aim of this research was to establish whether riparian woodlands were a focus of bat activity and to identify patterns in habitat use and whether these changed through time. We investigated the activity of bats in riparian woodlands and neighbouring vegetation over 2 years. Bat activity was higher in riparian woodland than in nearby vegetation, and this difference was most significant during a hot and dry summer. At the species level, body size and foraging guild were important factors explaining differences in activity, with larger 'open space' species more active in riparian woodland than adjacent habitat. In contrast, we did not detect significant differences in the activity of smaller vespertilionid species between habitats. Coinciding with patterns in invertebrate activity, bat activity was highest in summer and lowest in winter. Within river channels, canopy cover was important in explaining patterns in bat activity. There was also a significant location effect, with bat activity in some river systems much higher than in others. We propose that this is related to both regional variability in rainfall and productivity, in addition to topography. Our findings demonstrate the importance of riparian woodlands to bats in an arid environment, particularly during low-resource periods, and suggest that bats may be affected by future climate changes and degradation from fire impacts. Insectivorous bats make a significant contribution to mammalian diversity in central Australia, with 12 known extant species, yet little is known about their habitat preferences and how these interact with temporal patterns in their abundance and activity. We found that bat activity was higher in arid riparian woodland than in nearby vegetation, and this difference was most significant during a hot and dry summer. Our findings demonstrate the importance of riparian woodlands to bats in an arid environment, particularly during low-resource periods [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the activity pattern of animals is important for both ecological knowledge and species conservation. Here we present a quantitative analysis of the activity pattern of the Boat-billed Heron (Cochlearius cochlearius) in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. Activity patterns were determined using images from 2,822 camera trap days distributed across 19 sites along waterways during two years (2018-2019). To test if the Boat-billed Heron was more active during darker nights we also evaluated the nocturnal photos of the species as a function of the degree of lunar illumination. Our sampling effort resulted in 22 independent records, consisting mostly of nocturnal records (63.6%), followed by dusk (27.3%), and dawn activity (9.1%), with no records registered during the day. We found significant differences between the observed and expected activity of the species, while comparing records with and without the moon apparent in the sky. The species seemed to be active during both darker and brighter nights, showing no clear trend in relation to the moon fraction illumination in our study area. Our findings highlight the ecological plasticity of the Boat-billed Heron, which has a key function in the maintenance of the species within its distributional range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey of the aphids associated with cultivated cereal in Tunisia was carried out during 2010 to 2012. Fourteen aphid species were recorded from eight regions (Cap Bon, Bizerte, Beja, Bousalem, Manouba, Zaghouan, Kef and Kairouan). For the first time a new species Forda formicaria was identified. Ten other winged species were also recorded in the suction trap of the Cap Bon region increasing the aphid richness to 24 species. From these aphid species listed, six are numerous and known for their economic importance: namely Diuraphis noxia as phloem feeder and Metopolophium dirhodum, Rhopalosiphum padi, R. maidis, Schizaphis graminum, and Sitobion avenae as virus vectors. Temporal activity of these species was established for 14 years by suction trap and their seasonal activity was discussed.

In recent times, technology has played an important role in almost every field as it advances. Law and order situation in the third world countries are extensively poor, and it is imperative to aid the institutions providing security by incorporating systems capable of identifying perpetrators and catch them. It is a well-known fact that security and surveillance industry is evolving, and most of the system are based on video surveillance rather than the basic alarm based solutions. Such systems are integrated with multiple cameras which provide live video surveillance features and in turn increases the visibility of the security systems. The Internet of Things (IOT) is helping to create an efficient security system capable of acquiring live video streams from multiple sensory sources. Due to the lack of available bandwidth, it may not be possible to acquire a video stream with decent quality. In this paper, a compression algorithm is proposed based on discrete cosine transform (DCT) and temporal reduction using motion vectors extracted from the incoming frames in order to achieve best compromise between quality and streaming time to properly indicate the perpetrator. Most of the time, it becomes impossible to seize the perpetrator due to the inferior video quality which makes him unidentifiable. Degraded video quality is mostly due to over compression. Implementation of the proposed algorithm is performed in MATLAB environment by acquiring the live video streams of the videos in real time. Mean Squared Error (MSE) and Peak Signal to Noise Ratio are calculated in order to elaborate the quality difference between the reconstructed frames by conventional means and with the incorporated Temporal Masking technique. By incorporating the proposed algorithm in the compression technique, it was discovered that it actually reduces the stream delay by 0.104 s with an acceptable Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) difference between the reconstructed frames acquired by conventional means and by proposed Temporal Masking Technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanisms that decrease niche overlap, whether dietary, spatial, or temporal, are important in facilitating the coexistence of sympatric competitors. Since predators commonly partition resources via temporal segregation, we investigated whether it plays a significant role in mediating the coexistence of four common boreal predators: black bear (Ursus americanus), Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), wolverine (Gulo gulo luscus), and fisher (Pekania pennanti). We examined their daily activity patterns at camera traps (19 sampling sites) in the boreal forest of northwest Alberta (2380 km2). Fishers were distinctly diurnal, while black bears, Canada lynx, and wolverines were cathemeral, resulting in high overlaps among the species (∆ = 0.62 to ∆ = 0.86). Fishers showed the lowest overlap with other species, while other pairs of species were relatively higher. Our results suggest that temporal partitioning plays a smaller role in the coexistence of these predators than anticipated, while revealing some interesting trends and suggesting other factors that may play a role in their niche segregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of elusive carnivores often rely on passive sampling when investigating either spatial or temporal interactions. However, inference on behavioral mechanisms are usually lacking. We present an analysis that combines previously published spatial co-occurrence estimates and temporal kernel density estimates to explore spatiotemporal interspecific interactions. We do so by deriving a spatiotemporal value (STV) that is a relative measure of potential interaction in both niche dimensions, across a gradient of degradation, for rainforest carnivore pairs in Madagascar. We also use a conceptual framework to provide insight into the potential behavioral mechanisms of habitat selection. Of the six native and three invasive carnivores, we estimate the spatiotemporal interactions for twelve pairings, which range from no spatial/temporal relationship (n = 5) to spatiotemporal aggregation or segregation (n = 7). We visualized these spatiotemporal interactions along a fragmentation gradient and demonstrate that these interactions are not static, as STV overlap increases with increasing anthropogenic disturbance. Of the three invasive carnivores (free-ranging dogs Canis familiaris, cats Felis species, and small Indian civets Viverricula indica) the latter had the highest number of spatial occurrence (n = 4) and spatiotemporal overlap (n = 4) relationships with native carnivores. Our results highlight the potential for increasing direct and indirect interactions between native and invasive species as forest degradation and invasive predators increase. Our approach allows us to better understand adaptive behaviors, plasticity in temporal activity, community assemblage, and to develop targeted conservation strategies to manage ecological communities in rapidly changing ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habitat quality and quantity are key factors in evaluating the potential for success of a wildlife translocation. However, because of the difficulty or cost of evaluating these factors, habitat assessments may not include valuable information on important habitat attributes including the abundance and distribution of prey, predators, and competitors. Fishers (Pekania pennanti) are one of the most commonly reintroduced carnivores in North America, and they are a species of conservation concern in their western range. We examined the relative importance of landscape features and species interactions in determining habitat use of a reintroduced population of fishers in the southern Cascade Mountains, Washington, USA. We used detections of prey and predators at 134 remote camera stations, remotely sensed forest structure data, and telemetry locations of fishers in a resource selection function to assess the relative importance of prey, predators, and forest structure in fisher habitat selection. Fishers selected habitats based on forest conditions and activity levels of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus), whereas bobcat (Lynx rufus) and coyote (Canis latrans) activity levels did not directly affect habitat selection. The probability of fisher use increased in older stands, close to recently disturbed stands, and in areas with intermediate levels of hare activity. Bobcat and hare activity levels were positively correlated, and fishers avoided areas with the greatest hare activity, suggesting that fishers may experience a food‐safety tradeoff in the study area. Temporal activity patterns in photo detections indicate that fishers may mediate this danger by avoiding bobcats temporally. Our findings suggest that fishers in Washington prefer habitat mosaics of old and recently disturbed stands where they have greater access to resting structures and hares. Management that maintains mosaics of young and old forest across large landscapes is likely to support fisher recovery. Future reintroduction efforts would benefit from an assessment of prey and predator abundance in proposed reintroduction areas before project initiation. © 2019 The Wildlife Society. We assessed habitat selection of reintroduced fishers in Washington, USA, and documented selection for mature forests that were near young stands and moderate abundance of a major prey item. Our results also indicate a potential food‐safety tradeoff for fishers, which they may mediate through temporal segregation from bobcats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leopard population declines largely occur in areas where leopards and people frequently interact. Research on how leopards respond to human presence and competitors, like other predators, can provide important insights on leopard ecology and conservation in human-dominated regions; however, such research is lacking. Here we used data from field cameras in 2010 and 2011 to examine how human presence, prey, and tigers influence leopard spatiotemporal activity patterns in and around Nepal’s Chitwan National Park, part of a global biodiversity hotspot. We found that leopards were adjusting their spatiotemporal activity patterns to both tigers and people, but by different mechanisms. Leopards spatially avoided tigers in 2010, but were generally active at the same times of day that tigers were. Despite pervasive human presence, people on foot and vehicles had no significant effect on leopard detection and space use, but leopard temporal activity was displaced from those periods of time with highest human activity. Temporal displacement from humans was especially pronounced outside the park, where there is a much greater prevalence of natural resource collection by local people. Continuing to evaluate the interconnections among leopards, tigers, prey, and people across different land management regimes is needed to develop robust landscape-scale conservation strategies.

In the present study, we used niche overlap analysis and a network approach to investigate the use of floral resources by carpenter bees (Xylocopa spp.). We assessed the frequency of visit to different plant species and the activity time of carpenter bees in an agricultural system. Six species of carpenter bees were collected visiting flowers. Among the 48 interactions that were theoretically possible in the interaction network, only 19 were recorded (Connectance = 39.58%). The temporal overlap between pairs of species measured by the Shannon index (0 to 0.648) was lower than dietary overlap (0 to 0.967). The network analysis also showed that bees separated their niches more strongly in the temporal dimension (E = 0.72, P < 0.001) than in the dietary dimension (E = 0.55, P < 0.001). The levels of dietary and temporal overlap were strongly correlated with each other, as well as the time of highest frequency of visit coincided with the time of availability of resources by the most important plants (Moringa oleifera, Passiflora edulis, and Solanum palinacanthum). The correlation between dietary and temporal overlap is biologically explained by the presence of plants that structure the system by exerting a strong influence not only on the plant choice by foraging bees, but also on the time of resource collection.

In rapidly changing environments, assessing the degree to which animals behaviorally respond to human disturbance can help identify activities of concern or populations at risk. We examined circadian activity patterns of bobcats (Lynx rufus), coyotes (Canis latrans), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), elk (Cervus canadensis), lagomorphs and rodents during crepuscular, day and night periods using data captured from 40 remote cameras distributed across a 162-km2 area with starkly different levels of current and historical energy development. During the winter of 2015-2016, we obtained 3,067 independent detections from 7,185 camera days of our 6 target species. In mixed support of our hypotheses, bobcats, coyotes, and mule deer were less active during the day in the developed site compared to the undeveloped site, as were rodents, which was unexpected. In contrast, elk and lagomorphs did not show differences across sites. Bobcats demonstrated the greatest reduction in diurnal activity, with nearly 3 times less activity in the developed site. Coyotes and mule deer appeared to compensate for reduced activity during the day by increasing their activity during other periods, though bobcats did not. The mammal species captured in this study demonstrated strong differences in their plasticity and sensitivity to energy development approximately 4 years post high-intensity disturbance, which likely influences their susceptibility to human-driven landscape changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prey species may adjust their use of antipredator behaviours to counter the hunting strategies (e.g. ambush versus cursorial) and the level of risk imposed by different predators. Studies of suites of behaviours across well-defined contrasts of predation risk and type are rare, however. Here we explored the degree to which six herbivore species adjusted their antipredator behaviours to two predator treatments (lion, Panthera leo , versus cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus , and wild dogs, Lycaon pictus ). We focused on prey behaviour (vigilance, grouping, temporal use) at waterholes. We predicted that if the hunting strategy of the predator was the key driver of antipredator behaviour, ambushing lions would elicit a greater response than cursorial cheetah and wild dogs. Alternatively, if predator preference was the main driver, then we expected prey species to adjust their antipredator behaviours in response to the predators that specifically target them (i.e. preferred prey of the different predators). Overall, we found that the herbivores maintained greater vigilance, generally moved in larger groups and used waterholes less at dawn, at dusk or at night (when lions are active) when exposed to the potential threat of ambushing lions. However, some species within the accessible prey range of cheetah and/or wild dogs (i.e. red hartebeest, warthog, gemsbok) moved in larger groups when exposed to these predators. Yet, the magnitude of the differences in group size for these herbivores were small. Thus, we suggest that, overall, the potential threat of ambushing lions was the main driver of antipredator behaviour around waterholes, probably determined by prey weight preference and the possibility of being ambushed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bike Share Toronto is Canada's second largest public bike share system. It provides a unique case study as it is one of the few bike share programs located in a relatively cold North American setting, yet operates throughout the entire year. Using year-round historical trip data, this study analyzes the factors affecting Toronto's bike share ridership. A comprehensive spatial analysis provides meaningful insights on the influences of socio-demographic attributes, land use and built environment, as well as different weather measures on bike share ridership. Empirical models also reveal significant effects of road network configuration (intersection density and spatial dispersion of stations) on bike sharing demands. The effect of bike infrastructure (bike lane, paths etc.) is also found to be crucial in increasing bike sharing demand. Temporal changes in bike share trip making behavior were also investigated using a multilevel framework. The study reveals a significant correlation between temperature, land use and bike share trip activity. The findings of the paper can be translated to guidelines with the aim of increasing bike share activity in urban centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animals are adapted to a range of activity patterns, from diurnal to nocturnal. Under normal conditions, the 24-hour rhythm is entrained by changes in light intensity during twilight, i.e. the light and dark cycle. Many rodent species exhibit predator avoidance by adjusting their activity in relation to space or time, which isweighed against the need for food. Hence, an individual's foraging activity consists of a compromise between foraging and predation risk, in addition to competition. Our study species, the Eurasian red squirrel, is diurnal and utilises dense forest habitats. In the present study, we used non-invasive camera traps to model diel activity during the winter months in 2014-2015 (December to February 24-hour day). We found that the Eurasian red squirrels exhibited a strictly diurnal feeding activity pattern and the shape of the modelled activity curve was unimodal and concentrated in the daylight hours, starting at sunrise and peaking in the morning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding what influences the activity of organisms is important for both ecological understanding and species conservation. Using data from 2,707 camera trap days distributed across 24 forest sites, we present quantitative analyses of the activity pattern of Cuniculus paca (Linnaeus, 1766) in southern Amazonia. We compared the activity pattern of this species across four designated subsets of the 24-hours diel cycle (dawn, dusk, day and night). Using linear regression models we tested the influence of season, temperature and rainfall on the activity patterns of C. paca (paca). We also evaluated the nocturnal photos of paca (N = 111) as a function of the degree of lunar illumination in order to test the prediction that pacas minimize their activity during moon phase when illumination is brighter. Pacas were not recorded during the day but were active at dawn, dusk and night time. We found differences in the influence of the abiotic variables on the nocturnal activity of pacas in the study area. There was no significant difference between the observed (expressed as the frequency of total counts of independent photos over the five classes of lunar illumination) and the expected activity of pacas, based on the frequency of days in the lunar cycle with different classes of lunar illumination, whereas lunar illumination had a weak negative influence on the timing of paca activity (i.e. pacas were active closer to sunset with increasing lunar illumination). However, the timing of nocturnal activity in pacas was not influenced by season, temperature or rainfall. Our findings highlight the ecological plasticity of this Neotropical rodent which has a key function in the maintenance of Neotropical forests.

Overlap between wildlife and human activity is key to causing wildlife-vehicle collisions, a globally pervasive and growing source of wildlife mortality. 1,2 Policies regarding clock time often involve abrupt seasonal shifts in human activity, potentially influencing rates of human-wildlife conflict. Here, we harness the biannual shift between standard and daylight saving time as a natural experiment to reveal how the timing of human activity influences deer-vehicle collisions. Based on 1,012,465 deer-vehicle collisions and 96 million hourly traffic observations across the United States, we show that collisions are 14 times more frequent 2 hours after sunset than before sunset, highlighting the importance of traffic during dark hours as a key determinant of deer-vehicle collision risk. The switch from daylight saving to standard time in autumn causes peak traffic volumes to shift from before sunset to after sunset, leading to a 16% spike in deer-vehicle collisions. By reducing traffic after dark, our model predicts that year-round daylight saving time would prevent 36,550 deer (Odocoileus sp.) deaths, 33 human deaths, 2,054 human injuries, and US$1.19 billion in collision costs annually. In contrast, permanent standard time is predicted to increase collisions by an even larger magnitude, incurring an additional US$2.39 billion in costs. By targeting the temporal dimension of wildlife-vehicle collisions, strategies such as year-round daylight saving time that reduce traffic during dark hours, especially during the breeding season of abundant ungulates, would yield substantial benefits for wildlife conservation and reduce the social and economic costs of deer-vehicle collisions. Deer-vehicle collisions are 14 times more likely shortly after dark than before Nighttime traffic and deer-vehicle collisions are more frequent during standard time Collisions with deer increase by 16% in the week following the autumn clock change Year-round daylight saving would reduce collisions, saving ∼$1.2 billion annually The shift to standard time each autumn causes an abrupt increase in nighttime driving during the peak breeding season for deer, resulting in a 16% increase in deer-vehicle collisions. Cunningham et al. show that permanent daylight saving time would prevent 36,550 DVCs and $1.2 billion in collision costs annually in the US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As biodiversity loss rapidly increases through habitat degradation in the Amazon rainforest, the need to characterize and understand the species diversity becomes even more important. In this study we used empirical and published datasets to assess the diversity patterns and produce the first overview of the sphingid fauna in the Brazilian Amazon. We compared the diversity patterns in distinct areas in the biome by analyzing hawkmoth assemblages considering both species composition and abundance, and asked whether these communities are structured according to environmental factors. Additionally, we provide information of diel activity pattern of sphingids and evaluated the importance of time in sampling effort. We found that the Brazilian Amazon may harbor more than 80 % of the hawkmoth species that occur in Brazil and more than half of the species recorded in South America. Species composition and assemblage structure is determined by the quality of the habitat (disturbed or undisturbed vegetation), temperature and relative humidity. Finally, we show that the temporal activity of sphingids presents distinct patterns at different taxonomic levels, highlighting the importance of full night collections to better characterize the fauna. Our results show that habitat alteration can be an important factor affecting sphingid assemblages, illustrating the importance of Protected Areas in species maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the end-user of video-based systems is often a human observer, prediction of user-perceived video quality (PVQ) is an important task for increasing the user satisfaction. Despite the large variety of objective video quality measures (VQMs), their lack of generalizability remains a problem. This is mainly due to the strong dependency between PVQ and video content. Although this problem is well known, few existing VQMs directly account for the influence of video content on PVQ. Recently, we proposed a method to predict PVQ by introducing relevant video content features in the computation of video distortion measures. The method is based on analyzing the level of spatiotemporal activity in the video and using those as parameters of the anthropomorphic video distortion models. We focus on the experimental evaluation of the proposed methodology based on a total of five public databases, four different objective VQMs, and 105 content related indexes. Additionally, relying on the proposed method, we introduce an approach for selecting the levels of video distortions for the purpose of subjective quality assessment studies. Our results suggest that when adequately combined with content related indexes, even very simple distortion measures (e.g., peak signal to noise ratio) are able to achieve high performance, i.e., high correlation between the VQM and the PVQ. In particular, we have found that by incorporating video content features, it is possible to increase the performance of the VQM by up to 20% relative to its noncontent- aware baseline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species may reduce competitive interactions by temporal separation in activity times. Similarly to other animals, ants also partition their niches by being active during specific periods of the year or at specific times of the day. However, if several species share the same temporal niches, interspecific competition may give rise to behavioural dominance hierarchies, territoriality or spatial mosaics. Thus, our first aim was to study daily activity patterns of alpine communities to investigate their temporal dynamics at both general and specific levels. Due to short distances among different ecosystems, montane systems are ideal models to study the effect of geographic variation on community structure. On the other hand, ants represent an excellent model to analyze beta-diversity because they are one of the most ecologically significant components of many ecosystems. Nevertheless, there is a lack of ecological studies on ant communities in Italy and, in particular, on alpine ants. Therefore, the second aim of this work was to study ant species richness and distribution in order to update information on alpine ant fauna. As ants can simultaneously exhibit multiple trophic roles, assessing the feeding habits of an ant community may help to clarify how these insects can influence their ecosystem. Thus, the third aim of this research was to evaluate ant food preferences in alpine environments. Samplings were conducted in Soana Valley, inside the Gran Paradiso National Park, during summer 2011: pitfall traps and food baits were placed in order to collect data on species richness, abundances and food preferences. The acquired results on activity patterns showed that ants were more active in the late morning. The analysis of food preferences revealed that sugary solutions were the favourite resources. Finally, concerning species spatial distribution, there was a higher level of biodiversity at intermediate elevations, probably due to an increase of temperature and spatial heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The robber fly, Promachus yesonicus, a predator of scarab adults and larvae was observed on golf clubs in Korea to determine its seasonal activity, daily activity, and relationship to scarab adult activity. P. yesonicus adult density varied more than 10-fold among the four golf clubs where it was observed, with the most activity being at golf clubs with the most scarab adults in June and July. At Yongwon Golf Club P. yesonicus activity closely tracked Popillia quadriguttata activity and both peaked in late June and early July. The ratio of scarab adults (mostly P. quadriguttata):P. yesonicus adults was 8:1. On average mean of 7.5% of all P. yesonicus adults observed in visual surveys were holding captured prey. 50% of all captured prey was a scarab turf pest, P. quadriguttata. At Yongwon Golf Club, regression analysis indicates that P. quadriguttata activity explains 75% of the variation in activity of P. yesonicus. The potential impact of P. yesonicus on populations of P. quadriguttata and other scarab turf pests is discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]