1. Influential factors on gray brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira) activity and movement in the Pantanal, Brazil
- Author
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Fernando C. Passos, Pedro Henrique de Faria Peres, José Maurício Barbanti Duarte, Francisco Grotta-Neto, Ubiratan Piovezan, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), and Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA)
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Brazilian wetland ,Foraging ,Gray brocket ,Wetland ,Biology ,Nocturnal ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Genetics ,Telemetry ,Brocket deer ,Behavioral strategies ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Nature and Landscape Conservation ,geography ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,Ecology ,Ecotype ,Mazama gouazoubira ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,Flooding (psychology) ,Elusive species ,biology.organism_classification ,Habitat ,Animal Science and Zoology ,Accelerometers - Abstract
Made available in DSpace on 2019-10-06T15:47:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2019-04-01 One of the major challenges in studies of activity and movement ecology is discovering how and why animals behave differently in certain environments. The gray brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira) is widely distributed in the Neotropic region. In the Brazilian Pantanal wetland, gray brocket deer inhabit a unique landscape with varying ecotypes arranged in a mosaic, where seasonal flooding alters resource availability for the deer. Documenting animal activity and movement can be the key to understanding how a species interacts with its dynamic environment. We used data from accelerometers and characteristics of movement on six GPS-monitored gray brocket deer in the Pantanal wetland to investigate how habitat type, periods of the day, and cycles of flooding and drought affect activity, movement behavior, and displacement. Deer exhibited the lowest activity and encamped movement in closed habitat during diurnal and nocturnal periods, suggesting resting and foraging behaviors. The highest activity and exploratory movement occurred in open habitats, and potentially was related to deer searching for locations with greater resource availability. Individuals were displaced the most during floods, which was a response to access feeding sites that were free of water. Our results not only represent an unprecedented and refined view of the activity and movement behavior of brocket deer, but they also stress the importance of preserving multiple habitat types for species that express variable foraging strategies in heterogeneous landscapes. Laboratório de Biodiversidade Conservação e Ecologia de Animais Silvestres (LABCEAS) Universidade Federal Do Paraná (UFPR), Av. Coronel Francisco Heráclito dos Santos 210 Núcleo de Pesquisa e Conservação de Cervídeos (NUPECCE) Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane s/n Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuária Dos Tabuleiros Costeiros Departamento de ATC, Av. Beira Mar, 3250 Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuária Do Pantanal, Rua 21 de Setembro, no 1.880 Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação Universidade Federal Do Paraná (UFPR), Av. Coronel Francisco Heráclito dos Santos 210 Departamento de Zootecnia Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane s/n Núcleo de Pesquisa e Conservação de Cervídeos (NUPECCE) Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane s/n Departamento de Zootecnia Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane s/n
- Published
- 2019