Mori Emiliano, Sangiovanni Giada, Corlatti Luca
Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università degli Studi di Siena, Via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100 Siena, Italy.
Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università degli Studi di Siena, Via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100 Siena, Italy; Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche, Fisiche e Naturali, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Viale Morgagni, 40/44, 50134 Firenze, Italy.
Behav Processes. 2020 Jan;170:103999. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.103999. Epub 2019 Nov 12.
Information on spatial behaviour and temporal activity patterns is paramount for the conservation of animal species. This is particularly true for endangered taxa that are threatened by ongoing climatic and environmental changes. The garden dormouse Eliomys quercinus is a native European rodent (family Gliridae), whose populations are declining throughout the Continent. Notwithstanding this, neither International nor National laws explicitly require mandatory monitoring of populations. As a result, compelling information on the spatiotemporal behaviour of dormouse is lacking. We aimed to fill this gap by investigating occupancy patterns in relation to environmental features and activity rhythms in relation to moonlit nights in an Alpine population of dormouse within the Stelvio National Park, northern Italy. Data were collected between May and October 2015. Twenty camera-traps were deployed in a 500 ha coniferous forest, using a random tessellation approach; camera trap data were analyzed with occupancy models and kernel smoothers. Camera-traps provided a reliable assessment of the presence of the garden dormouse, with only 1 % of false absence and a high detection probability (68 %). The occurrence of the garden dormouse was positively influenced by the percentage of rock coverage on the ground. The species showed a strictly nocturnal behaviour, with an activity peak before midnight, negatively related to moonlit nights. The use of rocky areas for nesting, shelter site and thigmotactic movements and moonlight avoidance may represent adaptations of the garden dormouse to avoid predation risk. Our results shed some light on the habitat requirement of a poorly known, near-threatened species, and provide baseline information for future monitoring and conservation activities.
空间行为和时间活动模式的信息对于动物物种的保护至关重要。对于受到持续气候和环境变化威胁的濒危分类群来说尤其如此。花园睡鼠（Eliomys quercinus）是欧洲本土的一种啮齿动物（睡鼠科），其种群数量在整个欧洲大陆都在下降。尽管如此，无论是国际法律还是国家法律都没有明确要求对其种群进行强制性监测。因此，关于睡鼠时空行为的有力信息十分匮乏。我们旨在通过调查意大利北部斯泰尔维奥国家公园内一个高山睡鼠种群与环境特征相关的占用模式以及与月夜相关的活动节律来填补这一空白。数据收集于2015年5月至10月期间。使用随机镶嵌法在一片500公顷的针叶林中部署了20个相机陷阱；相机陷阱数据采用占用模型和核平滑器进行分析。相机陷阱对花园睡鼠的存在提供了可靠的评估，误判不存在的情况仅为1%，检测概率很高（68%）。花园睡鼠的出现受到地面岩石覆盖百分比的正向影响。该物种表现出严格的夜行性，午夜前有一个活动高峰，且与月夜呈负相关。利用岩石区域筑巢、作为庇护场所和进行趋触运动以及避开月光可能代表了花园睡鼠为避免被捕食风险而做出的适应。我们的研究结果揭示了一种鲜为人知的近危物种的栖息地需求，并为未来的监测和保护活动提供了基线信息。
