Li Jia, Xue Yadong, Zhang Yu, Dong Wei, Shan Guoyu, Sun Ruiqian, Hacker Charlotte, Wu Bo, Li Diqiang
Chinese Academy of Forestry, Institute of Desertification Studies, Beijing, China.
Chinese Academy of Forestry, Research Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection, Beijing, China.
PeerJ. 2020 Nov 26;8:e10353. doi: 10.7717/peerj.10353. eCollection 2020.
Understanding animals' migration, distribution and activity patterns is vital for the development of effective conservation action plans; however, such data for many species are lacking. In this study, we used camera trapping to document the spatial and temporal activity patterns of golden takins () in Changqing National Nature Reserve in the Qinling mountains, China, from April 2014 to October 2017. Our study obtained 3,323 independent detections (from a total of 12,351 detections) during a total camera trapping effort of 93,606 effective camera trap days at 573 sites. Results showed that: (1) the golden takin's utilization distributions showed seasonal variation, with larger utilization distributions during spring and autumn compared to summer and winter; (2) the species was recorded at the highest elevations in July, and lowest elevations in December, with the species moving to higher-elevations in summer, lower-elevations in spring and autumn; (3) during all four seasons, golden takins showed bimodal activity peaks at dawn and dusk, with activity intensity higher in the second peak than the first, and overall low levels of activity recorded from 20:00-06:00; and (4) there were two annual activity peaks, the first being in April and the second in November, with camera capture rate during these two months higher than in other months, and activity levels in spring and autumn higher than in summer and winter. This study is the first application of camera traps to assess the spatial and temporal activity patterns of golden takins at a population level. Our findings suggest that the proposed national park should be designed to include golden takin habitat and that ongoing consistent monitoring efforts will be crucial to mitigating novel and ongoing threats to the species.
了解动物的迁徙、分布和活动模式对于制定有效的保护行动计划至关重要；然而，许多物种缺乏此类数据。在本研究中，我们于2014年4月至2017年10月期间，在中国秦岭的长青国家级自然保护区，利用相机陷阱记录了秦岭羚牛的空间和时间活动模式。在573个位点总共93,606个有效相机诱捕日的相机诱捕工作中，我们的研究获得了3323次独立检测（总共12351次检测）。结果表明：（1）秦岭羚牛的利用分布呈现季节性变化，春季和秋季的利用分布比夏季和冬季更大；（2）该物种在7月记录到的海拔最高，12月最低，该物种在夏季向高海拔移动，在春季和秋季向低海拔移动；（3）在所有四个季节中，秦岭羚牛在黎明和黄昏时呈现双峰活动高峰，第二个高峰的活动强度高于第一个高峰，并且在20:00 - 06:00记录到的总体活动水平较低；（4）有两个年度活动高峰，第一个在4月，第二个在11月，这两个月的相机捕获率高于其他月份，并且春季和秋季的活动水平高于夏季和冬季。本研究是首次应用相机陷阱在种群水平上评估秦岭羚牛的空间和时间活动模式。我们的研究结果表明，拟建的国家公园应设计为包括秦岭羚牛栖息地，并且持续一致的监测工作对于减轻该物种面临的新出现和持续的威胁至关重要。
