Abstract:
In recent years, infrared camera technology has been widely used in the study of population, quantity, distribution, activity rhythm, and behavior characteristics of wild animals. According to the infrared camera monitoring data of 149 infrared cameras for 21238 camera working days in Daxiangling Nature Reserve, Sichuan province, China, in 2019. Five species of ungulates,
M. berezovskii,
B. t.tibetena,
C. milneedwardsii,
E. cephalophus, and
S. scrofa were identified in the same region as the wild giant panda. The relative abundance index (RAI) method was used to analyze the activity rhythms and seasonal differences of those five ungulates. The results showed that: (1) The total richness of the five ungulates in the study area reached 53.59%, among which
E. cephalophus had the highest abundance of 29.54%, followed by
C. milneedwardsii (12.63%),
B. t.tibetena (4.09%),
S. scrofa (3.97%) and
M. berezovskii (3.37%). (2) The seasonal rhythm of
M. berezovskii,
C. milneedwardsii, and
S. scrofa was consistent, that was, the activity was most frequent in autumn and winter, gradually decreased in spring, and reached a low point in summer; On the contrary,
E. cephalophus and
B. t.tibetena had the most frequent activities in summer, gradually declined from autumn, fell to a low point in winter, and started to rise in May in spring. (3)
M. berezovskii and
E. cephalophus had a similar daily activity pattern. They showed a weak activity peak in the early morning, but high activity peak during 18:00—20:00 at dust;
B. t.tibetena and
S. scrofa were mainly concentrated in daytime activities and showed a twilight pattern. (4) The activity intensity of
M. berezovskii was different in spring, and the activity intensity was extremely high at dusk. The winter nocturnal activity of
C. milneedwardsii was the most obvious, while there was no obvious seasonal difference for
E. cephalophus and
S. scrofa. (5)
C. milneedwardsii had obvious nocturnal behavior. The above results are helpful for monitoring the changes of ungulates population, providing data support for the effective protection and management of the reserve. In addition, this research provides basic data for the study of niche differentiation between wild giant pandas and accompanying ungulates, and provides scientific basis for the wild release of giant pandas.