Habitat Restoration Influencing Activity Patterns, Foraging Efficiency, and Predator Avoidance in Small Mammal Populations

Abstract

Degradation of habitats caused by deforestation, changes in land use, and other anthropogenic factors has had detrimental effects on small mammal communities, leading to changes in their activity patterns, reduced foraging efficiency, and increased predation. The present study examined the impacts of habitat restoration on small mammals' behavior in the Kanha Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India. The effectiveness of such restoration measures as reforestation, planting of indigenous species, and modification of the structure of the understory was investigated in comparison with degraded habitats nearby. Behavior was studied via camera traps, live trapping, and automatic motion sensors, and foraging efficiency and predator avoidance behaviors were estimated via removal seed experiments and behavior monitoring in the presence of predators. It was found that habitat restoration led to extended activity times, a 30% increase in daylight activity specifically, improved foraging efficiency, indicated by the decrease in average foraging time per patch by 25%, and 18% higher food intake overall, and predator avoidance behavior, characterized by spending more time in the shelters, by 40%. Thus, restoration has shown its capacity to create complex and resource-rich environments, facilitating behavioral plasticity, better survival and, hence, seed dispersal and nutrient cycles in general.