Comparative Study of Nocturnal and Diurnal Activity Patterns in Mammals Inhabiting Fragmented Forests and Human Dominated Landscapes

Abstract

Ecological adaptations and health of the ecosystems are very heavily dependent on the structure of the habitat, the availability of resources and the anthropogenic disturbance in the environment are considered to be important clues to the activity pattern of mammals. The purpose behind using this research was to comparatively assess the nocturnal and diurnal activity of the mammals living in the fragmented forests and human dominated landscape with consideration of the behavioural adaptation to the fragmentation and human pressure on the habitat. The information was gathered as integrated ecological methods, such as motion- triggered camera traps, on-the-field observations, as well as GPS tracking on various study sites which represent fragmented forest areas, and surrounding anthropogenic environments. The records of the activities were divided into nocturnal, diurnal, and crepuscular periods and statistical analyses were conducted with the help of R and Python packages such as ANOVA, the Wilcoxon rank-sum test, and the Pearson correlation analysis. Eighteen mammal species had been noted and fragmented forests provided greater species richness (15 species) than human dominated landscapes (12 species). The behavioural patterns of fragmented forests were rather diurnal (65%), and the activity of mammals in the human-controlled landscape was more nocturnal (55%), reflecting behavioural patterns that help to avoid anthropogenic perturbation. Forest fragments had a higher frequency of activity (3.2 ± 0.6 detections/day) compared to disturbed habitats (2.1 ± 0.5 detections /day). The result of the statistical test was significant differences in the activity patterns among the habitats (F = 8.62, p < 0.01). There were positive associations between night activity and the distance to roads and settlements (r = 0.590.61, p < 0.05). Comprehensively, the research paper presents the ecological significance of habitat interconnectedness, canopy, and less human disruption to preserve natural mammalian behavioural pattern and stable long-term biodiversity.