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Activity patterns of the marsh deer: Effects of proxies of human movement, cattle presence, and moon phases on its behavior

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Journal of Zoology
Authors:
Maria de las Mercedes Guerisoli at National Scientific and Technical Research Council
Maria de las Mercedes Guerisoli
Darío Martín Fergnani at Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"
Darío Martín Fergnani
N. G. Fracassi
N. G. Fracassi
N. G. Fracassi
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Jeffrey J. Thompson at CONACYT-Guyra Paraguay
Jeffrey J. Thompson
  • CONACYT-Guyra Paraguay
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Abstract and Figures

Activity is an important aspect of animal behavior. Intrinsic and extrinsic factors can shape species activity patterns, which can alter and reshape several ecological aspects of the species. Human disturbance is known to modify the activity patterns of various species. The Marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) is the largest Neotropical cervid, and has its southernmost distribution located in the wetlands of the lower Delta of the Paraná river, an area characterized by forestry plantations. We studied how the activity patterns of the marsh deer are affected by proxies of human movement, cattle presence, and moon phases in Argentina. We found that marsh deer presented activity peaks during crepuscular hours and moderate levels of activity during the entire night period. The majority of the independent camera‐trapping events of marsh deer occurred during the first quarter and last quarter phases, and the species was more active on sites far from rivers, which could infer an avoidance of human disturbances. In order to comprehend more deeply the variable effects on the activity patterns of marsh deer in this area, further analyses are needed, particularly using movement data of marked individuals.
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Activity patterns of the marsh deer: Effects of proxies of
human movement, cattle presence, and moon phases on its
behavior
M. M. Guerisoli
1,2
, D. M. Fergnani
1,2
, N. G. Fracassi
3
, J. Thompson
4
& J. A. Pereira
1,2
1
Divisi
on Mastozoolog
ıa, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" (MACN-CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
2
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient
ıficas y T
ecnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
3
Instituto Nacional de Tecnolog
ıa Agropecuaria (INTA), Paran
a de las Palmas and Canal Laurentino Comas (2804), Buenos Aires, Argentina
4
Guyra Paraguay, Asunci
on, Paraguay, Instituto Saite, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnolog
ıa (CONACYT), Asunci
on, Paraguay
Keywords
Daily activity; ungulate; nocturnality;
anthropogenic disturbance; Blastocerus
dichotomus.
Correspondence
Mar
ıa de las Mercedes Guerisoli, Divisi
on
Mastozoolog
ıa, Museo Argentino de Ciencias
Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" (MACN-
CONICET),
Angel Gallardo 470 (C1405DJR),
Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Email: mariadelasmercedesguerisoli@gmail.com
Editor: Hazel Nichols
Associate Editor: Martin Leclerc
Received 2 February 2022; revised 6 December
2022; accepted 16 January 2023
doi:10.1111/jzo.13053
Abstract
Activity is an important aspect of animal behavior. Intrinsic and extrinsic factors
can shape species activity patterns, which can alter and reshape several ecological
aspects of the species. Human disturbance is known to modify the activity patterns
of various species. The Marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) is the largest Neo-
tropical cervid, and has its southernmost distribution located in the wetlands of the
lower Delta of the Paran
a river, an area characterized by forestry plantations. We
studied how the activity patterns of the marsh deer are affected by proxies of
human movement, cattle presence, and moon phases in Argentina. We found that
marsh deer presented activity peaks during crepuscular hours and moderate levels
of activity during the entire night period. The majority of the independent camera-
trapping events of marsh deer occurred during the first quarter and last quarter
phases, and the species was more active on sites far from rivers, which could infer
an avoidance of human disturbances. In order to comprehend more deeply the vari-
able effects on the activity patterns of marsh deer in this area, further analyses are
needed, particularly using movement data of marked individuals.
Introduction
Animal activity is an important dimension of animal behavior.
Daily activity patterns might be seen as ‘adaptive sequences of
daily routines that meet the time structure of the environment,
shaped by evolution, but additionally fine-tuned by flexible
responses to the actual state of the environment’(cf.
Halle, 2000). Environmental and human-related stressors (i.e.,
intrinsic or extrinsic factors that obligate individuals to adjust
behavior) can alter activity patterns and reshape a wide range
of ecological aspects such as reproduction, feeding, or commu-
nity interactions (e.g., Killen et al., 2013; Stankowich, 2008;
Wang et al., 2015). In a recent review of the effects of humans
on daily patterns of wildlife activity, Gaynor et al. (2018) esti-
mated that animals have increased their nocturnality by an
average factor of 1.36 in response to human disturbance.
Although this temporal avoidance may facilitate human-
wildlife coexistence, such responses can result in marked shifts
away from natural patterns of activity (Gaynor et al., 2018).
Due to the possible consequences of these adjustments,
understanding how these stressors affect animal activity in dif-
ferent contexts is an important behavioral research topic.
Globally, large mammalian herbivores (body mass ≥100 kg)
are facing dramatic population declines and range contractions,
mainly due to hunting, land-use change, and resource depres-
sion by livestock (Ripple et al., 2016). Identifying the different
ways in which habitat transformation, rising livestock densities,
and hunting, as well as different combinations of these factors,
affect large herbivores could have important conservation
implications to understand and eventually reverse these nega-
tive trends. Shifts in daily activity patterns of ungulates in
response to human-related stressors have been described,
including human recreation (Reilly et al., 2017), hunting pres-
sure (e.g., Di Bitetti et al., 2008; Espinosa & Salvador, 2017;
Kilgo et al., 1998), coexistence with cattle (Di Bitetti et
al., 2020; Nanni, 2015; Pudyatmoko, 2017), and domestic dog
presence (Zapata-R
ıos & Branch, 2016).
On the other hand, moonlight is also an (abiotic) determi-
nant of the nocturnal activity patterns of ungulates (e.g.,
Brown et al., 2011; Walther, 1973). Moon brightness can affect
Journal of Zoology 320 (2023) 75–83 ª2023 Zoological Society of London. 75
Journal of Zoology. Print ISSN 0952-8369
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