Application of camera-trapping data to study daily activity patterns of Galliformes in Guangdong Chebaling national nature reserve

Abstract

Animal activity patterns and temporal niches can indicate the distribution of animal behavior and the utilization resources over time. Environmental variables and interspecific interactions have important effects on animal activity and temporal niche partitioning. These two factors in turn can help understand mechanisms of niche partitioning among sympatric species as well as species coexistence and community composition. Due to the extensive use and deployment of infrared cameras for nearly a decade, a large amount of time-recorded behavioral data has been accumulated. These data are conducive to studying activity rhythms and temporal niches in depth. In the present paper, we reviewed research on animal activity using infrared cameras in combination with in situ monitoring data from the Guangdong Chebaling National Nature Reserve to better understand three Galliformes species. A kernel density was used to estimate the activity and interspecific effects of a single species as well as for multispecies activity. Our study reveals a moderate overlap among Galliformes species, Lophura nycthemera, Arborophila gingica and Bambusicola thoracica, which may be caused by interspecific competition. We discuss the limitations of daily activity analyses to give a reference for similar research.