Activity patterns of mammals at Quedas do Rio Bonito Ecological Park, Lavras City, Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Abstract

The activity patterns present a temporal partition of species cohabiting the same area in orderto avoid competition. Moreover, it optimizes capture efforts and provides information on the naturalhistory of species. Nevertheless, anthropic impacts compromise this activity by changing the patterns.Since there is a lack of studies in the last decades, this work demonstrates and discusses the pattern ofactivity of medium and large mammals in an ecological park in the south of the state of Minas Gerais,Brazil. Photographic trapping registered two species classified as cathemeral, four as nocturnal andtwo as diurnal. The predominant habit was nocturnal, which is the result of adaptive behaviors relatedto predation and human actions. The results of this study show the biological importance of the regionand the need for new systematized studies focusing on the medium and large local mammal fauna,aiming to contribute to a more comprehensive knowledge of the local biodiversity.Keywords: Activity pattern. Behavior. Functional activity.