Temporal activity patterns of North China leopards and their prey in
response to moonlight and habitat factors
Abstract
The nocturnal activities of predators and prey are influenced by several
factors, including physiological adaptations, habitat quality and, we
suspect, corresponds to changes in brightness of moonlight according to
moon phase. In this study, we used a dataset from 102 camera traps to
explore which factors are related with the activity pattern of North
China leopards (Panthera pardus japonensis) in Shanxi Tieqiaoshan
Provincial Nature Reserve (TPNR), China. We found that nocturnal
activities of leopards were irregular during four different lunar
phases, and while not strictly lunar philic or lunar phobic, their
temporal activity was highest during the brighter moon phases
(especially the last quarter) and lower during the new moon phase. On
the contrary, roe deer (Capreolus pygargus) exhibited lunar philic
activity, while wild boar (Sus scrofa) and Tolai hare (Lepus tolai) were
evidently lunar phobic, with high and low temporal activity during the
full moon, respectively. In terms of temporal overlap, that there was
positive overlap between leopards and their prey species, including roe
deer (Capreolus pygargus) and Tolai hare (Lepus tolai), while leopard
activity did not dip to the same low level of wild boar during the full
moon phase. Generally, our results suggested that besides moonlight risk
index (MRI), cloud cover and season have diverse effects on leopard and
prey nocturnal activity. Finally, distinct daytime and nighttime
habitats were identified, with leopards, wild boar and Tolai hare all
using lower elevations at night and higher elevations during the day,
while leopards and roe deer were closer to secondary roads during the
day than at night.