Unimodal activity pattern in forest-dwelling chamois : typical behaviour or interspecific avoidance?

摘要: Daily activity rhythms in mammals are influenced by a range of biotic and abiotic factors. During warm periods, mountain ungulates living open areas typically show bimodal pattern rhythms, with peaks at dawn dusk. To date, however, little is known about the patterns forested habitats where large predators present. Using camera traps over 6-month period between May October 2012, we investigated chamois population dwelling forests northern Mount Velebit region (Croatia) its overlap potential (brown bear, grey wolf) competitors (wild boar). Chamois showed peak 5:00 a.m. 7:00 a.m., when 65 % individuals were photographed. Contrary to previous literature on chamois, found evidence for unimodal early morning hours: At seasonal level, this remained fairly consistent, though dusk increased warmest months. The main occurred during periods decreased competitors, exhibited least tolerance wolf. Further studies needed clarify whether typical forest-dwelling populations or if it reflects temporal niche shift, possibly as strategy avoid predators.