Behavior Rhythm And Habitat Selection Of Wild Boar In Winter And Spring At The Southern Of Lesser Khingan Mountains

In China,human-animal conflicts caused by wild boars(Sus scrofa)are becoming more and more serious,resulting in serious economic losses and ecosystem destruction.It is very important to understand the habitat selection characteristics and time occurrence rules of wild boar’s important behaviors such as foraging and resting,so as to formulate scientific management strategies and avoid human-animal conflicts.Based on the spring and winter satellite positioning tracking data of 13 wild boars(5 females and 8 males)at the southern of the Lesser Khingan Mountainsfrom from 2019 to 2022,this study combined with the Hidden Markov Model and Step Selection Function to analyze the habitat selection,daily behavior rhythm and time allocation of the three behavior states of foraging,resting and travelling of wild boar.The effects of natural environment and man-made landscape on habitat selection and behavior rhythm of wild boar were discussed.The results as follows:1.Three main behavior states can be identified by the travelling trajectory of wild boar:one is short step length,in which the average step length of female in spring is 19.9±0.4 m,the average step length of winter is 21.7±0.3 m,the average step length of male in spring is18.0±0.2 m,the average step length of winter is 13.0±0.2 m,and the large turn Angle is close to π/-π,which is defined as resting.One is short to medium length,in which the average step length of female is 64.3 ±1.6 m in spring and 87.2±1.6 m in winter,the average step length of male is 132.1±1.9 m in spring and 122±2.6 m in winter,and the large turn Angle close to π/-π,which is defined as foraging.One is the long step length,in which the average step length of female is 320± 16.2 m in spring and 327.6± 8.0 m in winter.The average step length of male is394.4±7.5 m in spring and 371.0±8.6 m in winter,and the turn Angle is more concentrated in the state of 0 degree,which is defined as travelling.2.Female wild boar in spring showed the behavior pattern of resting at night and early in the morning,foraging during the day and travelling at dusk.In winter,it shows the behavior pattern of resting at night,foraging during the day and travelling at dusk.In spring,male wild boar showed the behavior pattern of resting during the day and travelling at dusk.The most frequent behavior in a day was foraging.In winter,males showed the behavior pattern of resting in the morning and foraging and travelling in the afternoon.H test showed that there were significant differences in the occurrence frequency of three behavioral states in spring and winter(p < 0.05).The frequency of foraging behavior in spring is higher in both female and male wild boars,and the frequency of foraging behavior in winter in female wild boars is higher than that in male wild boars in most of the time.Sunrise and sunset have an impact on the occurrence of behavior states in wild boars.3.In spring,female wild boar preferred to rest and forage on shady slopes with high altitude and low slope,while travelling in areas with high altitude and low slope.Male wild boar prefer to rest in mixed forest and shady slope with large slope.They prefer to forage in mixed forest or deciduous broad-leaved forest,low altitude area,and to move in deciduous broad-leaved forest,evergreen broad-leaved forest,low altitude area with small slope and close to river.In winter,female wild boar preferred to rest and forage on the sunny slope with high elevation and high slope,and to move on the sunny slope habitat in the mixed forest.Male wild boar prefer to choose the sunny slope with high elevation and slope close to the river when resting,prefer the area near the river with low slope when foraging,and prefer the sunny slope near the river in the evergreen broad-leaved forest when travelling.In conclusion,terrain is the main factor affecting habitat selection of female wild boar in spring and male and female wild boar in winter,while terrain and vegetation type are the main factors affecting habitat selection of male wild boar in spring.The results of this study provide reference for specific control measures such as prediction and early warning of wild boar invasion areas,selection of capture sites and so on,and provide new ideas for improving the effectiveness of wild boar management measures.