| Resource competition and behavioral adaptability among sympatric related species distributed are hot issues in the study of animal behavior ecology,as well as the focus of primate conservation researchers.It is possible to understand how they are reasonably and effectively within a certain spatial range.Allocate environmental resources and coordinate with each other to maintain the stable survival of the population.In consideration of not affecting and damaging the normal survival and reproduction of primates and other wild animal populations,this study used 66 infrared cameras from April 2017 to December 2020,combined with kernel density estimation and occupancy modeling studies the temporal and spatial coexistence mechanism of Rhinopithecus brelichi and Macaca thibetana,which are distributed in the same region in the northern part of Fanjingshan,revealing the temporal and spatial distribution pattern of the two in the northeastern part of Fanjingshan Nature Reserve.The main findings are as follows:(1)The daily activity rhythm of Rhinopithecus brelichi is a typical twilight type.The peak period of daily activity occurs in the morning from 7:00 to 10:00 and the evening from 16:00 to 18:00.The daily activity rhythm will change with the seasons.Adaptation adjustments are particularly obvious in winter and summer.The peak period of daily activities appears,winter becomes shorter,the activity time is highly concentrated,summer becomes multi-peak,and the activity time is scattered and uniform;the width of daily activity time is the narrowest in winter and the longest in summer.In terms of spatial distribution,Rhinopithecus brelichi mainly inhabit in the evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved forests 1600—1900 m away from the tourist ropeway in the northern part of Fanjingshan Nature Reserve.Rhinopithecus brelichi obviously exclude human activity areas throughout the year,especially the Fanjingshan Scenic Area.No activities of Rhinopithecus brelichi are found around the scenic area.However,due to seasonal changes,Rhinopithecus brelichi will also make appropriate adjustments.Compared with summer,Rhinopithecus brelichi will change from high altitude to low altitude,and they will prefer high NDVI and live close to water sources.Although the areas of human activities(tourism,roads)are obviously excluded throughout the year,Rhinopithecus brelichi will be closer to the areas of human activities in winter and live in areas that keep a certain distance from humans.(2)The daily activity rhythm of Macaca thibetana is a single peak in the morning,and the peak of activity occurs in the period from 9:00 to 12:00.The daily activity rhythm will be adjusted accordingly with the change of seasons.In winter,the peak period of daily activities is postponed and occurs in the noon period from 12:00 to14:00;in summer,daily activities are mainly concentrated in the morning,and the peak of daily activities occurs in the period from 10:00 to 12:00,and the activity intensity in the afternoon decreases significantly.The width of the daily activity time is consistent with the performance of Rhinopithecus brelichi.In terms of spatial distribution,Macaca thibetana is distributed throughout the survey area,and the choice of altitude and forest type is not obvious.It is only found in secondary forests to be lower and has strong environmental adaptability.It lives close to the water source throughout the year,and responds seasonally to human activity areas,NDVI,and altitude.Compared with summer,Macaca thibetana has the most prominent response to NDVI in winter.In winter,they obviously prefer habitats with higher NDVI;the rejection of human activities is weakened,especially the influence of scenic tourist areas on the habitat of Macaca thibetana is no longer important;The adaptation width is also relatively reduced,and they tend to live in low altitudes.(3)Both Rhinopithecus brelichi and Macaca thibetana show the activity adaptation characteristics of avoiding high temperature and avoiding low temperature in the choice of temperature.Their annual activity rhythms are characterized by more summers and less winters.Their daily activity rhythms are significantly different,with extremely significant differences(p< 0.01).In different seasons,the degree of overlap of daily activity rhythms will increase sequentially from winter(= 0.64)< spring <summer < autumn(= 0.82).In terms of space,their spatial distribution ranges mostly overlap.The distribution range of Rhinopithecus brelichi,and Macaca thibetana population is more dominant.They are almost distributed in the entire survey area.In summer,their habitat choices are relatively similar,showing spatial overlap(SIF=1.10),and both exclude scenic tourist areas.The shared habitat is mainly in high-altitude areas far away from roads and tourist destinations.In winter,compared to summer,they all prefer close to water sources,high NDVI,low altitude habitat,but Rhinopithecus brelichi still keeps repelling and staying away from the human activity area,while Macaca thibetana does not respond significantly to the human activity area,and the human disturbance to Macaca thibetana habitat becomes unimportant.Species show spatial avoidance(SIF= 0.97).Our infrared camera monitoring research results for the past four years show that different habitat preference and daily activity rhythm reduce the space competition pressure and the possibility of encounters between Rhinopithecus brelichi and Macaca thibetana,confirming that they can coexist amicably.However,it is worth noting that as the spatial distribution shrinks of Rhinopithecus brelichi,its survival dilemma will increase,which is not conducive to the rejuvenation and expansion of the population.Therefore,the relevant protection and management departments strengthen the protection and connectivity of the original vegetation in the reserve,strengthen the management of surrounding communities and tourist areas,and improve villagers and tourists' protection cognition and awareness of wild animals in Fanjingshan Nature Reserve,such as Rhinopithecus brelichi and Macaca thibetana. |
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