The Activity Pattern And Habitat Suitability Assessment Of Sambar Deer Under Anthropogenic Disturbance

Activity pattern and habitat suitability assessment are important contents of basic ecology of wild ungulates.It is of great significance for wild ungulates conservation to clarify their spatial distribution pattern,temporal activity patterns and potential suitable habitat distribution.As the explosive growth of human population,there are fewer places for animals to live out their lives independently of anthropogenic disturbance,which exert severe influence on wildlife activity patterns,habitat quality and range.Sambar deer(Rusa unicolor)is one of large ungulates in China,is a second-grade animal under state protection.In the 1960 s,sambar deer were hunted as a major game animal and from then on their population declined dramatically.In addition,with the increase of the range,intensity and type of human disturbance,the vegetation of sambar deer's habitat was seriously destroyed,so most of the population distribution area of sambar deer became isolated islands.Based on the survival and conservation status of smabar deer,there is an urgent need to conduct research on the effects of human disturbance on the activity patterns and habitat utilization of water deer,so as to provide reference for the development of more effective,scientific and targeted conservation measures.This study took sambar deer inhabited in Wolong Nature Reserve as the research object.Based on field survey and infrared camera monitoring data,study the effects of human disturbance on the activity pattern and habitat suitability of sambar deer with comprehensive use of Arc GIS,R and Max Ent software.The study clarified the spatial distribution pattern of sambar deer and degree of overlap between agricultural land,pasture with the utilization area of sambar deer.Moreover,the study delved into the relative richness and activity rhythm characteristics of sambar deer under different livestock and human activity intensity.The result of research shows that:1)Sambar deer have large space utilization area in Wolong Nature Reserve,and these areas are in good connectivity with each other,which can ensure the normal communication among the sambar populations.The overlap degree between the pasture and the high utilization area of sambar deer is greater,which seriously squeezed the living space of sambar deer.There was more intense competition among domestic animals in the high utilization area of sambar deer,and the space competition between yak and sambar deer was more intense.2)The sambar deer don't significantly avoid the activity peak of livestock and human in the annual activity rhythm.The activity intensity of sambar deer is higher in summer and autumn(June to October),The activity peak of cattle(July,September,November)is closer to the peak of sambar deer,sheep are more active in autumn and winter(February,October to December),and the activity frequency of yak is stronger in spring and summer(February and May).And the intensity of human activity is higher in autumn and winter.3)The activity peaks of sambar deer are basically stagger with the activity peaks of livestock and human in daily activity rhythm.Only cattle has the highest daily activity overlap coefficient with sambar deer while sheep has the lowest overlap coefficient with sambar deer.So it can be seen that sambar deer and cattle have greater competition in temporal niche.4)The composition and quantity of domestic animals can affect the overlap coefficient of daily activity rhythm between livestock and sambar deer.The composition of livestock with a higher proportion of sheep and small proportion of cattle,yaks and horses present lower overlap coefficient with the daily activity rhythm of sambar deer.5)The distribution area of high suitable habitat for sambar deer in Wolong Nature Reserve is small,accounting for only 5.43% of the reserve area,and the distribution is relatively dispersed.Altitude is the most important factor that affect the distribution of suitable habitat,followed by vegetation type and temperature seasonality.Among all environmental factors which is exceeding 5%,the cumulative contribution rate of human disturbance variables is 17.4%.The influence of main roads and pastures on the distribution of suitable habitat was stronger.