Activity Rhythm Of Chrysolophus Pictus And Tragopan Temminckii In Guizhou Dashahe National Nature Reserve By Infrared Camera Technology

Wildlife resource information is the basis for scientific protection of wildlife and effective management of its habitat in nature reserves.Guizhou Dashahe National Nature Reserve is located in the Wuling Mountains of the 35 priority areas for biodiversity protection of our country,which is rich in pheasant resources and a representative sample of Guizhou Province and even of Southwest China.However,the reserve has not conducted special investigations on pheasant resources.Thus affecting the scientific protection of pheasant species.In order to promote the in situ conservation of rare pheasants in this reserve,From January 8,2016 to April 25,2020,The infrared camera technology method is used in this project to study the behavioral rhythm and habitat selection of Chrysolophus pictus and Tragopan temminckii in Guizhou Dashahe National Nature Reserve.A total of 114 sites are set up with 65 infrared cameras to record the habitat information such as temperature,slope,aspect,slope position,altitude,vegetation type,canopy closure,distance to the nearest settlement,distance to the water source,etc.This paper uses one-way ANOVA test to analyze whether there are differences in the different time period of whole year,overwintering period(December-February),non-overwintering period(March-November),breeding period(April-July)and non-breeding period(August-March)between the two pheasants.Uses two-way analysis of variance to make multiple comparative analysis between the two pheasants on the activity rhythm of Chrysolophus pictus and Tragopan temminckii in different seasons,and uses chi-square test to analyze whether there are differences in the choice of habitat factors.The main research results obtained are as follows:(1)Overall valid data:In this project,infrared cameras work 26251 days,taking 3663 effective photos of Chrysolophus pictus and capturing 740 independent incidents which account for 23.96%of the total number of independent effective photos of birds,taking 1939 effective photos of Tragopan temminckii and capturing 420 independent incidents which account for 23.96%of the total number of independent effective photos of birds).(2)Clustering:There are three kinds of clustering patterns of Chrysolophus pictus and Tragopan temminckii:male clustering,female clustering and mixed clustering.Among them,single sex cluster is the main cluster mode,mixed cluster appears less.There are obvious differences cluster between the two pheasants,The peak encounter rates of male clustering,female clustering and mixed clustering all occur in different seasons and have certain regularity,The peaks of the encounter rates of the three groups of Chrysolophus pictus are all 1-2 seasons later than that of the Tragopan temminckii.(3)Daily activity rhythm:By using the way-factor AVOVA analysis of variance method to compare the activity frequency of the two pheasants in different time periods,It is found that there is no significant difference in the activity frequency of the two pheasants(f=1.937,P=0.178>0.05).The two pheasants are diurnal birds,and the activity time was mainly from 6:00 to 20:00.Both of them have frequent activities in the morning and evening,but there are differences in their daily activity peaks.The peak of Chrysolophus pictus is from 8:00am to 10:00am and from 12:00pm to 18:00pm.The peak of Tragopan temminckii is 8:00am to 10:00am and 16:00pm to 18:00pm,and it’s activity is weak during 12:00pm to 16:00pm.(4)Annual activity rhythm:Through two-way analysis of variance,there are no significant differences of annual activities between the two pheasants(P=0.800>0.05).While,the active time of the red-bellied Chrysolophus pictus is mainly late winter and early spring(December-April of the following year),and that of Tragopan temminckii is mainly late summer and autumn(August-October).The observation data confirms that Chrysolophus pictus and Tragopan temminckii use shifting peaks to reduce the competition caused by niche overlap.(5)Habitat selection differences:By counting the frequency of occurrence of two pheasants in the above-mentioned habitat factors,and carrying out chi-square test on the habitat preferences of the two pheasants,the analysis shows that,as for their preference,there are super significant differences in such seven habitat factors as altitude,vegetation type,canopy density,slope direction,slope position,temperature and distance from the nearest residential area(P<0.01),and there are significant differences in slope(P<0.05)and no significant differences in distance from water source(P>0.05).① The highest altitude in the reserve is 1939.9m,the lowest altitude is 560m,and the relative elevation difference is 1379.9 m.Chrysolophus pictus is mainly distributed at altitudes of 1200-1800 m,and Pheasant is mainly distributed at two altitude sections of 800-1200 m and 1600-1800 m;② Compared with Chrysolophus pictus,Tragopan temminckii has a higher preference for the evergreen,deciduous and broad-leaved mixed forest as well as coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest types,and has a lower preference for evergreen broad-leaved forest,deciduous broad-leaved forest and coniferous forest.③Chrysolophus pictus prefers high canopy density and medium canopy density,But Tragopan temminckii prefers medium and low canopy density.④ Both pheasants prefer flat and gentle slopes;⑤Chrysolophus pictus prefers the west slope the most,followed by the south and east slopes.Tragopan temminckii also prefers the west slope the most,followed by the north and southeast slopes.Compared with Tragopan temminckii,Chrysolophus pictus is more inclined to sunny slope;⑥ Both pheasants prefer valleys,but Tragopan temminckii has a higher preference for valleys than Chrysolophus pictus,and a lower preference for middle slopes;⑦Compared with Tragopan temminckii,Chrysolophus pictus prefers to move at a lower temperature,mainly at 0-5℃,and Tragopan temminckii prefers to move at 16-20℃.⑧ Both the two pheasants are photographed most at a distance of 5km from the nearest residence,but Tragopan temminckii had a higher preference than the Chrysolophus pictus in the distance range of 2-4 km,and had a lower preference for other distance ranges.⑨.Both pheasants prefer to be close to the water source.This study uses infrared cameras to monitor pheasant resources in Dashahe,Guizhou for 4 years,which provides a basic understanding for the activity rhythm and habitat selection of Chrysolophus pictus and Tragopan temminckii in nature reserve,and lays a solid foundation for the protection of pheasant resources.But this paper is based on the forestry research project "Monitoring Birds and Animals with Infrared Camera in Dashahe National Reserve,Guizhou Province",the camera is not arranged according to the pheasant preference.In the next step,cameras can be set in the preferred habitats of Chrysolophus pictus and Tragopan temminckii,so as to obtain more abundant activity rhythm data,and further study the behaviors of pheasants such as moving,brooding,alerting,foraging and resting.