Daily and seasonal activity patterns of the dorcas gazelle, scimitar‐horned oryx, north‐African ostrich and canids in an arid habitat
Daily and seasonal activity patterns of the dorcas gazelle, scimitar‐horned oryx, north‐African ostrich and canids in an arid habitat
North Africa's megafauna has developed behavioural adaptations to reduce energetic and fitness costs under harsh arid land conditions. Animal behaviour and activity patterns are difficult to study in the wild, but remote camera traps provide a solution to collecting data without the presence of a researcher influencing outcomes. Here, we report results from a study comprising over 20,382 camera-trap days during a 34-month period in Dghoumes National Park, Tunisia. We aimed to evaluate temporal activity patterns and their overlap and explore opportunities for niche partitioning. Our focal species were the reintroduced scimitar-horned oryx, north-African ostrich, dorcas gazelles and extant regional top-order predators, African wolf and red fox. We found differences in activity patterns between seasons across the focal species, with the most noticeable change being an increase in dawn activity from 1% to 33% between winter and summer for the red fox. Consequently, higher summer temperatures limit opportunities for temporal niche partitioning and push focal species towards dawn-time activity peaks resulting in higher intra-guild overlap values at dawn. Arid antelopes have physiological adaptations that enable them to better exploit ecological resources in hotter time periods than the carnivores, and this reduces inter-guild overlap during summer days.
Dghoumes National Park, Tunisia, antelope, camera trapping, conservation, predator, protected area
Meliane, Mohamed Khalil
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Petretto, Marie
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Saidi, Amira
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Chetoui, Abdelkader
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Gilbert, Tania
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Nasri‐ammar, Karima
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Meliane, Mohamed Khalil
22889ae6-3b5b-4ff8-8c55-67a0f59d635a
Petretto, Marie
228fe179-d9c7-406c-90a7-d5a9190fda1d
Saidi, Amira
1b0a7ff5-4d5e-4a4d-a4a5-d0a311318f21
Chetoui, Abdelkader
9e514e1d-92b7-4ed4-afd9-a119b853aa35
Gilbert, Tania
ec807003-6c13-4dcb-bb63-0f36e9143409
Nasri‐ammar, Karima
debc21c7-7c89-4cc8-a2c2-73bd147b6002
Meliane, Mohamed Khalil, Petretto, Marie, Saidi, Amira, Chetoui, Abdelkader, Gilbert, Tania and Nasri‐ammar, Karima
(2022)
Daily and seasonal activity patterns of the dorcas gazelle, scimitar‐horned oryx, north‐African ostrich and canids in an arid habitat.
African Journal of Ecology.
(doi:10.1111/aje.13089).
Abstract
North Africa's megafauna has developed behavioural adaptations to reduce energetic and fitness costs under harsh arid land conditions. Animal behaviour and activity patterns are difficult to study in the wild, but remote camera traps provide a solution to collecting data without the presence of a researcher influencing outcomes. Here, we report results from a study comprising over 20,382 camera-trap days during a 34-month period in Dghoumes National Park, Tunisia. We aimed to evaluate temporal activity patterns and their overlap and explore opportunities for niche partitioning. Our focal species were the reintroduced scimitar-horned oryx, north-African ostrich, dorcas gazelles and extant regional top-order predators, African wolf and red fox. We found differences in activity patterns between seasons across the focal species, with the most noticeable change being an increase in dawn activity from 1% to 33% between winter and summer for the red fox. Consequently, higher summer temperatures limit opportunities for temporal niche partitioning and push focal species towards dawn-time activity peaks resulting in higher intra-guild overlap values at dawn. Arid antelopes have physiological adaptations that enable them to better exploit ecological resources in hotter time periods than the carnivores, and this reduces inter-guild overlap during summer days.
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Accepted_Melianeetal. 2022_ AFJE_activity patterns
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African Journal of Ecology - 2022 - Meliane - Daily and seasonal activity patterns of the dorcas gazelle scimitar‐horned
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Accepted/In Press date: 5 November 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 27 November 2022
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
The present work was funded by Marwell Wildlife, Dublin Zoo, Safari Parc Monde Sauvage, Parco Faunistico Le Cornelle, Wrocław Zoo, Foundation DODO, ARTIS Amsterdam Royal Zoo and Branféré Parc Animalier et Botanique. We would like to acknowledge the long‐term research and conservation partnership between Marwell Wildlife and the Direction Générale des Forêts (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, Tunisia) which makes this work possible. Thanks also go to Mohamed Dabbebi and Chokri Aissaoui, managers of Dghoumes National Park. Our gratitude goes to the guards, especially Bouthief Yahyaoui and Mohamed Ali Tradi for their crucial contribution to data collection.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Keywords:
Dghoumes National Park, Tunisia, antelope, camera trapping, conservation, predator, protected area
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 475060
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/475060
ISSN: 0141-6707
PURE UUID: 0ab158f4-15ca-475b-a50b-4d1343a13fad
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Date deposited: 09 Mar 2023 19:00
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 07:38
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Contributors
Author:
Mohamed Khalil Meliane
Author:
Marie Petretto
Author:
Amira Saidi
Author:
Abdelkader Chetoui
Author:
Tania Gilbert
Author:
Karima Nasri‐ammar
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