Activity budgets and dietary investigations of Varanus salvator (Reptilia: Varanidae) in Karamjal ecotourism spot of Bangladesh Sundarbans mangrove forest

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. Mijanur Rahman ◽  
Ilgizar Iliazovic Rakhimov ◽  
M. Monirul H. Khan
Keyword(s):  
Mangrove Forest ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Foraging Activity ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Potential Habitat ◽  
Varanus Salvator ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Sundarbans Mangrove ◽  
Study Species

Tropical mangrove forest ecosystem of Sundarbans is considered as the most potential habitat for the V. salvator found in Bangladesh. The study was conducted to understand the general ecology and behavior of V. salvator, to assess its activity patterns and feeding ecology in and around Karamjal ecotourism spot of Bangladesh Sundarbans. The activities of water monitor were more frequently seen from 0900 – 1200 hrs and from 1530 – 1700 hrs of the day. Proportion of time spent on different behavioral states by the water monitors were varied significantly in both wet and dry season. It was found that adult water monitor spent highest proportion of time in foraging activity during rainy or wet season and during winter or in dry season they spent maximum time in resting or basking. Most preferred diet of V. salvator during this study was crabs and besides these they showed their character as scavenger also. As the study species was poikilothermic animal so, the influences of environmental variables upon their activities in different habitats either in summer or in winter might not be ignored.

Seasonal patterns of energy allocation to basal metabolism, activity and production for livestock in a nomadic pastoral ecosystem

1986 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
pp. 357-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Coppock ◽  
D. M. Swift ◽  
J. E. Ellis ◽  
K. Galvin
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Metabolizable Energy ◽  
Basal Metabolism ◽  
Energy Budgets ◽  
Weight Changes ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Annual Basis

SummaryEnergy budgets and estimates of forage intake requirements were developed for adult camels, cattle, sheep, and goats managed by nomads in the arid Turkana District of north-western Kenya. The estimates were developed by combining our field data on livestock activity patterns, diet quality, weight changes and milk yields with literature based estimates of the associated costs and efficiencies. On an annual basis, the average animal walked 17 km/day and had a total metabolizable energy (ME) allocation of 47% for basal metabolism, 16% for travel, 14% for other activities, and 23% for production. Season and species influenced patterns of energy demand and allocation. Average daily ME requirements ranged from 8·7 MJ (sheep) to 76·7 MJ (camels). ME demand for all species peaked during wet (April-May) or early-to mid-dry periods (June-October), and decreased considerably in the late-dry season (November-March). In the wet season the average sheep or goat allocated 45% of its ME budget to production of milk and gain, followed by cattle (36%) and camels (25%). All species were more similar in ME allocation for production during the late-dry season (7–13%; all to lactation), yet patterns of weight loss during this time indicated that camels experienced the lowest degree of negative energy balance. On an annual basis, camel budgets were the most deviant, as they allocated relatively more ME to activity and relatively less to basal metabolism or weight gain. Estimates of forage dry-matter intakes (per unit live weight per day) ranged from 3·8% (cattle, camels) to 4·6% (sheep, goats) throughout the year, and intakes declined for most species by an average of 50% from the wet to late-dry intervals. This approach has revealed ecological differences among livestock species that help explain the utility of multi-species holdings in this system.

Effects of habitat, group-size, sex-age class and seasonal variation on the behavioural responses of the mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni) in Munessa, Ethiopia

2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solomon A. Tadesse ◽  
Burt P. Kotler
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Time Budget ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Behavioural Responses ◽  
Age Class ◽  
Habitat Variables

Abstract:Activity patterns of animals are generally influenced by many factors. We hypothesized that the behavioural responses (i.e. activity time-budget allocated to vigilance, feeding and moving) of mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni) should vary with habitat type, season, group-size and sex-age class. We randomly established a total of 12 permanent walking transects with the aid of a GPS device across three major habitat types used by the mountain nyala (i.e. four transects in each habitat). Following each transect, we conducted focal-animal observations to quantify the time-budget allocated to vigilance, feeding and moving. A total of 119 and 116 focal-animals were assessed in the wet and dry season respectively. Moreover, along each transect, seven habitat variables were collected in systematically laid 109 circular plots each with a 5-m radius (i.e. 31, 41 and 37 plots in the cleared vegetation, plantation and natural forest respectively) in the wet and dry season. We developed behavioural models by correlating the time-budget (i.e. proportion of time vigilance, feeding and moving) of the focal-animals in accordance with habitat variables, group-size and sex-age class. In the wet season, mountain nyala devoted most of their time to vigilance, but they allocated the largest proportion of their time to moving in the dry season. Vigilance differed among the three habitats and was highest in the cleared vegetation during the dry season. Contrary to expectations, adult males were more vigilant than both adult females and sub-adults during the dry season. The behavioural models based on time-budget help to predict how the mountain nyala perceive their environment and trade-off between food acquisition and safety in the wet and dry season. The study also improves our understanding of the adaptive behavioural ecology of the endangered mountain nyala.

scholarly journals Abundance and frugivory of the toco toucan (Ramphastos toco) in a gallery forest in Brazil's Southern Pantanal

2006 ◽  
Vol 66 (1a) ◽  
pp. 133-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Ragusa-Netto
Keyword(s):  
Food Resource ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Fleshy Fruit ◽  
Foraging Activity ◽  
Gallery Forest ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Fruit Availability ◽  
Fleshy Fruits ◽  
Gallery Forests ◽  
Large Home Range

Unlike other toucan species, the Toco toucan (Ramphastos toco) - the largest Ramphastidae - usually inhabits dry semi-open areas. This conspicuous canopy frugivore uses a large home range that includes a variety of vegetation types, among which gallery forests are widely cited as important to this species. However, the factors relating to the occurrence of Toco toucans in such habitats are unclear. I studied the abundance of Toco toucans as well as the availability of fleshy fruit in a gallery forest in the southern Pantanal (sub-region of Miranda, Brazil), in order to assess the relationship between these parameters. Also, I examined toucan foraging activity to analyze its relationship with both toucan abundance and fruit availability. The presence of the Toco toucan was more common in the gallery forest from the middle to the end of the dry season and during the middle of the wet season. Toucans foraged for fleshy fruits, mainly Genipa americana, Ficus luschnatiana, and Cecropia pachystachya fruits, feeding mostly on G. americana (by far the favorite food resource) and F. luschnatiana fruits during the dry season, while C. pachystachya fruits were important in the wet season. Toco toucans foraged particularly heavily (> 80% of foraging activity) on G. americana fruits during the latter part of the dry season, when fleshy fruit availability declined sharply. Toco toucan abundance in the gallery forest was associated with the availability of the most commonly consumed fleshy fruits, and also with its foraging activity. This finding suggests that the Toco toucan moved to the gallery forest periodically in response to the availability of abundant food resources, especially the G. americana fruits widely available and exploited during the severely dry season. Therefore, these fruits potentially contribute to Toco toucan persistence in the South Pantanal during the harshest period of the year.

Seasonal patterns and influence of temperature on the daily activity of the diurnal neotropical rodent Necromys lasiurus

2010 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. Vieira ◽  
L. C. Baumgarten ◽  
G. Paise ◽  
R. G. Becker
Keyword(s):  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Ambient Temperature ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Diel Activity ◽  
Significant Activity ◽  
Positive Relation ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Temperature Relation ◽  
Central Brazil

We investigated the relation between temperature and diel activity patterns of Necromys lasiurus (Lund, 1841) in 10 sites of open vegetation (grassland fields) in the Cerrado (savanna-like vegetation) of central Brazil. We used live traps equipped with timing devices during two trapping sessions: in the end of the dry season (session 1, October 2001) and in the wet season (session 2, January–February 2002). Necromys lasiurus is basically a diurnal rodent with more pronounced crepuscular and nocturnal activity in the dry season than in the wet season. Only in the wet season did we detect significant between-gender differences, with males being less active than females in the first hours after sunrise but more active between 0900 and 1200. There was no significant activity–temperature relation in the dry season, but in the wet season, both genders showed a positive relation between ambient temperature and activity. Individuals might be avoiding hot midday hours in the end of the dry season to minimize time exposure to a physiologically stressful condition caused by the joint action of high temperatures and extremely low relative humidity (<15%). In the rainy season, the high relative humidity (80%–90%) might allow the animals to show a positive relation between activity and ambient temperature.

scholarly journals Water levels affect photosynthesis and nutrient use more than salinity in a scrub Red Mangrove forest of the southeastern Florida Everglades

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Aaron Hogan ◽  
Edward Castañeda-Moya ◽  
Lukas Lamb-Wotton ◽  
Christopher Baraloto
Keyword(s):  
Water Level ◽  
Mangrove Forest ◽  
Leaf Gas Exchange ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Marginal Effect ◽  
Mangrove Forests ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Porewater Salinity

AbstractPhotosynthesis is an essential process to mangrove forest carbon cycling, which plays a critical role in the global carbon cycle. We investigated how differences in mangrove island micro-elevation (i.e., habitat) affect tree physiology in a scrub mangrove forests of the southeastern Everglades. We measured leaf gas exchange rates of scrub Rhizophora mangle trees monthly during 2019, hypothesizing that CO2 assimilation (Anet) and stomatal conductance (gsw) would decline with increases in water level and salinity, with larger differences at mangrove islands edges than centers, where inundation and salt stress are greatest. Water levels varied between 0 and 60 cm, rising during the wet season (May-October) relative to the dry season (November-April). Porewater salinity ranged from 15 to 30 ppt, being higher at mangrove island edges compared to centers. Anet maximized at 15.1 µmol m-2 s-1, and gsw was typically <0.2 mol m-2 s-1, both of which were greater in the dry than the wet season and greater at mangrove island centers than edges. After accounting for season and habitat, water level had a positive effect on Anet in both seasons, but no effect on gsw. Similarly, porewater salinity had a slightly positive marginal effect on Anet but a negligible effect on gsw Our findings suggest that water levels drive variation in Anet more than salinity in Everglades scrub mangroves, while also constraining Anet more than gsw, and that the interaction between permanent flooding and habitat varies with season as physiological stress is alleviated at higher-elevation mangrove island center habitats in the dry season. Additionally, habitat heterogeneity leads to differences in nutrient and water acquisition and use between trees growing in island centers versus edges, creating distinct physiological controls on leaf physiology and photosynthesis which could ultimately affect carbon flux dynamics of scrub mangrove forests across the Everglades landscape.

scholarly journals Activity Rhythms of Coexisting Red Serow and Chinese Serow at Mt. Gaoligong as Identified by Camera Traps

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1071 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yixin Chen ◽  
Zhishu Xiao ◽  
Long Zhang ◽  
Xinwen Wang ◽  
Ming Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Daily Activity ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Infrared Camera ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Activity Level ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Activity Rhythms ◽  
And Behavior

Surveying the activity rhythms of sympatric herbivorous mammals is essential for understanding their niche ecology, especially for how they partition resources and their mechanisms of coexistence. Over a five-year period, we conducted infrared camera-trapping to monitor the activity rhythms of coexisting red serow (Capricornis rubidus) and Chinese serow (C. milneedwardsii milneedwardsii) in the remote mountainous region of Pianma, Mt. Gaoligong, Yunnan, China. Cameras captured images of red serow and Chinese serow on 157 and 179 occasions, respectively. We used circular kernel density models to analyze daily activity rhythms and how temporal variations in activity ensure their co-existence. Although their overall activity levels and patterns were similar, temporal activity and behavior partitioning among the two species occurred during the wet season. Compared with Chinese serows, red serows exhibited less variable daily activity levels, patterns, as well as feeding and vigilance behaviors between seasons. When the two species occasionally ranged together, red serows tended to alter their activity pattern while Chinese serows significantly increased their activity level. Red serow and Chinese serow are exploitative competitors but coexist by altering their daily activity rhythms when in contact and changing activity patterns during the wet season, enabling their coexistence.

scholarly journals Understanding the ecology of medium-sized carnivores (Mammalia: Carnivora) from a Tropical Dry Forest in Colombian Caribbean

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 701-716
Author(s):  
Daisy A. Gómez-Ruiz ◽  
Camilo Sánchez-Giraldo ◽  
Juan L. Parra ◽  
Sergio Solari
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Leopardus Pardalis ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Natural Reserve

Fauna in Tropical Dry Forest (TDF) is highly dependent on water availability due to a marked seasonality in precipitation. There are few studies addressing carnivore’s ecology and the role of seasonality of TDF in Neotropics. We used scent-station and camera trapping to assess seasonal changes in occurrence and habitat use probability with seasonality. We also described activity patterns and collected fresh scats to describe diet for small sized carnivore species in a TDF fragment in the Colombian Caribbean region. We present information regarding: Cerdocyon thous, Leopardus pardalis, and Procyon spp. The analysis showed a significantly higher occurrence probability during the dry season for the three species, and no differences in the detection probability between seasons. The diet of C. thous included 24 different food items; for L. pardalis it was composed of seven items, and finally, 25 food items were identified in the diet of Procyon spp. We found that the three species presented activity patterns corresponding with previous studies. Finally, our results reflect that these species are probably making more/larger habitat use during the dry season than in the wet season, because the area has permanent water ponds by which limited resources (such as water and food) are available almost constantly in this natural reserve.

scholarly journals The seasonal changes of the gut microbiome of the population living in traditional lifestyles are represented by characteristic species-level and functional-level SNP enrichment patterns

BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xue Zhu ◽  
Jiyue Qin ◽  
Chongyang Tan ◽  
Kang Ning
Keyword(s):  
Gut Microbiome ◽  
Seasonal Changes ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
Snp Analysis ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Human Gut ◽  
Human Gut Microbiome ◽  
Genome Level ◽  
Prevalent Species

Abstract Background Most studies investigating human gut microbiome dynamics are conducted on humans living in an urban setting. However, few studies have researched the gut microbiome of the populations living traditional lifestyles. These understudied populations are arguably better subjects in answering human-gut microbiome evolution because of their lower exposure to antibiotics and higher dependence on natural resources. Hadza hunter-gatherers in Tanzania have exhibited high biodiversity and seasonal patterns in their gut microbiome composition at the family level, where some taxa disappear in one season and reappear later. Such seasonal changes have been profiled, but the nucleotide changes remain unexplored at the genome level. Thus, it is still elusive how microbial communities change with seasonal changes at the genome level. Results In this study, we performed a strain-level single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis on 40 Hadza fecal metagenome samples spanning three seasons. With more SNP presented in the wet season, eight prevalent species have significant SNP enrichment with the increasing number of SNP calling by VarScan2, among which only three species have relatively high abundances. Eighty-three genes have the most SNP distributions between the wet season and dry season. Many of these genes are derived from Ruminococcus obeum, and mainly participated in metabolic pathways including carbon metabolism, pyruvate metabolism, and glycolysis. Conclusions Eight prevalent species have significant SNP enrichments with the increasing number of SNP, among which only Eubacterium biforme, Eubacterium hallii and Ruminococcus obeum have relatively high species abundances. Many genes in the microbiomes also presented characteristic SNP distributions between the wet season and the dry season. This implies that the seasonal changes might indirectly impact the mutation patterns for specific species and functions for the gut microbiome of the population that lives in traditional lifestyles through changing the diet in wet and dry seasons, indicating the role of these variants in these species’ adaptation to the changing environment and diets.

scholarly journals Seasonal Climate Impacts on Vocal Activity in Two Neotropical Nonpasserines

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 319
Author(s):  
Cristian Pérez-Granados ◽  
Karl-L. Schuchmann
Keyword(s):  
Air Temperature ◽  
Daily Rainfall ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Calling Behavior ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Focal Species ◽  
Calling Activity ◽  
Vocal Activity

Climatic conditions represent one of the main constraints that influence avian calling behavior. Here, we monitored the daily calling activity of the Undulated Tinamou (Crypturellus undulatus) and the Chaco Chachalaca (Ortalis canicollis) during the dry and wet seasons in the Brazilian Pantanal. We aimed to assess the effects of climate predictors on the vocal activity of these focal species and evaluate whether these effects may vary among seasons. Air temperature was positively associated with the daily calling activity of both species during the dry season. However, the vocal activity of both species was unrelated to air temperature during the wet season, when higher temperatures occur. Daily rainfall was positively related to the daily calling activity of both species during the dry season, when rainfall events are scarce and seem to act as a trigger for breeding phenology of the focal species. Nonetheless, air temperature was negatively associated with the daily calling activity of the Undulated Tinamou during the wet season, when rainfall was abundant. This study improves our understanding of the vocal behavior of tropical birds and their relationships with climate, but further research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms behind the associations found in our study.

scholarly journals Inorganic Nitrogen Production and Removal along the Sediment Gradient of a Stormwater Infiltration Basin

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 320
Author(s):  
Qianyao Si ◽  
Mary G. Lusk ◽  
Patrick W. Inglett
Keyword(s):  
Removal Efficiency ◽  
N Mineralization ◽  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Pollutant Removal ◽  
Net N Mineralization ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Inorganic N ◽  
N Removal ◽  
Stormwater Infiltration

Stormwater infiltration basins (SIBs) are vegetated depressions that collect stormwater and allow it to infiltrate to underlying groundwater. Their pollutant removal efficiency is affected by the properties of the soils in which they are constructed. We assessed the soil nitrogen (N) cycle processes that produce and remove inorganic N in two urban SIBs, with the goal of further understanding the mechanisms that control N removal efficiency. We measured net N mineralization, nitrification, and potential denitrification in wet and dry seasons along a sedimentation gradient in two SIBs in the subtropical Tampa, Florida urban area. Net N mineralization was higher in the wet season than in the dry season; however, nitrification was higher in the dry season, providing a pool of highly mobile nitrate that would be susceptible to leaching during periodic dry season storms or with the onset of the following wet season. Denitrification decreased along the sediment gradient from the runoff inlet zone (up to 5.2 μg N/g h) to the outermost zone (up to 3.5 μg N/g h), providing significant spatial variation in inorganic N removal for the SIBs. Sediment accumulating around the inflow areas likely provided a carbon source, as well as maintained stable anaerobic conditions, which would enhance N removal.

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