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The relationship between external temperature and daily activity in a large rodent (Dasyprocta azarae) in the Brazilian Pantanal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2015

Bruno Cid ,
Luiz Gustavo R. Oliveira-Santos  and
Guilherme Mourão
Bruno Cid*
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação de Populações, Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio e Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. Avenida Carlos Chagas, 373. CEP 21941-590 – Caixa Postal 68020
Luiz Gustavo R. Oliveira-Santos
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação de Populações, Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio e Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. Avenida Carlos Chagas, 373. CEP 21941-590 – Caixa Postal 68020
Guilherme Mourão
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação de Populações, Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio e Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. Avenida Carlos Chagas, 373. CEP 21941-590 – Caixa Postal 68020
*
1Corresponding author. Email: bccguima@yahoo.com.br
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Abstract:

Daily activity patterns reflect interactions between circadian mechanisms and environmental stimuli. Among these stimuli, temperature can be an important factor affecting activity budgets. To sample the agouti (Dasyprocta azarae), a systematic camera-trap grid was established with 50 independent sampling sites. A circular kernel function was used to characterize the activity patterns of the agouti population. To evaluate shifts in activity as a function of mean daily temperature, the entire set of records was subdivided into smaller sets covering different temperature ranges. The activity pattern belonging to each set was characterized and compared through the overlap of their full activity (95% isopleth) and activity core (50% isopleth). Based on 400 independent records, agoutis were predominately diurnal. They shifted their activity core, while keeping their activity range (the amount of time a population remains active during the 24-h cycle) constant through the temperature gradient. The agouti demonstrated a unimodal activity pattern at lower temperatures, which became more bimodal at higher temperatures. Nevertheless, it kept its activity range constant, regardless of temperature. These results likely reflect a trade-off between activity time and thermoregulation during the diurnal period and demonstrate how the agouti can change its behaviour to achieve thermal comfort.

Keywords

activityagouticamera-trapcircular kernelrodentstemperature
Type
Short Communication
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 31 , Issue 5 , September 2015 , pp. 469 - 472
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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