The moon cycle effect on the temporal niche of Amazonian mammals

• Autor(a) principal: Santiago, Luís Pedro Pratas Branco
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10773/16390
• topic: Ecologia aplicada; Mamíferos - Amazónia (Brasil); Animais predadores; Comportamento animal

Between the predator-prey relationships, adaptions in the temporal niche play a significant role in the community structure. In this dissertation we investigated the effects of the moon cycle on the activity time schedules of ocelots (Leopardus pardalis), pumas (Puma concolor) and their potential prey, in Central Amazon. In this work, we tested whether the activity patterns of ocelots are synchronised with those of their potential diurnal and nocturnal prey and the effects of the moon cycle on this predator-prey relationship. In addition we described pumas activity patterns and assessed the influence of moonlight on the time schedules of their prey, in different moon phases. Ocelots have shown to be nocturnal and their photographic records were evenly distributed across the moon cycle. The activity of these cats overlapped significantly more that of their nocturnal prey than diurnal’s, during full moon. Pumas were shown to be mostly nocturnal and have an even record distribution over the moon cycle too. This record distribution was observed for red brocket deer (Mazama americana) as well. In contrast, photographic records of the other two potential prey (pacas [Cuniculus paca] and armadillos [Dasypus spp.]) were concentrated in the darker nights. Yet, every potential prey seemed to avoid the brighter times of the night regardless of the moon phase.Our findings suggest that, in enlightened nights, prey can suppress their activity or shift its temporal distribution, through activity allocation to the darker periods of the night in response to increased predation risk. On the other hand, pumas and ocelots may take advantage of prey which remain active in those nights because they will be much more vulnerable and, thus, favour the hunting success of these cats.