COVID-19 lockdown has indirect,non-equivalent effects on activity patterns of Reeves's Pheasant(Syrmaticus reevesii)and sympatric species

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought massive shifts in human activities through a global blockade,directly affecting wildlife survival.However,the indirect impacts of changes in human activities are often easily overlooked.We conducted surveys of Reeves's Pheasant(Syrmaticus reevesii)and its sympatric species by camera traps in forest-type nature reserves in three different scenarios:pre-lockdown,lockdown and postlockdown.An increase in livestock activities observed during the lockdown and post-lockdown period in our study area provided us an opportunity to investigate the indirect impact of the lockdown on wildlife.The prelockdown period was used as a baseline to compare any changes in trends of relative abundance index,activity patterns and temporal spacing of targeted species and livestock.During the lockdown period,the relative abundance index of livestock increased by 50%and there was an increase in daytime activity.Reeves's Pheasant showed avoidance responses to almost all sympatric species and livestock in three different periods,and the livestock avoidance level of Reeves's Pheasant during the lockdown period was significantly and positively correlated with the relative abundance index of livestock.Species-specific changes in activity patterns of study species were observed,with reduced daytime activities of Hog Badger and Raccoon Dog during and after the confinement periods.This study highlights the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on the responses of wildlife by considering the changes in their temporal and spatial use before,during and after lockdown.The knowledge gained on wildlife during reduced human mobility because of the pandemic aids in understanding the effect of human disturbances and developing future conservation strategies in the shared space,to manage both wildlife and livestock.

Wavelet methods reveal big cat activity patterns and synchrony of activity with preys

Appropriate temporal and spatial scales are important prerequisites for obtaining reliable results in studies of wildlife activity patterns and interspecific interactions.The spread of camera-trap technology has increased interest in and feasibility of studying the activity patterns and interspecific interactions of wildlife.However,such studies are often conducted at arbitrary spatial and temporal scales,and the methods used impose scale on the study rather than determining how activity and species interactions change with spatial scale.In this study,we used a waveletbased approach to determine the temporal and spatial scales for activity patterns and interspecific interactions on Amur leopard and their ungulate prey species that were recorded using camera traps in the main Amur leopard occurrence region in northeast China.Wavelets identified that Amur leopards were more active in spring and fall than summer,and fluctuated with periodicities of 9 and 17 days,respectively.Synchronous relationships between leopards and their prey commonly occurred in spring and fall,with a periodicity of about 20 days,indicating the appropriate seasons and temporal scales for interspecific interaction research.The influence of human activities on the activity patterns of Amur leopard or prey species often occurred over longer time periods(60–64 days).Twodimensional wavelet analyses showed that interactions between leopard and prey were more significant at spatial scales of 1 km2.Overall,our study provides a feasible approach to studying the temporal and spatial scales for wildlife activity patterns and interspecific interaction research using camera trap data.

ANALYSIS OF “BIMODAL PATTERN” STORM ACTIVITY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BAY OF BENGAL

Storms that occur at the Bay of Bengal(Bo B) are of a bimodal pattern, which is different from that of the other sea areas. By using the NCEP, SST and JTWC data, the causes of the bimodal pattern storm activity of the Bo B are diagnosed and analyzed in this paper. The result shows that the seasonal variation of general atmosphere circulation in East Asia has a regulating and controlling impact on the Bo B storm activity, and the "bimodal period" of the storm activity corresponds exactly to the seasonal conversion period of atmospheric circulation. The minor wind speed of shear spring and autumn contributed to the storm, which was a crucial factor for the generation and occurrence of the"bimodal pattern"storm activity in the Bo B. The analysis on sea surface temperature(SST) shows that the SSTs of all the year around in the Bo B area meet the conditions required for the generation of tropical cyclones(TCs). However,the SSTs in the central area of the bay are higher than that of the surrounding areas in spring and autumn, which facilitates the occurrence of a "two-peak"storm activity pattern. The genesis potential index(GPI) quantifies and reflects the environmental conditions for the generation of the Bo B storms. For GPI, the intense low-level vortex disturbance in the troposphere and high-humidity atmosphere are the sufficient conditions for storms, while large maximum wind velocity of the ground vortex radius and small vertical wind shear are the necessary conditions of storms.

The brain activation pattern of the medial temporal lobe during chewing gum: a functional MRI study

The human brain is known to be influenced by environmental stimuli(Feeney et al.,1982;Kaplan,1988).Therefore,research on the brain activation pattern by external stimuli has been an important topic in neuroscience(Kaplan,1988).Chewing gum has been known to have a positive effect on cognition,including alertness,attention,cognitive processing speed,

A geocomputational analysis of Twitter activity around different world cities

The penetration and use of social media services differs from city to city.This paper is aimed to provide a comparison of the use of Twitter between different cities of the world.We present a temporal analysis of activity on Twitter in 15 cities.Our study consists of two parts:First,we created temporal graphs of the activity in the 15 cities,through which hours of high and low activity could be identified.Second,we created heat map visualizations of the Twitter activities during the period of 19 September 2012–25 September 2013.The heat map visualizations make the periods of intense and sparse activity apparent and provide a snapshot of the activity during the whole year.

Free-ranging livestock altered the spatiotemporal behavior of the endangered North Chinese leopard (Panthera pardus japonensis) and its prey and intensified human–leopard conflicts

Widespread distribution of livestock in the natural habitats of large carnivores may negatively impact carnivore populations by reducing wild prey availability and increasing human–carnivore conflicts.In this study,we used camera-trapping data collected in the temperate forests of the Taihang Mountains in North China during 2016–2019 to examine whether and how free-ranging cattle affected habitat use and Diel activity patterns of the endangered North Chinese leopard(Panthera pardus japonensis)and its 2 wild prey species,Siberian roe deer(Capreolus pygargus),and wild boar(Sus scrofa).Residents were also interviewed to record livestock depredation events by leopards during 2015–2019.We found that roe deer spatially avoided sites frequented by cattle,but wild boar did not.In the growing seasons,leopards shared habitats with cattle and tended to increase their diurnal activities where cattle were present.All 3 study species exhibitedfine-scale spatial-temporal segregation to cattle.Leopards selectively preyed on calves over adult cattle and livestock depredation frequency was positively correlated with the detection rates of cattle and wild prey,but not that of leopard.Thesefindings not only show that through behavioral adaption large carnivores and their ungulate prey may persist under livestock disturbance,but also highlight how important proper livestock management is for conserving North Chinese leopards in this region.To enhance livestock management and mitigate human–leopard conflicts,we recommend specific actions,such as better guarding of free-ranging cattle or adoption of a captive farming system.

A high-precision heuristic model to detect home and work locations from smart card data

Smart card-automated fare collection systems now routinely record large volumes of data comprising the origins and destinations of travelers.Processing and analyzing these data open new opportunities in urban modeling and travel behavior research.This study seeks to develop an accurate framework for the study of urban mobility from smart card data by developing a heuristic primary location model to identify the home and work locations.The model uses journey counts as an indicator of usage regularity,visit-frequency to identify activity locations for regular commuters,and stay-time for the classification of work and home locations and activities.London is taken as a case study,and the model results were validated against survey data from the London Travel Demand Survey and volunteer survey.Results demonstrate that the proposed model is able to detect meaningful home and work places with high precision.This study offers a new and cost-effective approach to travel behavior and demand research.

Temporal niche overlap among insectivorous small mammals

Being active in the same environment at different times exposes animals to the effects of very different environmental factors,both biotic and abiotic.In the present study,we used live traps equipped with timing devices to evaluate the potential role of biotic factors(competition and food abundance)on overall overlap in the temporal niche axis of 4 insectivorous small mammals in high-elevation grassland fields(‘campos de altitude’)of southern Brazil.Based on resources availability(invertebrates),data on animal captures were pooled in 2 seasons:‘scarcity’(June 2001−September 2001)and‘abundance’(November 2001-May 2002)seasons.We tested for non-random structure in temporal niche overlap among the species in each season.These species were the rodents Oxymycterus nasutus(Waterhouse,1837),Deltamys sp.,Akodon azarae(Fischer,1829),and the marsupial Monodelphis brevicaudis Olfers,1818.The studied community was mainly diurnal with crepuscular peaks.Simulations using the Pianka index of niche overlap indicated that the empirical assemblage-wide overlap was not significantly different from randomly generated patterns in the abundance season but significantly greater than expected by chance alone in the scarcity season.All the species showed an increase in temporal niche breadth during the abundance season,which appears to be related to longer daylength and high nocturnal temperatures.Patterns on both temporal niche overlap and temporal niche breadth were the opposite to those that we were expecting in the case of diel activity patterns determined by competition for dietary resources.Therefore,we conclude that competition did not seem to be preponderant for determining patterns of temporal niche overlap by the studied community.