Houhe Nature Reserve Badger Species Behavioral Ecology Of The Field Space Is A Preliminary Study

The spatial behaviour is one of the most important subjects in behavioral ecology.From April 2005 to August 2007,the researches on habitat selection,daily activity rhythm,home range of ferret badger(Melogale moschata) were deeply conducted in Houhe Nature Reserve,China.We also investigated sett(den)-site selection by two sympatric species of badger,the Chinese ferret badger and the hog badger(Arctonyx collaris) to predict their competition relationship.This preliminary research on spatial behaviour of two badger species was conducted in order to provide the basis on the next more deeply research.The following was the main subjects in this study:1.I assessed habitat selection by ferret badger(Melogale moschata) inhabiting the mountainous area in central China,using logistic regression and stepwise multiple linear regression.From the logistic regression analysis results,the selected variables differed among all four seasons.In spring,low humus thickness and high soil cover were the variable selected by this species,and low altitude and tall tree height in summer,the number of tree species and total canopy appeared as the variables selected by ferret badger in autumn,and low altitude and high position on hill in winter.However,no highly significant relationship was occurred between these variables and the presences of ferret badger.The PCA analysis suggested that the resource of shelter and food availability was the most important factor influencing habitat selection by ferret badger.The stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that only the positive relationship between the number of herb species and number of individual badger signs/100m~2(P=0.006) in summer was significant.2.The strategy on animal's survival may strongly be reflected by daily movement patterns and activity rhythm.From April 2005 to November 2006,we studies the daily movement and activity rhythm of ferret badger in central China using radio-tracking method.Straight-line distances showed no gender difference,but they exhibited significant differences among seasons,while the total daily movement showed neither gender nor seasonal difference.The greatest travel distance traveled was of 7.31 km,for an adult male - M05 in June 2006.Indeed, we discovered that M06 moved from lowland woods to higher mountain copses, up to elevations in excess of 300 m.Male and female ferret badgers exhibited similar daily activity patterns.Activity started at dusk,just before sunset at around 1800 h,then increased rapidly 45 min later,peaking at 1915 h,then remaining high until 0530 h,then decreased as dawn approached,with sunrise at 0600. Activity reached its lowest level after 0715 h,with＜5%probability of on-going activity,and remained at this level until dusk the same day.Seasonal activity rates were lowest in December(33.1%),gradually increasing from spring to summer and peaking in June(52.6%).However,There were no significant correlations between month and activity rates.3.Home range size and configuration has often been linked to the distribution and availability of suitable denning or nesting sites,might be defined by the spatial distribution of setts.From April 2005 to November 2006 a low-density ferret badger(Melogale moschata) population,in central China,was studied using radio-telemetry to reveal how the dispersion of den(here "sett") sites might influence and under-score the foundations to the socio-spatial behaviour of this species.Twenty-two badgers,fourteen males and eight females,were caught,of which 9 individuals yielded sufficient data with which to calculate home range size reliably.Home ranges averaged 128.3±131.9 ha with no significant difference between the sexes.The MCP100 and MCP95 home ranges showed significant seasonal variation,peaking in the spring.Tracked individuals showed considerable home range overlap.Nightly movement distances showed no gender or seasonal bias.Male and female ferret badgers also exhibited similar daily activity patterns.Five setts(mean number of entrances=6.20,SD=3.77) were located within the total range exploited by the tracked sub-sample.Each badger used 1-3 setts and occupied setts from 1.5 to 6.7 months(mean=2.66 months,SD =1.57).Based on Dirichlet tessellations,it appears that at least seven individuals co-utilised the same activity area,forming a social unit,or group.Moreover, radio-tracking revealed that up to four individuals could be found simultaneously co-inhabiting the same sett at rest.Considering this evidence,we conclude that this species shows evidence of a group-living socio-spatial structure.The scarcity of suitable sett sites in this study area appeared to be a limiting resource for the population,potentially under-scoring the population's observed socio-spatial gregariousness,and delimiting the sizc of individual home ranges.4.Competition for resources can be a determining factor in whether similar species can co-exist.As an example of such intra-guild competition,we investigated sett (den)-site selection by two sympatric species of badger,Chinese ferret badger and hog badger(Arctonyx collaris) in Houhe National Nature Reserve.As members of the same guild we predicted that competition should occur between these species; and that their relationship along various niche dimensions to be affected by their five-fold difference in body size.We test mechanisms facilitating coexistence in terms of sett sites at two spatio-temporal scales:(1) habitat selection;(2) internal den-microhabitat conditions.Logistic regression models revealed that ferret badgers selected sites characterized by dense,species-diverse shrub cover,low elevation and low tree cover.Discriminant function analysis revealed that these primary differences were attributable to slope angle,shrub cover and human activity.Niche overlap value,in terms of sett-site characteristics,was 0.359 (values in excess of 0.6 are often limit viable coexistence).At the microclimatic Scale,both the absolute,and range,of temperature values within setts also differed significantly between M.moschata and A.collaris.Our findings for these little-known,co-existing badger species provide evidences for two mechanisms (trade-off in relative abilities to exploit different habitats and microhabitat) facilitating niche separation,with regard to dens site selection.