The Spatial-temporal Patterns Of Habitat Use Of Sympatric Pheasants In Xianxialing Region Of Zhejiang Province

From December 2018 to September 2019 and from December 2019 to September 2020,we used camera traps to monitor sympatric species of pheasants in Xianxialing area of Zhejiang province.These pheasants included Cabot's Tragopan(Tragopan caboti),Chinese Bamboo Partridge(Bambusicola thoracica),Silver Pheasant(Lophura nycthemera),White-necklaced Partridge(Arborophila gingica)and Koklas Pheasant(Pucrasia macrolopha).We also analyzed the diurnal activity rhythm,spatial selection and relationships and spatio-temporal pattern if habitat use by the kernel density estimation method,the occupation model and generalized linear mixed model.The main results were as follows:1)The total effective camera days were 84876 days.We obtained and 16665 independent effective photos of different species in relation to 19273 individuals of 84 species,35 families,15 orders.Among them,there were 11861 photos of 19 species of mammals,249 photos of 3 species of small rodents,4450 photos of 55 species of birds,100 photos of human and domestic animals(including dogs,cats and cattles),and 5 photos of 3 species of snakes.The five species with the highest relative abundance were Reeve's Muntjac(Muntiacus reevesi),Silver Pheasant,Chinese Ferret-badger(Melogale moschata),Eurasian Wild Pig(Sus scrofa)and Hog-Badger(Arctonyx collaris).The mammal Shannon-Wiener diversity index was 1.0838,and the bird Shannon-Wiener diversity index was 0.8163.The animal Pielou uniformity index was 1.5520,and the bird uniformity index was 0.4530.2)These pheasants were typical diurnal animals with various number of peaks in diurnal activity(Cabot's Tragopan: 6:00-8:00,10:00-11:00 and 16:00-17:00;Chinese Bamboo Partridge: 5:00-6:00;Silver Pheasant: 6:00-8:00 and 16:00-18:00;White-necklaced Partridge: 7:00-9:00 and 15:00-18:00;Koklas Pheasant: 6:00-10:00),implying staggered shifts in the activity pattern.There was obvious differentiation of diurnal activity rhythm between Koklas Pheasant and White-necklaced Partridge,Chinese Bamboo Partridge or Cabot's Tragopan,and between Chinese Bamboo Partridge and Silver Pheasant.The higher degree with no significant differentiation of activity rhythm overlaps existed between White-necklaced Partridge and Chinese Bamboo Partridge or Cabot's Tragopan,between Silver Pheasant and Koklas Pheasant,White-necklaced Partridge or Cabot's Tragopan,and between Chinese Bamboo Partridge and Cabot's Tragopan.3)Silver Pheasant preferred evergreen broad-leaved forest and evergreen and deciduous broadleaved mixed forest on ubac and semi-ubac with high altitudes and low slopes.Cabot's Tragopan preferred evergreen broad-leaved forest and evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved mixed forest on adret and semi-adret with high altitudes.Chinese Bamboo Partridge had higher activity intensity in the altitude of 300-1500 m in addition to 1300-1400 m,and showed no obvious preference to slope,slope aspect and vegetation type.Koklas Pheasant preferred adret and semi-adret area with high altitude and flatter slope.And in the breeding season,both Silver Pheasant and Chinese Bamboo Partridge could coexist with Cabot's Tragopan spatially.Silver Pheasant and Koklas Pheasant were spatially independent.Both Cabot's Tragopan and Chinese Bamboo Partridge avoided Koklas Pheasant in space,while Silver Pheasant and Chinese Bamboo Partridge also avoided mutually.4)During different time periods,the AIIs of the five species differed significantly in relation to elevations,slopes,aspects or vegetation types.Among them,there were obvious spatial-temporal niche differentiation between Silver Pheasant and Chinese Bamboo Partridge,and between Koklas Pheasant and Chinese Bamboo Partridge,Cabot's Tragopan or White-necklaced Partridge.The lower spatialtemporal niche overlap existed between Cabot's Tragopan and Silver Pheasant or Chinese Bamboo Partridge.The higher degree of spatial-temporal niche overlap and the stronger interspecific competition existed between White-necklaced Partridge and Cabot's Tragopan,Chinese Bamboo Partridge or Silver Pheasant,and between Silver Pheasant and Koklas Pheasant.