Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Uso do espaço é um padrão bem estudado em ecologia. Entretanto, formação de área de vida e posição relativa dos abrigos com área de uso são pouco estudados, principalmente para marsupiais didelfídeos. Dentre estes animais, podemos destacar Caluromys philander, devido ao seu baixo registro em armadilhas na Mata Atlântica e características peculiares dentro do grupo, como seu desenvolvimento, longevidade e hábito alimentar. Neste estudo foram investigadas as formações das áreas de uso destes animais através da comparação com seus movimentos diários, e a posição dos seus abrigos dentro das suas áreas de uso. Para isso foram monitorados seis indivíduos de C. philander através de colares rádio transmissores. Estes indivíduos se deslocaram em média 534 153 m por noite. Além disso, apresentaram área diária de 9548 3591 m e área de vida de 2,8 0,4 ha. Noventa e sete por cento das áreas diárias apresentaram sobreposição entre si, com média de 19,4% de sobreposição. Não houve diferença nos locais dos abrigos dos indivíduos monitorados, dentro dos seus Mínimos Polígonos Convexos. Entretanto, estes mesmos abrigos não estiveram localizados nas áreas de maior intensidade de uso. A média de abrigos utilizados por indivíduo foi de 6,3 (3-10) com utilização média de 2,9 (1-17) vezes em cada abrigo, sendo que 48% das vezes os animais só possuíram um registro em cada abrigo, demonstrando baixa fidelidade. Entretanto, dois indivíduos apresentaram diferença de utilização entre seus abrigos, com três destes sendo mais utilizados que os outros. O trabalho sugere que os indivíduos de C. philander monitorados apresentam área de vida propriamente dita (restrita), onde ocorrem as sobreposições entre suas áreas diárias. C. philander utilizam mais de um abrigo em suas vidas, trocando com frequência de abrigos, apesar de alguns destes abrigos poderem ser mais utilizados que outros. Além disso, os abrigos destes animais não são localizados nas suas áreas de maior intensidade de uso. / Use of space is a well studied topic in ecology. However, the structuring of the home range and shelters position, have not received enough attention, especially for didelphid marsupials. One of these, Caluromys philander, is an interesting species because of its low record in traps studies in the Atlantic Forest and its unique characteristics among marsupials related to development, longevity and feeding habits. The present study analyses how daily movements can contribute to the home range formation and how the shelters are positioned within the home range of these animals. Six individuals of C. philander were equipped with radio transmitters necklaces and followed during the night. These individuals moved 534 153 m in average per night. They also had daily ranges of 9548 3591 m and home ranges of 2.8 0.4 ha. There was a 97% overlap between days, with an average of 19.4%. There was no difference in shelters positions and Minimum Convex Polygon areas, although these same shelters were not located in the areas with the greatest use intensity. The average number of shelters used per individual was 6.3 (3-10), with an average of 2.9 (1-17) records per shelter, where shelters were used only one time in 47% of the cases, suggesting low shelter fidelity of these animals. However, two individuals showed difference of shelters use, with three of those being used more than the others. Therefore, I conclude that these individuals of C. philander have real home ranges, where they concentrate their daily movements. C. philander uses more than one shelter in its life, changing shelters frequently, although some shelters can be more used than others. Forthermore, shelters were not located in the areas with the greatest use intensity.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of St Andrews, May 2007.

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Uso do espaço é um padrão bem estudado em ecologia. Entretanto, formação de área de vida e posição relativa dos abrigos com área de uso são pouco estudados, principalmente para marsupiais didelfídeos. Dentre estes animais, podemos destacar Caluromys philander, devido ao seu baixo registro em armadilhas na Mata Atlântica e características peculiares dentro do grupo, como seu desenvolvimento, longevidade e hábito alimentar. Neste estudo foram investigadas as formações das áreas de uso destes animais através da comparação com seus movimentos diários, e a posição dos seus abrigos dentro das suas áreas de uso. Para isso foram monitorados seis indivíduos de C. philander através de colares rádio transmissores. Estes indivíduos se deslocaram em média 534 153 m por noite. Além disso, apresentaram área diária de 9548 3591 m e área de vida de 2,8 0,4 ha. Noventa e sete por cento das áreas diárias apresentaram sobreposição entre si, com média de 19,4% de sobreposição. Não houve diferença nos locais dos abrigos dos indivíduos monitorados, dentro dos seus Mínimos Polígonos Convexos. Entretanto, estes mesmos abrigos não estiveram localizados nas áreas de maior intensidade de uso. A média de abrigos utilizados por indivíduo foi de 6,3 (3-10) com utilização média de 2,9 (1-17) vezes em cada abrigo, sendo que 48% das vezes os animais só possuíram um registro em cada abrigo, demonstrando baixa fidelidade. Entretanto, dois indivíduos apresentaram diferença de utilização entre seus abrigos, com três destes sendo mais utilizados que os outros. O trabalho sugere que os indivíduos de C. philander monitorados apresentam área de vida propriamente dita (restrita), onde ocorrem as sobreposições entre suas áreas diárias. C. philander utilizam mais de um abrigo em suas vidas, trocando com frequência de abrigos, apesar de alguns destes abrigos poderem ser mais utilizados que outros. Além disso, os abrigos destes animais não são localizados nas suas áreas de maior intensidade de uso. / Use of space is a well studied topic in ecology. However, the structuring of the home range and shelters position, have not received enough attention, especially for didelphid marsupials. One of these, Caluromys philander, is an interesting species because of its low record in traps studies in the Atlantic Forest and its unique characteristics among marsupials related to development, longevity and feeding habits. The present study analyses how daily movements can contribute to the home range formation and how the shelters are positioned within the home range of these animals. Six individuals of C. philander were equipped with radio transmitters necklaces and followed during the night. These individuals moved 534 153 m in average per night. They also had daily ranges of 9548 3591 m and home ranges of 2.8 0.4 ha. There was a 97% overlap between days, with an average of 19.4%. There was no difference in shelters positions and Minimum Convex Polygon areas, although these same shelters were not located in the areas with the greatest use intensity. The average number of shelters used per individual was 6.3 (3-10), with an average of 2.9 (1-17) records per shelter, where shelters were used only one time in 47% of the cases, suggesting low shelter fidelity of these animals. However, two individuals showed difference of shelters use, with three of those being used more than the others. Therefore, I conclude that these individuals of C. philander have real home ranges, where they concentrate their daily movements. C. philander uses more than one shelter in its life, changing shelters frequently, although some shelters can be more used than others. Forthermore, shelters were not located in the areas with the greatest use intensity.

Yaks sind sehr gut an die Umweltbedingungen des kirgisischen Hochgebirges angepasst und sind seit Jahrhunderten ein Bestandteil dieses Ökosystems. Politische und wirtschaftliche Veränderungen haben in den letzten 60 Jahren dazu geführt, dass die Yakbestände in Kirgistan zurückgegangen sind. Seit einigen Jahren gibt es Bestrebungen diese wiederaufzubauen. Dabei müssen die ökologischen Ansprüche der alpinen Landschaft berücksichtigt werden. Das Ziel der Arbeit bestand darin, in einem engen zeitlichen Raster, das Verhalten der Yaks im Herdenverband zu analysieren, die Lebendmasseentwicklung von Yakfärsen im Zusammenhang mit dem saisonalen Einfluss zu untersuchen und den Weideertrag zu schätzen. Dazu wurden im Osten Kirgistans Verhaltensuntersuchungen an 12 Yakkühen durchgeführt sowie die Lebendmasseentwicklung von 20 Yakfärsen analysiert. Für die Analyse der Vegetation wurden 10 Plots genutzt. Das Habitatsverhalten der Yaks ist von verschiedenen Faktoren abhängig, die vor allem im Zusammenhang mit dem großen Weidegebiet stehen: die Variation im Futterangebot, die geografischen Gegebenheiten sowie die Witterungsverhältnisse. Die Untersuchungen zeigten, dass das Verhalten der Yaks stark durch die Jahreszeiten beeinflusst wird. Das bezieht sich auf die Nutzung von Flächen und Höhenlagen sowie auf das Bewegungsverhalten. Es zeigte sich, dass bestimmte Weideareale permanent stärker frequentiert werden. Die Lokomotion der Yaks ist im Winter stärker ausgeprägt als im Sommer. Die Vegetationsanalyse weist darauf hin, dass Ertrag und Futterwert der Weidepflanzen, eindeutig durch die Höhenlage beeinflusst werden. Die Untersuchungen zur Lebendmasseentwicklung zeigten den gravierenden Einfluss der Jahreszeiten und damit des Futterangebotes auf die Lebendmasseentwicklung der Yakfärsen. Ein detailliertes Wissen über das Verhalten von Yaks kann dazu beitragen, die Bewirtschaftung von Hochgebirgsweideflächen zu verbessern und vorhandene Ressourcen schonend und nachhaltig zu nutzen. / Yaks are very well adapted to the environmental conditions of the Kyrgyz high mountains and have been part of this ecosystem for centuries. Political and economic changes over the past 60 years have led to a decline in yak stocks in Kyrgyzstan. For some years, there have been efforts to rebuild them, to this end the ecological demands of the alpine landscape must be taken into account. Within this context, the objectives of the PhD – thesis were to analyse the behaviour of the yaks in the herd, to investigate the development of the body weight of yak heifers in connection with the seasonal influence and to estimate the grazing yield in a tight time grid. In the eastern part of Kyrgyzstan, 12 yak cows were selected for the behavioural studies and 20 yaks heifers for the development of the body weight. For the analysis of the vegetation, 10 plots were used. The habitat behaviour of the yaks depends on various factors, which are mainly related to the large grazing area: the variation in the forage supply, the different geographical conditions as well as the weather conditions. The investigations showed that the behaviour of the animals is strongly influenced by the seasons, specifically regarding use of areas and altitudes; as well as to exercise behaviour. It was found that certain pastures are permanently more frequented than others. The locomotion of the yaks is more pronounced in winter than in summer. The research on the development of the body weight showed the serious influence of the seasons and thus of the food supply on the development of the yak heifers. Results showed that body growth takes place despite the losses in winter. The vegetation analysis indicates that the yield and feed value of the pasture plants are clearly influenced by the altitude. A detailed knowledge of the behaviour of yaks can help to improve the management of high mountain pastures and thus to use the available resources sparingly and sustainably.

No description available.

Amphibian populations are declining on a global scale and although disease outbreaks are a commonly accepted hypothesis they are not the only one. My aims for my thesis were to study the home range of Leiopelma hamiltoni, to determine whether a photographic database could be used to individual identified them and monitor the health status of the population. Habitat loss is a possible cause. For this reason monitoring an animals' home range is a possible method to detect early impacts the population is facing. By tracking 12 L. hamiltoni within a 12 m x 6 m grid on Maud Island, it was shown that the home range size can vary from 0.5 m2 to 25 m2 based on the minimum convex polygon method. However, to track multiple individuals it is important to be able to distinguish among frogs. The commonly used methods of identification, such as toe clipping, pose potentially detrimental effects. Therefore, non-invasive methods based on natural markings need to be established. Through the use of the dark pigmented patterns found on the skin of L. hamiltoni individuals can be identified on recapture with a mean accuracy of 93%. By developing a database to maintain the photographs used for individual identification, the database can also be used to monitor the status of the population. During 2003 numerous L. hamiltoni were observed with denuded patches predominantly on the facial region. By monitoring five individuals within the captive facility at the University of Canterbury it was discovered that frogs appear to be able to cure themselves. Through researching the home range requirements and developing a photographic database to monitor the population status of L. hamiltoni, it will aid in the management of ensuring the long-term survival of this archaic species of frog.

Tests of optimal foraging theory have shown that many predators are selective about which prey and which patches should be utilized. I hypothesize that prey species "exploit" this choosiness by evolving characteristics that cause predators to choose alternate prey. Specifically, prey should evolve traits that increase the probability of predator death, decrease the per prey or per patch nutritional intake, increase processing time, and advertise (or mimic advertisements of) undesirable traits. Predator choosiness allows prey to divert the predator instead of defeating it. The evolution of a long-term, prudent foraging strategy requires that three conditions be met: (1) The forager must use resources from a discrete subpopulation; (2) use of that subpopulation must be relatively exclusive; (3) the resource population must respond in such a way that a long-term strategy provides an economic advantage. For the horned lizard-ant system, conditions (1) and (2) were tested by tagging lizards with transmitters or radioactive tags. Horned lizards occupy home ranges much smaller than would be expected if they moved at random and home range overlap was less than expected by random placement of home ranges, thus conditions (1) and (2) were not rejected. Most techniques of home range study do not distinguish random from nonrandom movement. Condition (3) was tested by subjecting ant colonies to various levels of artificial predation. In none of five experiments was the result obtained that an increased harvest intensity led to a decrease in long-term yield; condition (3) is tentatively rejected. Ant colonies shut down in response to predation; this puts a ceiling on their losses. Short-term foraging models were tested for horned lizards foraging at ant colonies. A prediction of the marginal value theorem was not rejected: Horned lizards tended to leave colonies when their instantaneous rate of harvest at that colony had fallen to their average rate of harvest for the day. Another short-term prediction, however, was rejected: Lizards did not stay longer at the "better" of two colonies. A more liberal version of the same prediction was not rejected. Apparently, horned lizards forage adaptively but not optimally.

This dissertation deals with monitoring of European brown bears behavior (Ursus arctos arctos), namely of males Pišta, Miky and Honzík and of female Eliška in zoological garden in Plzen in spring 2012. Behaviour of all European brown bears is for better clarity presented in the form of tables and graphs. The dissertation includes overview of all kinds of ursine (size, environment, food and reproduction). Key words: bear, hibernation, bears activity

In the pre-lacation, lactation and post-lactation periods in 2010 and 2011 and the pre-lactation period in 2012 we used radio-telemetry to determine changes in home range and habitat activity and preference of the maternity colony of the Mediterranean horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus euryale) in Slovak Karst. The colony roosted in the attic of the monastery in Jasov. This area represents the northern margin of the species distribution range. In total, we tagged 35 females that were radio-tracked for 31 nights. For the all pre- lactation periods 17 females were marked, in the lactation periods 12 females were marked, and 6 females were marked in the post-lactation periods. The females were marked with radiotags and the VHF telemetry (radio telemetry using very high frequencies) was used. We compared the spatial and habitat preferences in the above defined seasons of the annual reproductive cycle. The total number of recorded locations was 858 for all reported periods. We compared the varios aspects of activity of the females during the night in the particular periods. We have shown that the females left their roost in the pre-lactation periods as the most late. These were followed by the females in the lactation periods and as the most early after the sunsetthe roost was left by the females in the...

Informações sobre o uso do espaço são importantes para o entendimento de processos ecológicos que envolvem uma espécie e a determinação de seu estado de conservação. Tais informações são escassas para o gênero Mazama, o mais diverso entre os cervídeos neotropicais, sendo que desenvolver metodologias para obtenção de dados ecológicos do gênero torna-se fundamental para qualquer ação de manejo envolvendo o grupo. O estudo do DNA fecal surge como uma ferramenta importante para viabilizar a coleta sistemática de informações sobre o gênero. Assim, o presente trabalho visou a estimar a área de vida e a seleção de hábitat do veado-catingueiro, comparando duas metodologias, com intuito de avaliar a aplicação do DNA fecal como alternativa para se estudar a espécie. O trabalho contou com 6 animais que tiveram suas localizações obtidas a cada 13 horas por colares GPS, no período de um ano. Nesse mesmo período e na mesma área, foram coletadas mensalmente amostras fecais, gerando um total de 830 amostras, cujo DNA foi extraído para identificação genética. A espécie das amostras foi determinada com o uso de um marcador mitocondrial (cit-b), e a identificação individual, com um painel de 11 microssatélites. Os valores de área de vida pelo método do MPC 95% variaram de 33 ha a 97 ha, e pelo método Kernel com 95% das localizações, variaram de 17 ha a 77 ha. Observou-se que as áreas de vida são alocadas nos diferentes habitats da região conforme o disponível (p = 0,072), porém são utilizadas internamente de forma selecionada (p=0,001). Neste nível, a espécie apresentou preferência pelos hábitats de cerrado e campo cerrado e evitou o campo (p < 0,005). Foram identificadas 670 amostras de veado-catingueiro e 15 genótipos únicos. A análise espacial das fezes também sugeriu uso desproporcional dos hábitats em relação à sua disponibilidade, sendo que a comparação direta entre os dois métodos revelou iguais distribuições no nível de espécie (p=0,178). As amostras individualizadas sugeriram um padrão de alta sobreposição de área de uso por diferentes indivíduos, mas avanços são necessários para melhor elucidar a questão. Perante os resultados observados, entende-se que há muito em se avançar na análise molecular das fezes que, realizada em larga escala, pode fornecer respostas importantes anteriormente inviáveis para espécies florestais. / Space use information is a key element to understand the ecological processes regarding a species and its conservation status. Such information is scarce for the genus Mazama, the most diverse group among Neotropical deer. The development of methods to obtain ecological data is fundamental to management actions concerning the group. The study of fecal DNA emerges as an important tool to enable systematic information collection about Mazama genus. Therefore, the present study aimed to estimate the home range and habitat selection of brown brocket deer comparing two methodologies in order to assess the application of fecal DNA as an alternative to study this species. Six animals were monitored with GPS collars and their location data was collected every 13 hours within one year time. Fecal samples were collected monthly in the same period and in the same area, generating a total of 830 samples whose DNA was extracted for genetic identification. The species identification was determined by a mitochondrial marker (cit-b) and individuals were identified applying a panel of 11 microsatellites. Home range was 33-97 h by MPC 95% and 17-77 h by Kernel 95%. Home rages are allocated in different habitats as available in the region (p = 0.072), but its use is internally selected (p = 0.001). At this level, the species showed preference for \"cerrado\" and \"campo cerrado\" habitats and avoidance to open field areas (p < 0.005). Genetics analysis identified 670 brown brocket deer samples and 15 unique genotypes. Feces spatial analysis suggested disproportionate use of habitats in relation to their availability in the field and the direct comparison between the two methods revealed equal distributions at the species level (p = 0.178). The genotyped samples suggested an overlapping home range pattern for different individuals, but advances are needed to further elucidate the issue. There is need for improvements in feces molecular analysis and, if held on large scale, it can provide important and previously unviable answers for forest species.