Simple SummaryHumans and domestic dogs may alarm wild animals, and the extent of this can be measured using Flight Initiation Distance (FID). Golden marmots are preyed on by globally-endangered predators such as the snow leopard, and are baited by humans with dogs, potentially causing FID to increase. We measured FID in 72 marmots from four colonies in the Karakoram range, Pakistan. Marmots were approached by a person on foot with a leashed dog, and by a person on their own to compare FID between the two. Additionally, we recorded background signs of human activity, namely roads, and presence of people other than the experimenters. We measured other aspects of the environment that might have affected marmot behavior such as marmot group size and age/sex, how visible each colony was, and colony substrate. The dog caused greater FID than the person alone, and adult marmots nearer to roads showed greater FID. However, marmot age and colony substrate had more marked impacts on FID, which was also greater at lower elevations where there were clusters of human settlements and livestock pasture. Further research should be conducted to explore some of these effects further and to find out whether increased FID affects marmot survival and breeding success.AbstractHumans and dogs initiate measurable escape responses in wild animals including flight initiation distance (FID), with potentially negative consequences. Golden marmots are important prey for endangered carnivores and are subject to human persecution including via marmot baiting with dogs. We quantified FID at four marmot colonies (72 individuals) in the Karakoram range, Pakistan in response to approach by a pedestrian with a leashed dog versus approach by a pedestrian alone (i.e., a control). Additionally, we related FID to background variables of human activity, namely proximity to roads, and presence of other pedestrians in the vicinity of study sites during sampling. We also controlled for potential environmental and social covariates (e.g., group size, age and sex, and colony substrate). Dogs initiated greater FID than pedestrians alone, and there was evidence that roads increased FID. However, these effects were weaker than those of marmot age and colony substrate. FID was greater at lower elevations, but this may reflect the clustering in these zones of human settlements and livestock pasture. Further work is needed elucidate the importance of colony substrate (linked to ease of human persecution), the effect of settlements and pasture, and the impact of increased FID on marmot fitness.

The North China leopard (Panthera pardus japonesis) is a rare leopard subspecies distributed only in China. In this study, we conducted camera-trap surveys of a North China Leopard population in Tie Qiao Shan Nature Reserve, Shanxi Province, China. We estimated population abundance and density distribution, and explored the effects of distribution of different prey populations, habitat, and anthropogenic factors on the spatial distribution of North China leopard density. Our results suggested that the North China leopard density was 4.23 individuals/100 km2, and that 17.98 individuals might live within the study area. The population density of the North China leopard increased with the distribution of wild boars, and, on the contrary, decreased with the distribution of roe deer. We found that habitat environmental factors and anthropogenic interference also significantly affected the population density and spatial distribution of the North China leopard. These insights informed us that in order to protect this predator, which is only distributed in China, we should adopt a comprehensive customized adaptive landscape protection strategy.

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Optimal escape theory predicts that animals would balance the costs and benefits of flight. One cost of not fleeing is the ongoing cost of vigilance for upcoming environmental threats. Our results show that FID increases for vigilant hares with predator starting distance, due to the costs acquired by continuing to scan for ecological dangers. The presence of conspecifics within proximity distance for social hare was reduced FID due to collective vigilance, while a solitary animal had greater FID, due to less cooperative defense for predator detection. In both seasons, detection and flight initiation distance of the focal hare increased in open habitat due to a higher probability of detection for upcoming danger, while dense cover provided concealment but reduced the probability of detecting an incoming threat, reducing FID. Moreover, proximity to roads and the nearest refuge significantly influenced anti-predator risk by compensation energy to cope with approaching stimuli. In a landscape with heavy human hunting in retaliation to plantations damage has modified the natural behavior of the hare in the Shigar valley. The findings are discussed in the context of hare FID by humans and the suggestions for management and mitigation of human-wildlife conflict are also considered.

The nocturnal activities of predators and prey are influenced by several factors, including physiological adaptations, habitat quality and, we suspect, corresponds to changes in brightness of moonlight according to moon phase. In this study, we used a dataset from 102 camera traps to explore which factors are related to the activity pattern of North China leopards ( Panthera pardus japonensis ) in Shanxi Tieqiaoshan Provincial Nature Reserve (TPNR), China. We found that nocturnal activities of leopards were irregular during four different lunar phases, and while not strictly lunar philic or lunar phobic, their temporal activity was highest during the brighter moon phases (especially the last quarter) and lower during the new moon phase. On the contrary, roe deer ( Capreolus pygargus ) exhibited lunar philic activity, while wild boar ( Sus scrofa ) and tolai hare ( Lepus tolai ) were evidently lunar phobic, with high and low temporal activity during the full moon, respectively. In terms of temporal overlap, there was positive overlap between leopards and their prey species, including roe deer and tolai hare, while leopard activity did not dip to the same low level of wild boar during the full moon phase. Human activities also more influenced the temporal activity of leopards and wild boar than other species investigated. Generally, our results suggested that besides moonlight risk index (MRI), cloud cover and season have diverse effects on leopard and prey nocturnal activity. Finally, distinct daytime and nighttime habitats were identified, with leopards, wild boar, and tolai hare all using lower elevations at night and higher elevations during the day, while leopards and roe deer were closer to secondary roads during the day than at night.

Peony seed oil has been known to have a high value for health due to the high content of unsaturated fatty acid. However, few studies have investigated which factors impact the oil quality and composition of seeds in the traditional mining cultivation area. In the present study, the investigation was conducted in 30 cultural field sites. Significantly negative relationships were found between Cu content in soils or leaves and linoleic and unsaturated fatty acids. Further tests revealed that Cu evidently accumulated in leaves. This demonstrated Cu content in soils was the important factor that influenced linoleic acid content and unsaturated fatty acid content. Such proposition must be considered when cultivating groups of plant toward expanding oil production.

The nocturnal activities of predators and prey are influenced by several factors, including physiological adaptations, habitat quality and, we suspect, corresponds to changes in brightness of moonlight according to moon phase. In this study, we used a dataset from 102 camera traps to explore which factors are related with the activity pattern of North China leopards (Panthera pardus japonensis) in Shanxi Tieqiaoshan Provincial Nature Reserve (TPNR), China. We found that nocturnal activities of leopards were irregular during four different lunar phases, and while not strictly lunar philic or lunar phobic, their temporal activity was highest during the brighter moon phases (especially the last quarter) and lower during the new moon phase. On the contrary, roe deer (Capreolus pygargus) exhibited lunar philic activity, while wild boar (Sus scrofa) and Tolai hare (Lepus tolai) were evidently lunar phobic, with high and low temporal activity during the full moon, respectively. In terms of temporal overlap, that there was positive overlap between leopards and their prey species, including roe deer (Capreolus pygargus) and Tolai hare (Lepus tolai), while leopard activity did not dip to the same low level of wild boar during the full moon phase. Generally, our results suggested that besides moonlight risk index (MRI), cloud cover and season have diverse effects on leopard and prey nocturnal activity. Finally, distinct daytime and nighttime habitats were identified, with leopards, wild boar and Tolai hare all using lower elevations at night and higher elevations during the day, while leopards and roe deer were closer to secondary roads during the day than at night.