Activity patterns of domestic dogs and native terrestrial mammals in the Tapacurá Ecological Station, Brazil

Abstract

Domestic dogs are a threat to biodiversity. We evaluated the activity patterns of domestic dogs and terrestrial mammals in a patch of Atlantic forest in northeastern Brazil. We expected native mammals to change their temporal pattern of activity in the presence of domestic dogs. We installed 16 camera traps in 2019 (January-March) and 16 cameras in 2021 (February-April), with a total effort effort of 640 trap days. We classified the activity of the species as diurnal, cathemeral, nocturnal and crepuscular. We found 274 records of 11 mammal species and overlapping activity between domestic dogs and terrestrial mammals. Coatis and agoutis were strictly diurnal in both years, while domestic dogs presented a catemanal activity pattern in 2021. Aguties and domestic dogs presented a uniform pattern, but coatis did not. Although our findings suggest a limited influence of domestic dogs on terrestrial mammals, vaccination or sterilization programs should be implemented to avoid an increase in the negative impact of dogs on native fauna.