Evaluation of habitat selection by mammals in small vegetation patches of different forest physiognomies

Abstract

To evaluate the mammal fauna and the habitat selection by its dominant species in the Kochi University Forest consisting of small vegetation patches of different forest physiognomies, we set camera traps in the forest from 2011 to 2016 and calculated the frequency of the photography of each mammal species. After classifying the vegetation patches into five types from the aerial photographs taken in and around the forest we studied, we conducted a part least square regression analysis (PLSR) to understand the habitat selection, by regarding the aforementioned frequency as a response variable, and the distance from an installed camera to a vegetation type of patch and its area as explanatory variables. As a result, we found at least 13 mammal species in the forest, and dominant species were raccoon dogs, wild boars, and hares. These 3 dominant species were clearly different from each other in habitat selection; raccoon dogs were more frequently photographed in the larger patch area of a deciduous broad-leaved forest and at a closer distance to the patches of clearcutting and grassland, wild boars in the larger patch area of an evergreen broad-leaved forest, and hares in the larger patch area of and at a closer distance to clearcutting and grassland. Our results suggest that a forest, consisting of small vegetation patches of different forest physiognomies, such as broad-leaved forest, clearcutting and grassland, and standing near a conifer plantation, is important in supplying diverse feeding and ecological habitats to various mammal species.