Gait patterns in snow-a possible criterion to differentiate sika deer and Japanese serow tracks
Gait patterns in snow-a possible criterion to differentiate sika deer and Japanese serow tracks
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DOI：
10.3106/ms2022-0024
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发表时间：
2023-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
1
通讯作者：
Enari, Haruka S.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Enari, Hiroto;Akamatsu, Moeri;Enari, Haruka S.
迫切需要开发用户友好和敏感的技术来监测西卡鹿（Cervus nippon）种群在雪域，鹿入侵的初始阶段已被观察到。在雪中，我们可以很容易地探测到陆地哺乳动物的足迹，这通常是一个有用的种群规模指标。在这里，我们研究了识别的可能性，留下了两个同域的有蹄类动物，西卡鹿和日本serow（摩羯）相似的蹄印的轨道，使用步态模式。然后，我们记录了自由放养的鹿和serows在雪地上的轨迹，遵循类似于东北地区200公里的调查路线。我们成功地记录了27只鹿和34只薮猫的步态模式。主要研究结果如下：1）鹿足迹的步宽（平均值和SE，20.3 +/- 0.7 cm）明显窄于serow足迹（26.9 ± 0.8cm）：2）步宽对个体大小和地面条件的敏感性较低; 22.5cm的步宽是两个物种保持合理分类精度（> 80%）的最佳阈值。因此，步态模式作为一个可能的标准，用于识别这两个有蹄类动物的轨道。
There is a compelling need to develop user-friendly and sensitive techniques to monitor sika deer (Cervus nippon) populations in snowy regions, where initial stages of deer invasion have been observed. In snow, we can easily detect footsteps of terrestrial mammals, which often serve as a useful index of population size. Here, we examined the possibility of identifying tracks with similar hoof prints left by two sympatric ungulates, sika deer and Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus), using gait patterns. We then recorded tracks of free-ranging deer and serows on the snow by following similar to 200-km survey routes in the Tohoku region. We successfully recorded the gait patterns of 27 deer and 34 serows. Our key findings were as follows: 1) the step width of deer tracks (mean and SE, 20.3 +/- 0.7 cm) was substantially narrower than that of serow tracks (26.9 +/- 0.8 cm); 2) step width was less sensitive to body size and ground conditions for both species; and 3) the step width of 22.5 cm became an optimal threshold to maintain a reasonable classification accuracy (> 80%) for both species. Thus, the gait patterns serve as a possible criterion for identifying the tracks of these two ungulates.