浙江天目山国家级自然保护区三种鹿科动物舔盐行为比较

To study the salt-licking behavior of South China sika deer (Cervus nippon kopschi), black muntjac (Muntiacus crinifrons) and Chinese muntjac(M. reevesi), twelve artificial salt fields were set up in the Tianmushan National Nature Reserve in Zhejiang Province, China.Two cameras were set up in each site to monitor the visits of deers from April 2018 to March 2019.The frequency and duration of each visits were recorded to reveal the daily salt-licking rhythm and seasonal pattern of different species, and the allometricl model was employed to test the gender differences of visitors.The results show that:(1) all the three species use artificial salt fields, but Chinese muntjac and South China sika deer have relatively high frequency of visiting;(2) The South China sika deer and black muntjac prefer to use salt fields at high and low altitude, respectively, however Chinese muntjac have no preference for altitude;(3) Chinese muntjac is a typical morning-dusk animal to visit salt fields, and South China sika deer and black muntjac mainly at dusk and night;(4) most identifiable visitors are single sex, and no more than two species appear in a same record;(5) the three species have different salt-licking patterns:South China sika deer has relatively low frequency but large quantity, black muntjac with low frequency and small quantity, and Chinese muntjac with high frequency and large quantity.Accordingly, We suggest that the wildlife management departments could set up more artificial salt fields in spring and summer, and appropriately reduce the salt bricks in autumn and winter.

Comparative on the salt-licking behavior of three species of deer in the Tianmushan National Nature Reserve

To study the salt-licking behavior of South China sika deer (Cervus nippon kopschi), black muntjac (Muntiacus crinifrons) and Chinese muntjac(M. reevesi), twelve artificial salt fields were set up in the Tianmushan National Nature Reserve in Zhejiang Province, China.Two cameras were set up in each site to monitor the visits of deers from April 2018 to March 2019.The frequency and duration of each visits were recorded to reveal the daily salt-licking rhythm and seasonal pattern of different species, and the allometricl model was employed to test the gender differences of visitors.The results show that:(1) all the three species use artificial salt fields, but Chinese muntjac and South China sika deer have relatively high frequency of visiting;(2) The South China sika deer and black muntjac prefer to use salt fields at high and low altitude, respectively, however Chinese muntjac have no preference for altitude;(3) Chinese muntjac is a typical morning-dusk animal to visit salt fields, and South China sika deer and black muntjac mainly at dusk and night;(4) most identifiable visitors are single sex, and no more than two species appear in a same record;(5) the three species have different salt-licking patterns:South China sika deer has relatively low frequency but large quantity, black muntjac with low frequency and small quantity, and Chinese muntjac with high frequency and large quantity.Accordingly, We suggest that the wildlife management departments could set up more artificial salt fields in spring and summer, and appropriately reduce the salt bricks in autumn and winter.