BackgroundBehavior and activity patterns largely determine animal’s fitness and their ecological roles. Those patterns depend on many factors, being body mass, sex and age the most relevant in mammals. Particularly, those factors altogether with environmental conditions could influence movement behavior of mammals that hibernate, such as the Monito del monte (Dromiciops gliroides).MethodsTo evaluate its movement behavior and activity we radio-tracked D. gliroides 12 individuals (8 females and 4 males, corresponding to 5 adults and 7 sub-adults) during the austral summer. With the estimated locations we estimated home ranges, core areas and their relationship with body mass. We also assessed movement speed during early (19:00 to 01:00 h), peak (01:00 to 03:00 h) and late (03:00 to 07:00 h) activity periods. This study was conducted at the San Martín experimental forest (Valdivia, southern Chile).ResultsEstimated home range areas were 1.04 ± 0.20 ha, and core areas were 0.27 ± 0.06 ha; we found no significant differences between males and females, nor between adults and sub-adults. Home range and core areas were independent of body mass in females but showed positive relationships in males. Core area overlap was larger between sub-adult and adult individuals (35%) than between adult males and females (13%). Average movement D. gliroides speed was 1.45 m/min, reaching its lowest value during the peak activity period (01:00 to 03:00 h), but being faster during early and late activity periods. Those speed differences may be related to travelling and foraging activities.ConclusionHome range and core areas estimated here showed a large variability, which can be related to environmental factors. Home range size was positively correlated with body mass on males but not on females. Also, lower movement speeds at the peak activity period suggest that D. gliroides concentrates feeding activities at this time. As D. gliroides disperses the seeds of at least 16 native plant species, its movement behavior also has important consequences at the community level.

中文翻译：

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Monito del monte（Dromiciops gliroides）的运动行为：对独特有袋动物生态的新见解

背景行为和活动模式在很大程度上决定了动物的适应性及其生态作用。这些模式取决于许多因素，体重、性别和年龄与哺乳动物最相关。特别是，那些与环境条件相关的因素可能会影响冬眠哺乳动物的运动行为，例如 Monito del monte (Dromiciops gliroides)。方法为了评估其运动行为和活动，我们对 D. gliroides 12 个体（8 只雌性和 4 只雄性）进行了无线电跟踪，对应于 5 个成人和 7 个亚成人）在南方夏季。根据估计的位置，我们估计了家庭范围、核心区域及其与体重的关系。我们还评估了早期（19:00 至 01:00 h）、高峰（01:00 至 03:00 h）和晚期（03:00 至 07:00 h）活动期间的移动速度。本研究在圣马丁试验林（智利南部瓦尔迪维亚）进行。结果估计的栖息地面积为 1.04 ± 0.20 公顷，核心区为 0.27 ± 0.06 公顷；我们发现男性和女性之间、成人和亚成人之间没有显着差异。家庭范围和核心区域与女性的体重无关，但在男性中显示出积极的关系。亚成年个体和成年个体之间的核心区域重叠 (35%) 大于成年男性和女性之间 (13%)。D. gliroides 的平均运动速度为 1.45 m/min，在活动高峰期（01:00 至 03:00 h）达到最低值，但在活动早期和晚期更快。这些速度差异可能与旅行和觅食活动有关。结论这里估计的家园范围和核心区域表现出很大的可变性，这可能与环境因素有关。家庭范围的大小与雄性的体重呈正相关，但与雌性无关。此外，活动高峰期较低的运动速度表明 D. gliroides 在这个时候集中了摄食活动。由于 D. gliroides 传播至少 16 种本地植物物种的种子，其运动行为在群落层面也有重要影响。