The moon’s influence on the activity of tropical forest mammals
Changes in lunar illumination alter the balance of risks and opportunities for animals, influencing activity patterns and species interactions. We examined if and how terrestrial mammals respond to the lunar cycle in some of the darkest places: the floors of tropical forests. We analysed long-term camera trapping data on 86 mammal species from 17 protected forests on three continents. Conservative categorization of activity during the night revealed pronounced avoidance of moonlight (lunar phobia) in 12 species, compared with pronounced attraction to moonlight (lunar philia) in only three species. However, half of all species in our study responded to lunar phases, either changing how nocturnal they were, altering their overall level of activity, or both. Avoidance of full moon was more common, exhibited by 30% of all species compared with 20% of species that exhibited attraction. Nocturnal species, especially rodents, were over-represented among species that avoided full moon. Artiodactyla were more prominent among species attracted to full moon. Our findings indicate that lunar phases influence animal behaviour even beneath the forest canopy. Such impacts may be exacerbated in degraded and fragmented forests. Our study offers a baseline representing relatively intact and well-protected contexts together with an intuitive approach for detecting activity shifts in response to environmental change.
Authors
- Steig E. Johnson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2257-8949)
- Marcela Guimarães Moreira Lima (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2203-7598)
- Santiago Espinosa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7416-7167)
- Jorge Ahumada (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0953-9101)
- Robert Bitariho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3461-0013)
- Simon D. Schowanek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6036-7507)
- Andrea F. Vallejo‐Vargas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5959-3352)
- Badru Mugerwa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2633-176X)
- Lydia Beaudrot (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8135-7519)
- Richard Bischof (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1267-9183)
- Francesco Rovero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6688-1494)
- Moses N. Sainge
- Asunción Semper‐Pascual (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7376-9214)
- Julia Salvador (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8050-8765)
- Eustrate Uzabaho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7563-6455)
- Daniel Turek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1453-1908)
- Patrick A. Jansen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4660-0314)
- Douglas Sheil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1166-6591)
- Fernanda Santos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1886-446X)
Institutions
- International Gorilla Conservation Programme (RW)
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (PA)
- Conservation International (US)
- Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (BR)
- Mbarara University of Science and Technology (UG)
- University of Calgary (CA)
- Lafayette College (US)
- Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí (MX)
- Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (EC)
- Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre (SL)
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (DE)
- University of Florence (IT)
- Technische Universität Berlin (DE)
- Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NO)
- Arizona State University (US)
- Universidade Federal do Pará (BR)
- Rice University (US)
- Michigan State University (US)
- Wageningen University & Research (NL)
- Center for International Forestry Research (ID)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
- Published
- 2024-10-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.0683
- Citations
- 12
- Primary Topic
- Animal and Plant Science Education
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.72
Funders
- Norges Forskningsråd