Keywords
Urban Ecology
Activity patterns
Camera trapping
Quito
Seasonality
Introduced predators
Ecuador
Temporal overlap
How to Cite
Abstract
The urban ravines in Quito, Ecuador, harbor the last remnant vegetation of the city but face increasing pressure from urbanization and introduced predators. We analyzed the daily activity patterns of the Andean cottontail (Sylvilagus andinus) in a ravine of the Chiche River (Puembo, Quito) using camera-traps at night between February and September 2025, and after 304 trapping nights, a total of 176 rabbit records were obtained. Cottontails were mainly nocturnal, with peak activity between 2:00 and 3:00am, and showed a significant seasonal shift, with activity concentrated in the early evening (6:30-7:30pm) during the rainy season and extending later during the night (2:00-4:00am) in the dry season. Temporal overlap with introduced predators such as dogs and cats was moderate but our data is most likely not representative, as it is based on few events (n=5). Our findings suggest that S. andinus varies from its main temporal activity, responding to seasonal and possibly anthropogenic factors in these urban ravines. This study establishes a baseline for future research on native mammals living in urbanization processes in Andean cities such as Quito.
References
Brachhi, P., Torrijo, F. J., Boix, A., Cruz Cabrera, M., & Giordanelli, D. (2020). Urban and hydrogeological alert on the morphoclimatic risk affecting Quito's World Heritage. International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences (Online), 44, 825-832. https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIV-M-1-2020-825-2020
Salgado, M. D. Z., Miniguano, A. M. C., & Padilla, M. J. U. (2022). Rescue of Historical Natural Elements: Urban Design for the Recovery of “El Censo” Ravine in Quito, Ecuador. In International Conference on Urban Planning and Architectural Design for Sustainable Development (pp. 261-270). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
Quintana, C., Girardello, M., Barfod, A. S., Balslev, H. 2017. Diversity patterns, environmental drivers and changes in vegetation composition in dry inter-Andean valleys, Journal of Plant Ecology, Volume 10, Issue 3, 1 June 2017, Pages 461–475, https://academic.oup.com/jpe/article/10/3/461/2624148
Municipio del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito. (2022). Ordenanza Metropolitana No. 043-2022. Registro Oficial del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito, Quito, Ecuador.
Díaz, E. A., Sáenz, C., Vega, Y., Rubio, E., González, G., Zug, R., & Zapata-Ríos, G. (2023). Dog and cat-related attacks on wildlife in the Metropolitan District of Quito, Ecuador: an integrative approach to reduce the impact. Ecosystems and People, 19(1), 2191735. https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2023.2191735
Ramirez-Villegas, J., Cuesta, F., Devenish, C., Peralvo, M., Jarvis, A., & Arnillas, C. A. (2014). Using species distributions models for designing conservation strategies of Tropical Andean biodiversity under climate change. Journal for Nature Conservation, 22(5), 391–404.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2014.03.007
Lewis, J. S., Spaulding, S., Swanson, H., Keeley, W., Gramza, A. R., VandeWoude, S., & Crooks, K. R. (2021). Human activity influences wildlife populations and activity patterns: implications for spatial and temporal refuges. Ecosphere, 12(5), e03487. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3487
Ikeda, T., Higashide, D., & Shichijo, T. (2022). Impact of human disturbance in Japan on the distribution and diel activity pattern of terrestrial mammals. Journal for Nature Conservation, 70, 126293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2022.126293
Gaynor, K. M., Hojnowski, C. E., Carter, N. H., & Brashares, J. S. (2018). The influence of human disturbance on wildlife nocturnality. Science, 360(6394), 1232-1235. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aar7121
Schooler, S. L., & Belant, J. L. (2025). Human Pressures Drive Global Mammalian Species Richness Loss and Community Change. Diversity and Distributions, 31(8), e70076. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.70076
Zapata-Ríos, G., & Branch, L. C. (2016). Altered activity patterns and reduced abundance of native mammals in sites with feral dogs in the high Andes. Biological Conservation, 193, 9-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2015.10.016
Diaz, S., & Pacheco, V. (2022). Confirmation of the occurrence of Andean cottontail, Sylvilagus andinus (Thomas, 1897)(Leporidae, Lagomorpha). Peru. Check List, 18(4), 867-873. https://doi.org/10.15560/18.4.867
Ruedas, L. A., Silva, S. M., French, J. H., Platt, R. N., Salazar-Bravo, J., Mora, J. M., & Thompson, C. W. (2019). Taxonomy of the Sylvilagus brasiliensis complex in Central and South America (Lagomorpha: Leporidae). Journal of Mammalogy, 100(5), 1599-1630. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyz126
García, J., Suárez, E., & Zapata-Ríos, G. (2016). An assessment of the populations of Sylvilagus brasiliensis andinus in Páramos with different vegetation structures in the northeastern Andes of Ecuador. Neotropical Biodiversity 2 (1): 72–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/23766808.2016.1179846
Trujillo, F. & Trujillo, J. (2007). Alimentación del lobo (Lycalopex cul-paeus), en el bosque protector Jerusalem, Guayllabamba-Ecuador. Politécnica 27: 68–75
Cadena-Ortíz, H., Ordóñez-Pozo, C., Freire, E., Brito, J. (2020). Dieta del zorro andino Lycalopex culpaeus (Molina, 1782) (Mammalia: Carnivora: Canidae) en la Reserva Ecológica Los Ilinizas, Ecuador. Ecotrópicos 32: e0011
Cadena-Ortiz H., Brito J., Ríos M.C., Piedrahita P., Pozo-Zamora G., Wagner H., Freile J., (2022). What do we know about the diet of Ecuadorian owls? In: Owls – Clever Survivors. IntechOpen, London.
de Vries T., 1981. Presas y periodo de reproducción del cuscungo (Bubo virginianus) en el páramo del Cotopaxi, Ecuador. In: Memorias de las V Jornadas Ecuatorianas de Biología. Sociedad Ecuatoriana de Biología, Quito. 34-35.
Larrucea, E. S., & Brussard, P. F. (2009). Diel and seasonal activity patterns of pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis). Journal of Mammalogy, 90(5), 1176-1183. https://doi.org/10.1644/08-MAMM-A-272.1
Abu Baker, M. A., Emerson, S. E., & Brown, J. S. (2015). Foraging and habitat use of eastern cottontails (Sylvilagus floridanus) in an urban landscape. Urban ecosystems, 18(3), 977-987. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-015-0463-7
Descalzo, E., Tobajas, J., Villafuerte, R., Mateo, R., & Ferreras, P. (2021). Plasticity in daily activity patterns of a key prey species in the Iberian Peninsula to reduce predation risk. Wildlife Research. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR20156
Greenberg, S., Godin, T., & Whittington, J. (2019). Design patterns for wildlife‐related camera trap image analysis. Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5767
R Core Team. (2024). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.R-project.org/
Grolemund, G. & Wickham, H. (2011). Dates and times made easy with lubridate. Journal of Statistical Software, 40(3), 1–25. https://www.jstatsoft.org/v40/i03/
Meredith, M., Ridout, M., & Campbell, L. A. (2024). overlap: Estimates of coefficient of overlapping for animal activity patterns (Version 0.3.9) [R package], CRAN package overlap. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=overlap
Ridout, M. S., & Linkie, M. (2009). Estimating overlap of daily activity patterns from camera trap data. Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics, 14(3), 322-337. https://doi.org/10.1198/jabes.2009.08038
Meredith, M., & Ridout, M. (2014). Overview of the overlap package. R. Proj, 1(9).
Lyet, A., Waller, S., Chambert, T., Acevedo, P., Howe, E., Kühl, H. S., ... & Gray, T. N. (2024). Estimating animal density using the space‐to‐event model and bootstrap resampling with motion‐triggered camera‐trap data. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, 10(2), 141-155. https://doi.org/10.1002/rse2.361
Humphreys, R. K., & Ruxton, G. D. (2017). Consequences of grouped data for testing for departure from circular uniformity. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 71(11), 167.
INAMHI (Instituto Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología) (2020)
Anuarios meteorológicos. https://servicios.inamhi.gob.ec/anuarios-metereologicos/
Cepeda–Duque, J. C., Gómez–Valencia, B., Alvarez, S., Gutiérrez–Sanabria, D. R., & Lizcano, D. J. (2021). Daily activity pattern of pumas (Puma concolor) and their potential prey in a tropical cloud forest of Colombia. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation, 267-278. https://doi.org/10.32800/abc.2021.44.0267
Zanón-Martínez, J. I., Kelly, M. J., Mesa-Cruz, J. B., Sarasola, J. H., DeHart, C., & Travaini, A. (2016). Density and activity patterns of pumas in hunted and non-hunted areas in central Argentina. Wildlife Research, 43(6), 449. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR16056
Arias-Del Razo, I., Hernández, L., Laundré, J. W., & Myers, O. (2011). Do predator and prey foraging activity patterns match? A study of coyotes (Canis latrans), and lagomorphs (Lepus californicus and Sylvilagus audobonii). Journal of Arid Environments, 75(2), 112-118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2010.09.008
Lord, R. D. (1961). Seasonal Changes in Roadside Activity of Cottontails. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 25(2), 206–209. https://doi.org/10.2307/3798683
Mech, L. D., Heezen, K. L., & Siniff, D. B. (1966). Onset and cessation of activity in cottontail rabbits and snowshoe hares in relation to sunset and sunrise. Animal Behaviour, 14(4), 410-413. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-3472(66)80038-6
Verts, B. J., & Gehman, S. D. (1991). Activity and behavior of free-living Sylvilagus nuttallii. Northwest science., 65(5).
Rufino, B. V. S. (2023). História natural e padrão de atividade de tapiti (Sylvilagus minensis): sazonalidade, atributos lunares e variação interanual.
Coronel-Arellano, H., Rocha-Ortega, M., Gual-Sill, F. et al. Raining feral cats and dogs? Implications for the conservation of medium-sized wild mammals in an urban protected area. Urban Ecosyst 24, 83–94 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-020-00991-7
Moseby, K. E., Stott, J., & Crisp, H. (2009). Movement patterns of feral predators in an arid environment–implications for control through poison baiting. Wildlife Research, 36(5), 422-435. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR08098
Griss, S., Riemer, S., Warembourg, C., Sousa, F. M., Wera, E., Berger-Gonzalez, M., ... & Dürr, S. (2021). If they could choose: How would dogs spend their days? Activity patterns in four populations of domestic dogs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 243, 105449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2021.105449
Lavery, T. H., Alabai, M., Holland, P., Qaqara, C., & Vatohi, N. (2020). Feral cat abundance, density and activity in tropical island rainforests. Wildlife Research, 47(8), 660-668. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR19205
Domínguez‐Castro, F., García‐Herrera, R., & Vicente‐Serrano, S. M. (2018). Wet and dry extremes in Quito (Ecuador) since the 17th century. International Journal of Climatology, 38(4), 2006-2014. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.5312
Zhiña, D., Montenegro, M., Montalván, L., Mendoza, D., Contreras, J., Campozano, L., & Avilés, A. (2019). Climate change influences of temporal and spatial drought variation in the andean high mountain basin. Atmosphere, 10(9), 558. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10090558
Oñate-Valdivieso, F., Uchuari, V., & Oñate-Paladines, A. (2020). Large-scale climate variability patterns and drought: a case of study in South America. Water Resources Management, 34(6), 2061-2079. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-020-02549-w
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2025 Elias Viteri-Basso, Rebecca Zug