Diel activity of a suite of ground-dwelling mammals in northern Western Port, Victoria

A long-term survey around Western Port, 60 km southeast of Melbourne Victoria, has produced a databaseof over 800 000 time-stamped images of mammalian fauna. Formerly dominated by the Koo Wee Rup(“Great”) Swamp the region is now a matrix of highly modified agricultural land interspersed with smalldisjunct patches of remnant indigenous vegetation. There are several small, isolated nature conservationreserves but most remaining native vegetation occurs on private land or within narrow linear utility corridors.Using ‘R’ and the packages ‘camtrapR’, ‘activity’ and ‘overlap’ we investigated the spatial and temporaldistribution patterns of eighteen mammal species extant in the region. Here we report on the influence ofseason, moon phase, habitat context and the presence or absence of other species on daily activity patterns.Testing for significant differences has proven a challenge. However, while the results largely confirmed ourpredictions, we identified some unusual activity patterns and provided quantitative assessments for the firsttime. Our work suggests the timing of activity is a continuous rather than categorical phenomenon for manyspecies.