Biodiv Sci ›› 2026, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (5): 25261.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2025261  cstr: 32101.14.biods.2025261

• Original Papers: Animal Diversity • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Dynamics of ungulate habitat use and their environmental drivers in the Southwest Mountains: A camera trap monitoring case study from Guanba

Jie Feng1,#(), Yanzhi Li1,#, Shuli Wang1, Lanxi Li1, Pengfei Ding1, Bingwei Lü1, Ji Meng2, Xiangying Shi1,3,*()(), Xueyang Li1,4,*()()   

  1. 1 Shan Shui Conservation Center, Beijing 100871, China
    2 Guanba Basin Conservation Center, Mianyang, Sichuan 622574, China
    3 National School of Development, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
    4 School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
  • Received:2025-07-06 Accepted:2026-01-20 Online:2026-05-20 Published:2026-07-01
  • Contact: Xiangying Shi, Xueyang Li
  • About author:First author contact:#Co-first authors
  • Supported by:
    Ant Forest Guanba Protection Site Project and the Huoxi River Basin Comprehensive Protection and Development Project

Abstract:

Aims: Mountain ungulates are crucial components of forest ecosystems, playing a significant role in sustaining biodiversity and ecological functions. However, understanding of ungulate population dynamics based on systematic long-term monitoring, and their long-term responses to human activities remain limited, especially in areas where large carnivores are absent. This study aims to investigate the interannual changes of site use and the environmental factors influencing the occupancy of common ungulates in a region historically lacking large carnivores.
Methods: We conducted long-term monitoring by deploying 25 infrared camera grids in Guanba Village, Pingwu County, Mianyang City, located in the southern Minshan Mountains of Southwest China (2019-2023). We focused on analyzing the interannual changes of site use and the factors affecting the occupancy rate for five common ungulate species: Chinese goral (Naemorhedus griseus), Reeves’s muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi), tufted deer (Elaphodus cephalophus), wild boar (Sus scrofa), and takin (Budorcas tibetanus).
Results: The findings revealed that four of the five monitored ungulate species (excluding wild boar) exhibited an increasing trend in both site use rate and relative abundance index. Notably, the occupancy rate of takins increased from 0.12 in 2019 to 0.74 in 2023. Model averaging of single-season occupancy models indicated that the impact of human activities varied across species: only takins were significantly and positively influenced by distance to roads across several years (weights of environmental variables, w = 0.92, 1.00, and 0.52 in respective years), consistently showing a preference for areas further from roads. The key environmental covariates affecting occupancy varied by species types and year, suggesting that ungulates flexibly adjust their habitat use in response to shifting environmental resource pressures.
Conclusion: This study provides a supplement to the population dynamics of ungulates in areas where large carnivores are absent and explores the patterns of environmental factors influencing ungulate occupancy rates. The results offer a scientific basis for the adaptive management of mountain ecosystems in Southwest China.

Key words: ungulates, occupancy model, Southwest Mountains, camera trap, population dynamics