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The daily and seasonal behaviour of the American mink and the coypu, two invasive species from the Záhorie PLA (Slovakia)

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Abstract

The activity of small invasive mammals, the American mink (Neovison vison) and the coypu (Myocastor coypus), was monitored in western part of Slovakia. Camera traps were located at 9 localities where these animals occur and were monitored throughout all four seasons. The activity of these two invasive species was analysed with regard to the habitat type and environment and, but especially, to the relationship to season, daily period, part of the day and activities. The following animal activities were observed: environmetal exploration, movement, swimming, stationary, grooming, play, flee, feeding, change of environment, mating behaviour and territorial marking. In case of the coypu, crepuscular and nocturnal activities were prevalent. Activity during daytime occurred mostly during winter days with low temperatures. On the other hand, American minks were mostly diurnal. The shift in behaviour compared to American minks in their native environment could be a sign of its adaptation to a new environment. Our research also showed seasonal changes in activity of both invasive mammals. This research could serve as a basis for management schemes to combat the presence and dispersal of these two invasive mammal species.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers who helped us to improve the first version of our manuscript.

Funding

This work was conducted with funds from Comenius University Grant No. UK/325/2020.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmetal Ecology and Landscape Management, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Mlynská dolina, 842 15, Bratislava 4, Slovak Republic

    Ivana Poláčková, Božena Šerá & Katarína Pavličková

  2. Administration of Protected Landscape Area Záhorie, State Nature Conservancy of Slovak Republic, Vajanského 17, Malacky, 901 01, Slovak Republic

    Rudolf Jureček

Authors
  1. Ivana Poláčková
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  2. Božena Šerá
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  3. Rudolf Jureček
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  4. Katarína Pavličková
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Contributions

Poláčková I. and Jureček R. conceived the main idea of the research and collected the samples; Poláčková I., Šerá B. and Jureček R. processed and analysed the samples and wrote the text; Pavličková K. contributed to the writing of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Božena Šerá.

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No approval of research ethics committees was required to accomplish the goals of this study because experimental work was conducted with a non-invasive camera trap method of research.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Poláčková, I., Šerá, B., Jureček, R. et al. The daily and seasonal behaviour of the American mink and the coypu, two invasive species from the Záhorie PLA (Slovakia). acta ethol 25, 115–123 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-022-00396-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-022-00396-z

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