Temporal Niche Relationship between Leopard Cat and Potential Pheasant Prey in Hubei Mulinzi National Nature Reserve

As a key metric of the temporal niche, the daily activity rhythm is a crucial strategy for species to adapt to their environment and balance the risks of predation and being preyed upon. Elucidating the differences in activity patterns between predators and prey and their underlying drivers is essential for understanding species survival strategies and formulating conservation plans. From January to December 2020, this study used infrared camera technology to monitor the Prionailurus bengalensis and its potential pheasant prey in the Hubei Mulinzi National Nature Reserve. A total of 118 infrared cameras were deployed, resulting in 725 independent valid photographs, including those of Prionailurus bengalensis(IP=160), Tragopan temminckii(IP=254), Chrysolophus pictus(IP=268), and Pucrasia macrolopha(IP=43). Kernel density estimation and overlap coefficients were used to analyze the daily activity rhythms and temporal niche relationships among these four species. The results showed that: the daily activity rhythm of Prionailurus bengalensis was bimodal, with a primary peak between 17:00 and 24:00 and a secondary peak between 00:00 and 08:00, indicating typical nocturnal activity. The daily activity rhythms of Tragopan temminckii and Chrysolophus pictus were both bimodal; Tragopan temminckii was most active from 05:00 to 11:00 and 15:00 to 19:00, while Chrysolophus pictus showed peak activity from 05:00 to 10:00 and 16:00 to 19:00. Pucrasia macrolopha exhibited a unimodal daily activity rhythm, with a peak from 05:00 to 10:00. All three pheasant species were diurnal. The overlap in daily activity patterns between Prionailurus bengalensis and Tragopan temminckii(Δ₄=0.347, P<0.01), Chrysolophus pictus(Δ₄=0.292, P<0.01), and Pucrasia macrolopha(Δ₁=0.274, P<0.01)was low, while the overlap among the pheasant species was high(Δ₁=0.771, P>0.05). The activity rhythms of the Prionailurus bengalensis and the three sympatric pheasant species differed significantly, whereas differences among the pheasants were minimal, suggesting that they may achieve niche differentiation through the use of different altitudinal gradients. These findings preliminarily reveal the temporal niche relationships between Prionailurus bengalensis and three sympatric pheasant species, providing a theoretical basis for further implementation of multi-species collaborative management measures in the reserve.