社交媒体作为一种了解难以捉摸的哺乳动物分布和生态学的工具
Makabudi V Phakoago1, Shane K Maloney1,2, Peter R Kamerman1
1Brain Function Research Group, School of Physiology, University of the Witwatersrand, Medical School, 7 York Road, Parktown 2193, South Africa.
Journal of mammalogy
|February 5, 2024
概括
社交媒体的帖子揭示了对南非难以捉摸的地球猪和泰明克地面松鼠的分布和生态的新见解. 这些"软"数据为研究罕见的哺乳动物提供了宝贵的补充工具.
科学领域:
- 动物学 动物学
- 生态生态学 生态生态学
- 保护生物学 保护生物学
背景情况:
- 像地球猪 (Orycteropus afer) 和泰明克的地面松鼠 (Smutsia temminckii) 这样的难以捉摸的哺乳动物,在它们的分布和生态方面了解甚少.
- 这些物种通常是夜行,孤独和化石,使传统的研究方法具有挑战性.
研究的目的:
- 调查社交媒体作为收集地球猪和泰明克陆地松鼠生态和分布数据的工具的潜力.
- 为了获得对这些难以捉摸的物种活动模式,饮酒行为和捕食者相互作用的新见解.
主要方法:
- 从公开的Facebook和Instagram帖子 (2010-2019) 收集了680张 aardvarks和地面松鼠的照片和790个视频.
- 分析了社交媒体数据以推断物种分布,白天/夜间活动,饮酒事件和掠食实例.
主要成果:
- 社交媒体数据为南非两种物种的分布和生态提供了新的信息.
- 证实土猪在身体状况不佳时表现出更多的白天活动.
- 确定社交媒体是关于难以捉摸的哺乳动物的补充数据的可行来源.
结论:
- 公共可用的社交媒体内容为研究难以捉摸的哺乳动物的分布和生态学提供了有价值的补充数据集.
- 这些方法和发现有可能应用于了解其他罕见观察到的物种.
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