Multi-year camera trap assessment of mammalian community structure in Afyonkarahisar (Türkiye) following the COVID-19 anthropause
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19954480Keywords:
habitat filtering, human disturbance, mammalian community structure, Türkiye, wildlife conservationAbstract
Understanding how mammalian communities respond to changes in human activity and habitat disturbance is essential for conservation in human-dominated landscapes. This study provides the first comprehensive, long-term camera trap evaluation of medium and large mammals in Afyonkarahisar Province, a key biogeographical transition zone in western Türkiye with increasing anthropogenic pressure. Monitoring across 11 stations from 2022 to 2024 yielded 14 species, including two Near Threatened species, Lutra lutra and Spermophilus xanthoprymnus, as well as the wetland-dependent felid Felis chaus (Least Concern). Multivariate analyses revealed a significant temporal reorganization of the mammalian community following the COVID-19 anthropause, a short-term period of reduced human mobility and disturbance. The 2022 assemblage was broad and heterogeneous, consistent with relaxed human pressure, whereas the 2023 and 2024 communities exhibited a clear contraction toward a more homogenized structure dominated by disturbance-tolerant generalists such as Sus scrofa and Vulpes vulpes (Permanova: F = 4.63, R² = 0.17, p = 0.001). Habitat specialists were restricted to wetlands, forest patches, and ecologically intact areas, indicating strong habitat filtering under increasing human pressure. Temporal activity analyses further demonstrated a shift from broad diel activity windows in 2022 to increasingly narrow and constrained patterns in 2023 and 2024 as human activity intensified. These synchronous temporal shifts across multiple taxa indicate rapid behavioral adjustment to the re-establishment of human disturbance. Overall, this study provides one of the most detailed mammalian datasets for Inner Western Anatolia and demonstrates that the ecological effects of the anthropause were temporary and rapidly reversed. The findings highlight the importance of wetland protection, habitat connectivity, and sustained disturbance management for the long-term conservation of sensitive mammalian species in heterogeneous Anatolian landscapes.
Temporal activity analyses further demonstrated a shift from broad diel activity windows in 2022 to increasingly narrow and constrained patterns in 2023 and 2024 as human activity intensified. These synchronous temporal shifts across multiple taxa indicate rapid behavioral adjustment to the re-establishment of human disturbance. Overall, this study provides one of the most detailed mammalian datasets for Inner Western Anatolia and demonstrates that the ecological effects of the anthropause were temporary and rapidly reversed. The findings highlight the importance of the critical importance of wetland protection, habitat connectivity, and sustained disturbance management for the long-term conservation of sensitive mammalian species in heterogeneous Anatolian landscapes.
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