Abstract Anthropogenic activities such as farming and hunting have increasingly impacted the community and activity patterns of mammals within the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve (TCBR), Mexico. We conducted a camera-trap survey from March 2022 to May 2023 using 14 stations within the TCBR in the locality of Zapotitlán Salinas, Puebla state. Our aim was to record medium and large-sized mammals and analyze their relative abundance and activity patterns by hours of the day, lunar phase, and dry/rainy seasons. We recorded 1,102 independent events for 11 species, with Carnivora (Mustelidae, Mephitidae, Felidae, and Canidae) comprising the highest proportion (55 %) of detections. Most species showed predominantly nocturnal activity (76.41 % of records). Mammal activity was not homogeneously distributed over the 24 h daily period (X 2 = 939; df = 2; p < 0.001). Overall, we also observed that 74.77 % of detection events occurred during waxing and waning moon phases, particularly in the dry season. To our knowledge, this represents the first detailed assessment of mammal activity for this locality. Our findings indicate that Zapotitlán Salinas continues to have suitable conditions to maintain viable mammal populations and highlight the need for targeted conservation actions that integrate scientific research with local community efforts to safeguard the ecological integrity of this area and its biodiversity.
Badillo et al. (Sun,) studied this question.