Habitat Use and Positional Behavior of Northern Palm Squirrels ( Funambulus pennantii ) in an Urban Forest in Central Nepal

Anastasia Perodaskalaki, Dimitra-Lida Rammou, Tilak Thapamagar, Shivish Bhandari, Daya Ram Bhusal and Dionisios Youlatos ()
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Anastasia Perodaskalaki: Department of Biology, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Utrecht University, NL-3584 Utrecht, The Netherlands
Dimitra-Lida Rammou: Department of Zoology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR-54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Tilak Thapamagar: Natural Science Society, Kirtipur-05, Kathmandu, Nepal
Shivish Bhandari: Patuxent Environmental and Aquatic Research Laboratory, Morgan State University, St. Leonard, MD 20685, USA
Daya Ram Bhusal: Central Department of Zoology, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur 44600, Nepal
Dionisios Youlatos: Department of Zoology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR-54124 Thessaloniki, Greece

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: Urban forests impose significant challenges to the animals that inhabit them due to the altered properties of available substrates from anthropogenic interventions. To cope with these structural peculiarities, urban species exhibit behavioral adjustments to successfully exploit the urban habitat. The present study examined habitat use and positional behavior of northern palm squirrels ( Funambulus pennantii ) in the urban forests of Kathmandu, Nepal, to test such behavioral modifications. Between July and August 2018, we collected focal animal instantaneous data on the behavior, locomotor/postural mode, forest layer, tree crown part, and substrate type, size, and inclination use of four different individuals. Our results indicated a primarily arboreal species, mostly using the middle canopy layers and the intermediate and central tree parts. Moreover, tree branches and artificial substrates were commonly used that were mainly large and horizontal. Locomotion was dominated by quadrupedalism and claw climb, whereas postures by quadrupedal stand, and, to a lesser extent, sit and claw cling. Most of our initial predictions were only partly supported by our findings. This behavioral idiosyncrasy most likely reflects the adaptive flexibility of the species to human-modified habitats. In this way, northern palm squirrels apparently expanded their ecological niche and successfully persisted against anthropogenic pressures throughout their range. As urban expansion is inexorable, more research is required to understand the behavioral and ecological flexibility of animals that effectively exploit these impacted habitats.

Keywords: Asia; Kathmandu; locomotion; posture; urbanization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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