Pattern of spatiotemporal activity of an alien lagomorph inferred through camera-trapping

Assessing wildlife activity rhythms is crucial to design effective management programmes for invasive alien species. Among themost widespread alien mammals in Italy, the Eastern cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus has been introduced from North Americafor hunting purposes and it is now very common in the Northern and Central regions. In this study, we conducted a cameratrappingsurvey to determine seasonal patterns of activity rhythms of this small lagomorph in Northern Italy, as well as theoverlap of temporal rhythms with its main mammal predators. Eastern cottontails were mostly crepuscular and nocturnalthroughout the year. Inter-seasonal overlaps of activity patterns were always lower than 75%, as activity of the Eastern cottontailwas linked to photoperiod. The bimodal activity, with significant peaks at dawn and dusk, may represent an adaptation of thisspecies to limit encounters with nocturnal predators, i.e. red foxes Vulpes vulpes and stray cats Felis catus in our study area.Although activity increased during the first hours of daylight during themating season, the temperature seems to be not correlatedto cottontail activity. Cottontails responded to the increased predation risk on bright moonlight nights, when red foxes and straycats were most active, by significantly reducing their activity in the full moon throughout the year and in every single season.Conversely, spatial overlap between cottontails and predators was high. We suggest that individual counts and direct removalmethods (i.e. firearms or trapping) for this alien lagomorph should be carried out at dawn or at dusk, when the probability to spotactive cottontails is the highest.