Humans have negatively impacted most ecosystems on Earth, altering how species use habitats and resources available to them, but also their circadian rhythms. Among many factors affecting animal activity patterns, conversion of native habitat into production forests and hunting are critical, and their impacts may be exacerbated by seasonal weather conditions. Both these factors are issues in Mediterranean Europe, especially in Portugal. Nevertheless, their impact on native species behavior remains largely unknown, even for generalist species often resilient to human disturbance such as wild boar (Sus scrofa). Therefore, we assessed temporal activity patterns of wild boar in Portugal to explore differences between habitats (native forest versus Eucalyptus plantations), hunting and nonhunting periods or between seasons. We found that wild boars were primarily nocturnal, with greater nighttime activity more evident during the dry season and within plantations. Furthermore, they appeared to avoid dusk during the hunting season. Together, these patterns indicate that even a species typically resilient to disturbance and environmental change, such as wild boar, tends to avoid adverse weather conditions and disturbance factors, namely high daytime temperatures in summer and probability of encountering forestry workers or hunters. Accordingly, other more sensitive or resource-demanding mammals may also be affected, so evaluating the impacts of the studied anthropic drivers on other mammals should be prioritized to provide information for sustainable plantation management and hunting.

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Humans have been altering the Mediterranean landscapes for millennia. To diminish the probability of encounters with domestic animals, humans and their activities, many species adjust their behavior to become more nocturnal. Even habitat-generalist species, such as red fox and stone marten that are somehow tolerant to environmental changes, might be affected by anthropic disturbances. Nevertheless, only a small number of studies were implemented in Iberia targeting these mesocarnivores’ activity patterns, and fewer have assessed the temporal ecology of these species in Eucalyptus plantations, the current main forest cover in Portugal. Based on camera traps, we aimed to analyze: 1) the temporal and spatio-temporal activity patterns of red fox and stone marten; and 2) how they are affected by distinct human disturbances (i.e., humans, livestock, dogs, plantations, and hunting). Foxes presented a higher crepuscular activity, while martens were entirely nocturnal, suggesting some avoidance behavior. Both mesocarnivores showed a higher overlap with dogs’ activity than with humans or livestock. Foxes’ activity patterns vary between seasons and habitats but were not influenced by the hunting period. Results suggest that both mesocarnivores, besides setting apart their activity from humans related disturbances, also show a tendency to temporally avoid each other. While the increase of nocturnality may indicate an anthropic disturbance impact, a reduction of activity overlap between mesocarnivores may be a strategy to reduce competition. These results may help support the sustainable management of landscapes by highlighting critical periods where activity overlaps may occur, and thus the anthropic impacts on wildlife are higher.

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