Welcome to the official website of the Global Animal Diel Activity Project.

Project context

The diel activity (activity over the 24-hour period of time) of organisms is typically described using the terms diurnal, nocturnal, crepuscular or cathemeral. The species that are active primarily during the day are considered diurnal while those that are active predominantly at night time are taken as nocturnal. Crepuscular species are active at dawn and dusk while cathemeral creatures are active for irregular periods through the 24-hour period. Activity patterns are shaped by the morphology, physiology, and phylogeny of species.

In this project, we are estimating mammal diel activity across the globe in a rigorous and comparable framework. We are specifically focused on non-volant mammals that are detectable via camera traps.

• Map of datasets color-coded by number of projects per country from processed collaborators’ trail camera data. Hover over different countries to get country-specific summaries.

Project leads

The team leading this project is comprised of:

1) Kadambari Devarajan is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Rhode Island.

2) Brian Gerber is an assistant professor at the University of Rhode Island.

3) Mason Fidino is a quantitative ecologist at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

4) Zach Farris is an assistant professor at Appalachian State University.

We have an extensive list of collaborators from around the world who have shared their camera trap datasets for this project.

Check out our updates page for project news and timelines.