Forest conversion to cashew orchards delays the diel activity of diurnal mammals in West Africa

Land cover change is the main driver of biodiversity loss worldwide. However, less is known about how species adapt their behavior to persist in human-altered habitats. We addressed this gap by examining changes in mammal habitat use and diel activity patterns to forest conversion into cashew orchards in West Africa. We surveyed mammals using camera trapping in 12 forest sites and 12 cashew orchards in CNP in southwest Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. We grouped mammals into (1) diurnal and cathemeral and (2) nocturnal species based on their typical diel activity patterns and assessed habitat use and diel activity patterns between habitat types. Overall, diurnal/cathemeral mammals used cashew orchards less intensively, while nocturnal mammals exhibited similar patterns of habitat use in forests and cashew orchards. In addition, the peak of activity for diurnal/cathemeral species occurred during morning (∼11 h) in the forests but during the afternoon (∼16 h 30 min) in cashew orchards, resulting in little overlap in activity by diurnal/cathemeral species between habitat types. No differences were observed in the activity patterns of nocturnal mammals. Diurnal mammals are particularly affected by forest conversion into cashew orchards, where the shifted activity patterns likely minimize direct contact with humans. Our study expands on the consequence of deforestation while highlighting the ability of species to modify their behavior and thus persist in newly human-modified landscapes in the tropics.