1 Title: Drivers of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) daily activity: prey availability, human 2 disturbance or habitat structure? 3 Abbreviated title: Drivers of red fox activity patterns 4 Authors: F. Díaz-Ruiza, b, J. Caroa, M. Delibes-Mateosa, b, c, B. Arroyoa and P. Ferrerasa 5 6 aInstituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC; CSIC-UCLM-JCCM). 7 Ronda de Toledo s/n 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain. Phone number: 0034 926295450. 8 bCIBIO/InBIO, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairao 4485-661, Vairao Vila do 9 Conde, Portugal 10 cInstituto de Estudios Sociales Avanzados (IESA-CSIC). Campo Santo de los Mártires 7 11 14004, Córdoba, Spain. 12 13 14 Corresponding author: Francisco Díaz-Ruiz. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos 15 Cinegéticos (IREC; CSIC-UCLM-JCCM). Ronda de Toledo s/n 13071 Ciudad Real, 16 Spain. E-mail address:
[email protected] 1 17 Abstract 18 Daily activity patterns in mammals depend on food availability, reproductive stage, 19 habitat selection, intraspecific interactions and predation risk, among other factors. Some 20 mammals exhibit behavioral plasticity in activity patterns, which allows them to adapt to 21 environmental changes. A good example of this can be found in the red fox Vulpes vulpes. 22 This species is adapted to living in highly humanized environments, where it is often 23 culled because it may affect human interests (e.g. through the consumption of game 24 species or livestock). We assessed the potential main drivers of the daily activity patterns 25 of the red fox in 12 Iberian Mediterranean areas through the use of camera traps.