Abstract:Understanding the activity patterns of Plateau Zokor (Myospalax baileyi) during the breeding season has a great importance to their survival strategies and ecological control for zokor damage. This study used the radio tracking technology to monitor the activity patterns of plateau zokor during the breeding period from March to May in 2019 in Maqu County, Gansu Province and analyzed the correlation between the activity pattern and the soil relative moisture as well as soil temperature at the depth with 0﹣10 cm. The results showed that: 1) the plateau zokors exhibited three peaks of daily activity pattern during the breeding period. These peak time appeared at 08:00, 14:00, and 20:00, respectively. (Fig. 1). 2) the daily activity difference index (θ) indicated that the activity intensity of plateau zokors varies significantly with uneven distribution during the breeding period. The diurnal index (λ) indicated that plateau zokor had more activities in daytime during the breeding period. The daily activity time index (AT) indicated that the total daily activity duration of the plateau zokor was about 8 hours (Table 2). 3) Correlation analysis showed that the activity intensity of plateau zokor in breeding period was positively correlated with soil temperature (0﹣10 cm) (P < 0.05) (Fig. 4), but not correlated with soil relative moisture (0﹣10 cm) (P > 0.05) (Fig. 5). Our research indicated that the activity intensity of plateau zokor was influenced by the soil temperature at depth between 0 and 10 cm.