The effectiveness and cost of camera traps for surveying small reptiles and critical weight range mammals: a comparison with labour-intensive complementary methods

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dustin J. Welbourne ◽  
Christopher MacGregor ◽  
David Paull ◽  
David B. Lindenmayer
Keyword(s):  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Camera Trapping ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Critical Weight ◽  
Complementary Methods ◽  
Incidence Data ◽  
Trapping Method ◽  
The Difference

Context Biodiversity studies often require wildlife researchers to survey multiple species across taxonomic classes. To detect terrestrial squamate and mammal species, often multiple labour-intensive survey techniques are required. Camera traps appear to be more effective and cost-efficient than labour-intensive methods for detecting some mammal species. Recent developments have seen camera traps used for detecting terrestrial squamates. However, the performance of camera traps to survey terrestrial squamate and mammal species simultaneously has not been evaluated. Aim We compared the effectiveness and financial cost of a camera trapping method capable of detecting small squamates and mammals with a set of labour-intensive complementary methods, which have been used in a long-term monitoring program. Methods We compared two survey protocols: one employed labour-intensive complementary methods consisting of cage traps, Elliott traps and artificial refuges; the second utilised camera traps. Comparisons were made of the total number of species detected, species detectability, and cost of executing each type of survey. Key results Camera traps detected significantly more target species per transect than the complementary methods used. Although camera traps detected more species of reptile per transect, the difference was not significant. For the initial survey, camera traps were more expensive than the complementary methods employed, but for realistic cost scenarios camera traps were less expensive in the long term. Conclusions Camera traps are more effective and less expensive than the complementary methods used for acquiring incidence data on terrestrial squamate and mammal species. Implications The camera trapping method presented does not require customised equipment; thus, wildlife managers can use existing camera trapping equipment to detect cryptic mammal and squamate species simultaneously.

scholarly journals Medium- and large-sized mammal composition in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park and adjacent areas, state of Goiás, Brazil

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. e20195942 ◽  
Author(s):  
Átilla Colombo Ferreguetti ◽  
Isadora Cristina Motta Lessa ◽  
Emerson Monteiro Vieira ◽  
André Almeida Cunha ◽  
Helena Godoy Bergallo
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
National Park ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Scaling Analysis ◽  
Large Mammals ◽  
Conservation Units ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Dry And Rainy Seasons

The Cerrado is the second largest Brazilian biome and only 2.8% is represented by protected areas. Considering the relevance of the Cerrado and Conservation Units in preserving the mammalian diversity, we provided the first assessment of the diversity of medium- and large-sized mammal species in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park (CVNP) and surroundings. We tested the effectiveness of the CVNP by assessing the difference in species composition within the park and its surroundings. We sampled CVNP in the rainy (October-December 2013) and dry seasons (March-June 2014) in order to characterize the seasonality within the community. We selected 36 sampling sites to evaluate the composition of the medium and large mammals in the CVNP and its surroundings, 18 in the CVNP and 18 in the park surroundings. We ordered mammalian composition and frequency of individuals data by using a Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling analysis (NMDS). We assessed the effect of season (dry and rainy seasons) and locality (within the CVNP and surroundings) on mammalian species richness with a two-way analysis of variance (Two-way ANOVA). We recorded 23 species, 13 within the CVNP and 17 species in its surroundings. Composition and frequency of records differed between dry and rainy seasons, with higher richness in the rainy season. Species’ composition and the frequency of records were also different between within the CVNP and its surroundings, with higher richness in the surroundings. These results provide information for the increase of the knowledge of mammalian ecology but also is useful as a tool for future strategies to the conservation of these species. More attention should be given to the monitoring of these species in the long term because this area still harbor some viable populations.

Is camera-trapping an efficient method for surveying mammals in Neotropical forests? A case study in south-eastern Brazil

2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Carolina Srbek-Araujo ◽  
Adriano Garcia Chiarello
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Camera Trapping ◽  
Neotropical Forests ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Eastern Brazil ◽  
Line Transects

Although highly diverse (Fonseca et al. 1996), the Atlantic forest mammal fauna is still poorly known, with very few sites exhaustively inventoried or subjected to long-term studies (Passamani et al. 2000). Although the first surveys using camera traps were carried out in the 1920s (e.g. Chapman 1927), most studies are rather recent (Karanth & Nichols 1998). This is not different in Brazil, where few studies have been published (Marques & Ramos 2001, Santos-Filho & Silva 2002, Silveira et al. 2003, Trolle 2003, Trolle & Kéry 2003). Given this, the objective of this paper is to assess the efficiency of camera trapping as an inventory technique for Neotropical forests in general and Atlantic forest in particular. The study was conducted at the Santa Lúcia Biological Station (SLBS), a biologically rich Atlantic Forest preserve located in south-eastern Brazil (Mendes & Padovan 2000) where mammals have been intensively live-trapped, observed from line-transects or had indirect evidence of their presence (faeces, footprints, scratches, etc.) recorded in earlier years (Passamani et al. 2000).

Identification of threatened rodent species using infrared and white-flash camera traps

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phoebe A. Burns ◽  
Marissa L. Parrott ◽  
Kevin C. Rowe ◽  
Benjamin L. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
Infrared Camera ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Camera Trapping ◽  
Rodent Species ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Accurate Identification ◽  
Adequate Image Quality ◽  
Observer Experience ◽  
Small Mammal Species

Camera trapping has evolved into an efficient technique for gathering presence/absence data for many species; however, smaller mammals such as rodents are often difficult to identify in images. Identification is inhibited by co-occurrence with similar-sized small mammal species and by camera set-ups that do not provide adequate image quality. Here we describe survey procedures for identification of two small, threatened rodent species – smoky mouse (Pseudomys fumeus) and New Holland mouse (P. novaehollandiae) – using white-flash and infrared camera traps. We tested whether observers could accurately identify each species and whether experience with small mammals influenced accuracy. Pseudomys fumeus was ~20 times less likely to be misidentified on white-flash images than infrared, and observer experience affected accuracy only for infrared images, where it accounted for all observer variance. Misidentifications of P. novaehollandiae were more common across both flash types: false positives (>0.21) were more common than false negatives (<0.09), and experience accounted for only 31% of variance in observer accuracy. For this species, accurate identification appears to be, in part, an innate skill. Nonetheless, using an appropriate setup, camera trapping clearly has potential to provide broad-scale occurrence data for these and other small mammal species.

scholarly journals Wildlife inventory from camera-trapping surveys in the Azores (Pico and Terceira islands)

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Lamelas-Lopez ◽  
Xose Pardavila ◽  
Isabel Amorim ◽  
Paulo Borges
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
Large Data ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Camera Trapping ◽  
Data Series ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Cory’S Shearwater ◽  
Native Birds ◽  
The Impact

The present publication provides a dataset from five camera-trapping sampling campaigns on two islands of the Azorean archipelago (Pico and Terceira islands), between 2013-2018. This dataset was obtained as a by-product of campaigns designed for different purposes. The sampling campaigns were designed to: (i) study the ecology of introduced mammals; (ii) assess the impact of introduced mammals on native birds (Azores woodpigeon - Columba palumbus azorica and Cory's shearwater - Calonectris diomeda borealis), through nest predation; and (iii) obtain information about the impact of vertebrates on agricultural systems, particularly on Azorean traditional vineyards. A total of 258 sites and 47 nests were sampled using camera traps. These sampling campaigns provided a large data series that allowed the creation of a vertebrate wildlife inventory. We obtained a total of 102,095 camera-trap records, which allowed us to to identify 30 species of vertebrates: one amphibian, one reptile, 17 birds and ten mammal species. This represented 100% of the amphibians and terrestrial mammals, 58% of the breeding birds and 50% of the reptile species known for Pico and/or Terceira islands. Concerning the colonisation status of the species, we recorded 15 indigenous (native non-endemic or endemic) and three introduced bird species; all known terrestrial amphibians, reptiles and mammals in the Azores are introduced species. The data collected contribute to increasing knowledge on the distribution of vertebrate species on Pico and Terceira islands, where most existing records of some species were only available to Island level (e.g. mustelids and hedgehogs). None of the identified species was previously unknown to the study area.

scholarly journals Mammal diversity among vertical strata and the evaluation of a survey technique in a central Amazonian forest

2021 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
pp. e20216133
Author(s):  
Alexander Roldán Arévalo-Sandi ◽  
André Luis Sousa Gonçalves ◽  
Kota Onizawa ◽  
Tsuneaki Yabe ◽  
Wilson Roberto Spironello
Keyword(s):  
Camera Trap ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Lowland Forest ◽  
Survey Technique ◽  
Terrestrial Habitats ◽  
Common Technique ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Mammal Diversity

Mammal groups have a vast variety of habitats, which include aquatic, aerial, arboreal, and terrestrial. For terrestrial habitats, camera traps are used as a common technique to record mammals and other vertebrates and have been recently utilized to observe arboreal animals as well. Here, we compare the difference in mammal diversity between floor and canopy strata and evaluate the use of camera trapping in a lowland forest in central Amazon. We installed nine paired camera traps, one in the canopy stratum and other in the floor stratum, in the Alto Cuieiras Biological Reserve (Brazilian Amazon). With a sampling effort of 720 camera-days, we recorded 30 mammal species: nine in canopy strata, 14 in floor strata, and seven in scansorial strata (sharing both strata). On the forest floor, the species with the greatest abundance was Myoprocta acouchy; in the canopy, Isothrix paguros had the greatest abundance; and among the scansorial species, Proechymis sp. was the most abundant. Our results show the differences in mammal diversity between floor and canopy strata; canopy strata contained more small and frugivorous mammals. Although we obtained a relatively low sampling effort with the camera-trap method compared with other studies utilizing different techniques, our results were especially similar to those of previous studies that worked with canopy and floor strata. Thus, camera trap can be very effective for recording short periods of time, and this method is less physically exhaustive and expensive for researchers to study vertical strata.

scholarly journals Life in the Canopy: Using Camera-Traps to Inventory Arboreal Rainforest Mammals in Borneo

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Karen Haysom ◽  
Nicolas J. Deere ◽  
Oliver R. Wearn ◽  
Azniza Mahyudin ◽  
Jamiluddin bin Jami ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Structural Diversity ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Camera Trapping ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Species Accumulation Curves ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Sampling Effectiveness ◽  
Paired Design

Arboreal mammals form a diverse group providing ecologically important functions such as predation, pollination and seed dispersal. However, their cryptic and elusive nature, and the heights at which they live, makes studying these species challenging. Consequently, our knowledge of rainforest mammals is heavily biased towards terrestrial species, limiting our understanding of overall community structure and the possible impacts of human-induced disturbance. We undertook the first in-depth appraisal of an arboreal mammal community in Southeast Asia, using camera-traps set in unlogged and logged tropical rainforest in Sabah, Borneo. Using paired canopy and terrestrial camera-traps at 50 locations (25 in unlogged forest, 25 in logged), we assessed the effectiveness of camera-trapping at characterising the arboreal versus terrestrial community, and tested the influence of strata and forest type on community structure and composition. The paired design detected 55 mammal species across 15,817 camera-trap nights (CTNs), and additional canopy sampling in a subset of trees added a further two arboreal species to the inventory. In total, thirty species were detected exclusively by terrestrial camera-traps, eighteen exclusively by canopy camera-traps, and nine by units set at both heights, demonstrating significant differences between arboreal and terrestrial communities. This pattern was strongest in unlogged forest, reflecting greater structural diversity of this habitat, but held in logged forest as well. Species accumulation curves revealed that canopy camera-trapping significantly boosted species inventories compared to terrestrial-only sampling, and was particularly effective at detecting gliding mammals, rodents and primates. Canopy inventories took longer to reach an asymptote, suggesting that a greater sampling effort is required when deploying canopy camera-traps compared to those set on the ground. We demonstrate that arboreal mammals in Borneo’s rainforest form a diverse and distinct community, and can be sampled effectively using canopy camera-traps. However, the additional costs incurred by sampling in the canopy can be substantial. We provide recommendations to maximise sampling effectiveness, while bringing down costs, to help encourage further study into one of the last frontiers of tropical forest research.

High variation in camera trap-model sensitivity for surveying mammal species in northern Australia

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Heiniger ◽  
Graeme Gillespie
Keyword(s):  
Detection Probability ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Camera Trap ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Northern Australia ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Survey Tool ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Event Trigger ◽  
The Difference

Context The use of camera traps as a wildlife survey tool has rapidly increased, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the technology is imperative to assess the degree to which research objectives are met. Aims We evaluated the differences in performance among three Reconyx camera-trap models, namely, a custom-modified high-sensitivity PC850, and unmodified PC850 and HC550. Methods We undertook a controlled field trial to compare the performance of the three models on Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory, by observing the ability of each model to detect the removal of a bait by native mammals. We compared variation in detecting the known event, trigger numbers, proportion of false triggers and the difference in detection probability of small to medium-sized mammals. Key results The high-sensitivity PC850 model detected bait take 75% of the time, as opposed to 33.3% and 20% for the respective unmodified models. The high-sensitivity model also increased the detection probability of the smallest mammal species from 0.09 to 0.34. However, there was no significant difference in detection probability for medium-sized mammals. Conclusions Despite the three Reconyx camera models having similar manufacturer-listed specifications, they varied substantially in their performance. The high-sensitivity model vastly improved the detection of known events and the detection probability of small mammals in northern Australia. Implications Failure to consider variation in camera-trap performance can lead to inaccurate conclusions when multiple camera models are used. Consequently, researchers should carefully consider the parameters and capabilities of camera models in study designs. Camera models and their configurations should be reported in methods, and variation in detection probabilities among different models and configurations should be incorporated into analyses.

scholarly journals Environmental DNA for tracking waterhole visitation in savanna ecosystems

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell J. Farrell ◽  
Danny Govender ◽  
Mehrdad Hajibabaei ◽  
Michelle van der Bank ◽  
T. Jonathan Davies
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Environmental Dna ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Reference Library ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Biodiversity Indicator ◽  
Detection Rates

AbstractThe analysis of waterborne environmental DNA (eDNA) is effective for detecting invasive species and conducting large-scale biodiversity assessments, making it a potentially powerful tool for documenting diversity at sites where large numbers of species aggregate. We explore the utility of eDNA from waterholes for describing local mammal communities, quantifying patterns of species co-occurrences, and monitoring of rare or threatened species. In savanna ecosystems water can be a scarce resource during dry seasons and in periods of drought, promoting the aggregation of medium to large mammals. To explore the reliability of eDNA as a biodiversity indicator in these arid and semi-arid environments, we compare eDNA metabarcoding and camera traps for documenting waterhole use by mammals in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. We find that eDNA metabarcoding can recover the majority of mammal species detected in camera traps, but the DNA signatures of mammal visitation are temporally limited. Detection rates varied across sites, sampling time, species, and choice of reference library, with the best performance for water-dependent large bodied mammals visiting within two days of sampling, and matched to a curated system-specific reference library. Our results demonstrate that eDNA-based approaches can be used to track mammals of conservation concern, and reflect patterns of recent waterhole use and co-occurrence across water-dependent species, but also highlight limitations including the lack of long-term eDNA persistence in small and highly utilized waterholes and variability in detection rates among species. Sequencing of eDNA is a valuable tool for next-generation biodiversity sampling and has many exciting applications, but it is not sufficient to capture long-term waterhole visitation patterns or reliably detect rare and small-bodied species.

Long-term assessment of the success of a European badger reintroduction

Mammalia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 410-413
Author(s):  
Alessandro Balestrieri ◽  
Pietro Tirozzi ◽  
Eleonora Agostani ◽  
Nicola Saino
Keyword(s):  
Social Groups ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Camera Trapping ◽  
European Badger ◽  
Suitable Habitats

Abstract To assess the success of a European badger reintroduction after 10 years, we monitored the reintroduction area (Regional Park of Montevecchia and Curone Valley, N Italy) using camera-trapping. Badgers were recorded 94 times by 20 camera-traps, spread over 12 out of the 15 1 km2 grid-squares totally or partially surveyed. Eighteen videoclips recorded cubs, providing evidence of the occurrence of at least two litters. The occurrence of five badger social groups could be assessed, corresponding to 0.9–1.15 individual/km2. All suitable habitats of the reintroduction area have been currently colonised.

scholarly journals Analysis of Potential Sensitive Mammal Species for Long-Term Monitoring in Glacier National Park

1989 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 53-57
Author(s):  
Ronald Beiswenger
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
National Park ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Glacier National Park ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Long Term Monitoring ◽  
Term Monitoring

The primary objective of this project is to identify species of mammals in Glacier National Park that are sensitive to environmental change and thus may serve as useful indicators of this change in a monitoring program.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document