An evaluation of camera traps for inventorying large‐ and medium‐sized terrestrial rainforest mammals

Tobler, Mathias W.; Carrillo‐Percastegui, Samia E.; Pitman, Renata Leite; Marés, Rafael; Powell, George

doi:10.1111/j.1469-1795.2008.00169.x

Cited by 660 publications

(720 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Although generalisations about this are tricky, camera trapping studies carried out elsewhere suggest that rare species begin to ''appear'' in inventories after sampling efforts in the range of 1000-2000 camera trap days (Tobler et al 2008). However, although the buffer area is almost four times larger than the interior, the sampling effort was roughly the same for both areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Buffer zone use by mammals in a Cerrado protected area

et al. 2016

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Habitat loss and degradation is threatening mammals worldwide. Therefore, Protected Areas (PA) are of utmost importance to preserve biodiversity. Their effectiveness, however, depends on some management strategies such as buffer zones, which prevent/mitigate the impact of external threats and might increase the amount of available habitat for wildlife existing within reserves. Nevertheless, how intensively terrestrial mammals use buffer zones remains little studied, particularly in the Neotropical region. Aiming to analyse the use of a buffer zone (5 km wide) by medium and large-sized mammals, we modelled the occupancy probabilities of five species of conservation concern including local (interior and buffer zone) as a site covariate, simultaneously controlling for imperfect detection. Data collection was made with camera traps from April to September 2013 in a 9000 ha Cerrado PA (“interior”) and in its surrounding area (39721.41 ha; “buffer zone”). This PA (Jataí Ecological Station) is immersed in a landscape where sugarcane plantations predominate in the northeastern of the state of São Paulo. We also conducted an inventory to compare the number and composition of species between interior and buffer zone. A total of 31 mammal species (26 natives) was recorded via camera traps and active search for sightings, vocalizations, tracks and signs. Occupancy estimates for Myrmecophaga tridactyla, Leopardus pardalis and Pecari tajacu were numerically higher in interior. On the other hand, Chrysocyon brachyurus had the highest occupancy in buffer zone, while the largest predator, Puma concolor, used both areas similarly. However, as the confidence intervals (95%) overlapped, the differences in occupancy probabilities between interior and buffer were weak for all these species. Additionally, regarding only the species recorded by cameras, the observed and estimated richness were similar between interior and buffer zone of the PA. Our data demonstrated that the buffer zone is indeed used by medium and large-sized mammals, including conservation-dependent ones. The lack of enforcement of current legislation regarding buffer zones is therefore a real threat for mammals, even when protection is guaranteed in the interior of protected areas.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Buffer zone use by mammals in a Cerrado protected area

et al. 2016

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“…This is in line with previous findings on other species, especially in mammals (Anile & Devillard, 2016; Lyra‐Jorge et al., 2008; Tobler et al., 2008; Urlus et al., 2014). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distance and size matters: A comparison of six wildlife camera traps and their usefulness for wild birds

Randler

Kalb

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Camera traps are increasingly used in ecological research. However, tests of their performance are scarce. It is already known from previous work that camera traps frequently fail to capture visits by animals. This can lead to a misinterpretation of ecological results such as density estimates or predation events. While previous work is mainly based on mammals, for birds, no data about if and how camera traps can be successfully used to estimate species diversity or density are available. Hence, the goal of our study was an empirical validation of six different camera traps in the field. We observed a total number of N = 4567 events (independent visits of a bird) in 100 different sessions from March 2017 until January 2018 while camera traps were deployed. In addition, N = 641 events are based on a comparison of the two close‐up camera traps especially designed for birds. These events were all directly observed by the authors. Thus, the cameras can be compared against the human observer. To give an overall assessment and a more generalizable result, we combined the data from the six camera traps and showed that bird size category (effect size = 0.207) and distance (effect size = 0.132) are the most important predictors for a successful trigger. Also, temperature had a small effect, and flock size had an impact with larger flocks being captured more often. The approach of the bird, whether it approached the camera frontally or laterally had no influence. In Table 8, we give some recommendations, based on our results, at which distances camera traps should be placed to get a 25%, 50%, and 75% capture rate for a given bird size.

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“…Hamel et al (2013) examined the influence of time delays and motion-activated versus time-activated cameras and although time delays may increase the rate of daily falsenegatives, the influence on detection and occupancy was negligible compared with the influence of sampling period. Similarly, Tobler et al (2008) reported that the number of species recorded was highly correlated with survey effort and not camera spacing or survey area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Horizontal or vertical? Camera trap orientations and recording modes for detecting potoroos, bandicoots and pademelons

Taylor

Goldingay

Lindsay³

2014

Aust. Mammalogy

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Abstract. Camera traps can detect rare and cryptic species, and may enable description of the stability of populations of threatened species. We investigated the relative performance of cameras oriented horizontally or vertically, and recording mode (still and video) to detect the vulnerable long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus) as a precursor to population monitoring. We established camera traps for periods of 13-21 days across 21 sites in Richmond Range National Park in northeast New South Wales. Each camera trap set consisted of three KeepGuard KG680V cameras directed at a bait container -one horizontal and one vertical camera in still mode and one horizontal camera in video mode. Potoroos and bandicoots (Perameles nasuta and Isoodon macrourus) were detected at 14 sites and pademelons (Thylogale stigmatica and T. thetis) were detected at 19 sites. We used program PRESENCE to compare detection probabilities for each camera category. The detection probability for all three taxa groups was lowest for the vertical still and similar for the horizontal cameras. The detection probability (horizontal still) was highest for the potoroos (0.43) compared with the bandicoots (0.16) and pademelons (0.25). We estimate that the horizontal stills camera could achieve a 95% probability of detection of a potoroo within 6 days compared with 8 days using a vertical stills camera. This suggests that horizontal cameras in still mode have great potential for monitoring the dynamics of this potoroo population.

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An evaluation of camera traps for inventorying large‐ and medium‐sized terrestrial rainforest mammals

Cited by 660 publications

References 34 publications

Buffer zone use by mammals in a Cerrado protected area

Buffer zone use by mammals in a Cerrado protected area

Distance and size matters: A comparison of six wildlife camera traps and their usefulness for wild birds

Horizontal or vertical? Camera trap orientations and recording modes for detecting potoroos, bandicoots and pademelons

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