Developing robust ecological monitoring methodologies for pangolin conservation

Morin, Dana J.; Challender, Daniel W.S.; Ichu, Ichu Godwill; Ingram, Daniel J.; Nash, Helen C.; Panaino, Wendy; Panjang, Elisa; Sun, Nick Ching‐Min; Willcox, Daniel

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-815507-3.00035-6

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…For instance, surveys of ground pangolins ( Smutsia spp.) can include line‐transect surveys for burrows, with burrow occupancy determined by an endoscope (Morin et al 2020). Transect surveys are also used for primates (Plumptre 2000), reptiles (Ruiz de Infante Anton et al 2013), amphibians (Dodd 1990), and plants (Buckland et al 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accounting for spatial heterogeneity in visual obstruction in line‐transect distance sampling of gopher tortoises

2022

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Line‐transect distance sampling (LTDS) surveys are commonly used to estimate abundance of animals or objects. In terrestrial LTDS surveys of gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) burrows, the presence of ground‐level vegetation substantially decreases detection of burrows of all sizes, but no field or analytical methods exist to control for spatially heterogeneous vegetation obstruction as a source of variation in detection. We propose the addition of a simple measurement of ground‐level vegetation that serves as a covariate for the detection function. We present a Bayesian hierarchical model in which covariates burrow width and nearby vegetation height help to account for detection bias and improve precision of estimated density. We investigate the performance of this covariate by simulation and by using real LTDS data collected before and after application of prescribed fire. We collected data in 2018 at the Jones Center at Ichauway in Newton, Georgia, USA. Across all simulations, our model including both covariates produced the most accurate density point estimates of any of the models tested. For our case study, our Bayesian model with vegetation covariates tended to produce similar estimates of density before and after burns. Our study indicates that any level of spatial variation in vegetation obstruction decreases detection of burrows and may lead to underestimation in population size (≤68%) and proportion of individuals with small burrow sizes (≤32%) when not considered during analysis. Our work is extensible to other terrestrial sampling efforts where systematic measurement of a spatially distributed obstructing feature is feasible during the LTDS survey.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accounting for spatial heterogeneity in visual obstruction in line‐transect distance sampling of gopher tortoises

2022

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“…In addition, aardvark and GP are considered to be ecologically similar species as they share the same habitat types, both feed on ants and termites, and dig burrows in which to rest, with aardvark generally using their burrows for a relatively short period of time, after which time they can be occupied by GP (Hoffmann et al, 2020;Kingdon, 2015). Despite potential direct and indirect interactions between the two species (Morin et al, 2020), it is thought that GP may sometimes use abandoned aardvark burrows for resting (Hoffmann et al, 2020). The correlates of this behavior remain unclear, and it would be worth investigating the interactions between the two species to better understand their ecological interactions for improved planning of conservation actions.…”

Section: Relationships Between Response Variables and Giant Pangolin ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Maximum entropy modeling of giant pangolin Smutsia gigantea (Illiger, 1815) habitat suitability in a protected forest-savannah transition area of central Cameroon

MOUAFO

Tédonzong

Ingram

et al. 2023

Global Ecology and Conservation

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“…Field observations of the Chinese pangolin ( Manis pentadactyla ) are extremely rare and difficult due to their nocturnal and elusive behavioral patterns 1 , as well as very low population size in the wild 2 . Pangolins are fossorial and frequently use their powerful forelimbs to excavate ground burrows not only to search for ants or termites (i.e., the foraging burrows), but also to create shelters used for resting, giving birth and nursing offspring (i.e., the resting or nursing burrows) 3 , 4 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long term monitoring of the reproductive behavior of wild Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla)

Sun

Pei

2021

Sci Rep

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Observations of Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) in the wild are extremely rare and challenging because of their nocturnal and cryptic activity patterns and low population density. The present article reported the first field observation in eastern Taiwan, from October 4, 2012 to June 16, 2016, on the reproductive behavior of the Chinese pangolin based on the monitoring of a female (LF28) using radiotelemetry and camera traps. During this period, LF28 aged from 1–4.5 years old and gave two single-births, both took place in early December, at 3 and 4 years old, respectively. We recorded the entire 157 days of the first nursing period from parturition to maternal separation. For the second infant, the gestation period was estimated to be around 150 days based on the evidence that the pregnancy started in early Jul. 2015 and the offspring was born on Dec. 9, 2015. During the entire nursing period, LF28 frequently moved the offspring from one nursing burrow to another staying various durations ranging from 1 day to more than 35 days, and almost all (= 15/16) of these burrows were located in the core (MCP75) of LF28’s home range. Started from the month of parturition and lasting throughout the whole nursing period, different adult males constantly visiting the nursing burrows were recorded. Mating behavior was recorded once outside the burrow in March, which provided evidence of the occurrence of post-partum estrus in this species. Delayed implantation was proposed based on the observation of a several months lag between copulation and the estimated pregnancy initiation date. The present study demonstrated the advantage of using remote technologies to learn the life history of resting fossorial species.

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Developing robust ecological monitoring methodologies for pangolin conservation

Cited by 8 publications

References 39 publications

Accounting for spatial heterogeneity in visual obstruction in line‐transect distance sampling of gopher tortoises

Accounting for spatial heterogeneity in visual obstruction in line‐transect distance sampling of gopher tortoises

Maximum entropy modeling of giant pangolin Smutsia gigantea (Illiger, 1815) habitat suitability in a protected forest-savannah transition area of central Cameroon

Long term monitoring of the reproductive behavior of wild Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla)

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