Tourist photographs as a scalable framework for wildlife monitoring in protected areas

Rafiq, Kasim; Bryce, Caleb M.; Rich, Lindsey N.; Coco, Carli; Miller, David A. W.; Meloro, Carlo; Wich, Serge A.; McNutt, J. Weldon; Hayward, Matt W.

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2019.05.056

Cited by 17 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Many management agencies collect citizen science data, such as sightings of rare wildlife (Olson, Van Deelen, Clare, & Allen, 2020) or observations of game species by hunters (Crum et al, 2017; Roberts & Crimmins, 2010; Ueno et al, 2014), and these surveys may be an efficient and low‐cost tool to inform management and conservation of wildlife (Mueller et al, 2019; Rafiq et al, 2019). Archery deer hunter surveys are sometimes considered one of the most accurate data available to management agencies (Crum et al, 2017; Mahard et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Citizen science, where members of the public contribute to scientific research through data collection (Dickinson, Zuckerberg, & Bonter, 2010), has expanded means by which researchers and managers can collect species occurrence data across broad spatial extents (e.g., Mueller et al, 2019; Rafiq et al, 2019). One form of citizen science widely used by management agencies is wildlife observations by hunters, where participating individuals document wildlife species they see while hunting (Crum, Fuller, Sutherland, Cooch, & Hurst, 2017; Roberts & Crimmins, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mismatched spatial scales can limit the utility of citizen science data for estimating wildlife‐habitat relationships

Bauder

Cervantes

Avrin

et al. 2020

Ecological Research

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While most carnivore populations are declining worldwide, some species are successfully living in human-modified landscapes. For example, coyotes (Canis latrans) have expanded their range across North America and into many urban areas making it important to understand factors influencing broad-scale patterns of occurrence. We used citizen science data in the form of coyote observations by archery deer hunters from throughout the state of Illinois to evaluate factors affecting coyote detection and occupancy. Our statewide participant-level occupancy estimate (0.63) was 58% greater than our naïve occupancy estimate (0.40) while detection probability was <0.25, highlighting the importance of using modeling frameworks that account for imperfect detection when modeling occupancy of cryptic species with low detection rates. Time period (AM/PM) had the largest effect on detection of coyotes, with detections greater in the AM. The number of hours hunted (analogous to effort) also impacted coyote detection, with more hours hunted increasing coyote detections. In contrast, none of the landscape covariates examined had strong effects on coyote occupancy. While coyote ubiquity and generalist habitat use may at least partially explain our results, we suspect it also is because the landscape covariates were measured at the county level, as more precise participant location data were unavailable, whereas participants effectively surveyed a much smaller area. Since scale affects the strength and direction of species-habitat relationships, this scale mismatch is likely an important limitation when using many sources of citizen scientist observations to infer species-habitat relationships for widespread generalist species when precise participant location data are unavailable.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mismatched spatial scales can limit the utility of citizen science data for estimating wildlife‐habitat relationships

Bauder

Cervantes

Avrin

et al. 2020

Ecological Research

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“…Data from call up surveys and track counts cannot be used to estimate these parameters because information on individual lion identities cannot be garnered from these methods. Rafiq et al (2019) also show that this SECR technique for African lions can be scaled up using safari tourist vehicles. This has important ramifications on costs, and in their study of lions in Botswana's Okavango Delta showed that SECR for lions was as expensive as a track survey and cheaper than call up (audio lure) and camera trap surveys.…”

Section: Benefits and Caveats Of The Methodsmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…Furthermore, it can be used under a citizen-science approach where safari guides and their tourists are used to collect photographs of lions on safari. This could make the costs of such surveys considerably lower than traditional methods (Rafiq et al 2019). estimates for these species in Uganda.…”

Section: Benefits and Caveats Of The Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There have been a series of recent studies to use SECR to estimate African lion population densities and these include , , Rafiq et al (2019), and Rich et al (2019). These all use essentially the same field sampling and modelling framework as data Chapter 2 of my thesis: camera trap detections or search encounters of individual African lions, processed under a Bayesian SECR modelling framework (see Royle et al 2009;.…”

Section: Novelty Of Using Population Parameters From Secr To Inform Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Population estimates of large carnivores and their conflict with humans in East Africa and India

Braczkowski¹

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Humanity is exerting unprecendented pressure on natural ecosystems and the species living in them. This pressure is particularly evident among the larger members of the order Carnivora. Their large body size (typically in the 25-600 kg range), life history traits, and reliance on large prey species places them at increased risk of extinction. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Cat Specialist Group, and the Convention of Migratory Species (CMS) both recognize the deficiencies in robust data available on large carnivores across large tracts of Africa. Furthermore, the population estimates we do have are often drawn from less-reliable methods.

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Detecting early warnings of pressure on an African lion (Panthera leo) population in the Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area, Uganda

Braczkowski

Gopalaswamy

Nsubuga

et al. 2020

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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1. African lions are declining across much of their range, yet robust measures of population densities remain rare. The Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area (QECA; 2,400 km 2 ) in East Africa's Albertine Rift has potential to support a significant lion population. However, QECA lions are threatened, and information on the status of lions in the region is lacking.2. Here, we use a spatially explicit search encounter approach to estimate key population parameters of lions in the QECA. We then compare home range sizes estimated from our models to those from a radio-collaring study implemented a decade earlier.3. We recorded 8,243.5 km of search effort over 93 days, detecting 30 individual lions (16 female and 14 male) on 165 occasions at a rate of 2 lion detections/100 km 2 .Lion density in the QECA was 2.70 adult lions/100 km 2 (SD = 0.47), while mean abundance was 71 individuals (SD = 11.05).4. Worryingly, the movement parameter for male lions was 3.27 km and 2.22 km for females, suggesting > 400%, and > 100% increases in home range size, respectively, compared to a decade earlier. Sex ratio of lions in the QECA was lower (1 male: 0.75 females), when compared to a previously published review (mean = 1:2.33).

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Tourist photographs as a scalable framework for wildlife monitoring in protected areas

Cited by 17 publications

References 10 publications

Mismatched spatial scales can limit the utility of citizen science data for estimating wildlife‐habitat relationships

Mismatched spatial scales can limit the utility of citizen science data for estimating wildlife‐habitat relationships

Population estimates of large carnivores and their conflict with humans in East Africa and India

Detecting early warnings of pressure on an African lion (Panthera leo) population in the Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area, Uganda

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