Jennifer F. Moore, Neus Estela, Koighae Toupou, Seny Koivogui, Abass Camara, Michel S. Diawara, Matthew H. Shirley
{"title":"Insights into surveying pangolins using ground and arboreal camera traps","authors":"Jennifer F. Moore, Neus Estela, Koighae Toupou, Seny Koivogui, Abass Camara, Michel S. Diawara, Matthew H. Shirley","doi":"10.1515/mammalia-2023-0107","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Arboreal camera traps are becoming more commonly used for monitoring wildlife. Pangolins (Order: Pholidota) are a threatened group of mammals that are challenging to monitor across their range. In this study, we assessed the use of arboreal and ground camera traps for monitoring the three pangolin species native to West Africa in the Ziama Man and Biosphere Reserve, Guinea. We fit occupancy models to our data to examine the effect of factors related to camera height and tree height on detection probability. In addition, we evaluated the utility of deploying multiple cameras within the same tree. Our study showed that arboreal camera traps can successfully detect both arboreal pangolin species, with the highest detection in mid-canopy for white-bellied pangolin and mid-to high-canopy for black-bellied pangolins. In addition, our results suggest at least 4–6 cameras deployed on each tree to maximize the opportunity of detecting these species. We did not detect giant pangolins. Further studies are needed to continue improving detection of all three pangolins for monitoring and adaptive management of these heavily harvested and traded species.","PeriodicalId":49892,"journal":{"name":"Mammalia","volume":"45 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Mammalia","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2023-0107","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ZOOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Arboreal camera traps are becoming more commonly used for monitoring wildlife. Pangolins (Order: Pholidota) are a threatened group of mammals that are challenging to monitor across their range. In this study, we assessed the use of arboreal and ground camera traps for monitoring the three pangolin species native to West Africa in the Ziama Man and Biosphere Reserve, Guinea. We fit occupancy models to our data to examine the effect of factors related to camera height and tree height on detection probability. In addition, we evaluated the utility of deploying multiple cameras within the same tree. Our study showed that arboreal camera traps can successfully detect both arboreal pangolin species, with the highest detection in mid-canopy for white-bellied pangolin and mid-to high-canopy for black-bellied pangolins. In addition, our results suggest at least 4–6 cameras deployed on each tree to maximize the opportunity of detecting these species. We did not detect giant pangolins. Further studies are needed to continue improving detection of all three pangolins for monitoring and adaptive management of these heavily harvested and traded species.
期刊介绍:
Mammalia is an international, multidisciplinary, bimonthly journal devoted to the inventory, analysis and interpretation of mammalian diversity. It publishes original results on all aspects of the systematics and biology of mammals with a strong focus on ecology, including biodiversity analyses, distribution habitats, diet, predator-prey relationships, competition, community analyses and conservation of mammals. The journal also accepts submissions on sub-fossil or recently extinct mammals.