THE ALLURE OF LURE AND ITS IMPACT ON PERCEIVED COMMUNITY COMPOSITION WHEN MONITORING TROPICAL MAMMALIAN BIODIVERSITY
Date
2018-05
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Due to low detection rates of high-profile target species, e.g. large carnivores,
in camera trap surveys, researchers commonly implement the use of lure or bait as an
attractant. It is also common to use ancillary photos, e.g. non-target species, to study
additional research questions such as prey availability or biodiversity metrics.
Although attractants are widely used to increase capture rates of target species, little is
known of the effect on non-target species capture rates. We evaluate if the use of bait
or lure can introduce bias into non-target species capture rates and community
composition metrics. We deployed baited, lured, and control camera stations within
the Mamoní Valley, a tropical biodiversity corridor in the narrowest stretch of the
Isthmus of Panama. Across 34 cameras and ~6 months we captured 23,965 photos of
animals and identified 31 different species. This data was used to evaluate spatial and
temporal trends in community composition as influenced by bait or lure use. We also
measured differences in species specific probability of detection among treatment and
control locations. Our findings suggest that using photos to evaluate supplemental
research questions such as biodiversity or prey availability is unbiased by the use or
non-use of our selected lure or bait.
Description
Keywords
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, biodiversity, lure