Set Ahdrift: Applying Game Cameras To Drift Fences For Surveying Herpetofauna And Small Mammals

Keywords

amphibians; community survey; drift fence; Florida; game camera; reptiles; small mammals

Abstract

The use of game cameras by wildlife biologists and managers to survey wildlife, particularly medium- and large-bodied mammals, has increased dramatically. Previous attempts to survey small mammals and ectotherms have had limited detection success or were focused solely on a single species. We describe the Adapted-Hunt Drift Fence Technique (AHDriFT), which combines commercially available game cameras and traditional drift fences to survey reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals. Across 4,502 trap-nights at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida, USA (Jun 2014 to Jun 2015), we recorded images for 2,523 unique vertebrate detections (2% unidentifiable) averaging 0.56 unique triggers/night. Using AHDriFT enables long-duration surveys with high detectability while minimizing observer time. Guide-boards increased terrestrial vertebrate image capture at minimal cost. During 1 year of usage, no mortality was documented using this camera-trap system and field time was reduced by 95%, requiring only monthly visits of approximately 3 hr for 9 fence arrays to download images from the camera systems, compared with pitfall or funnel traps that require at least daily monitoring. © 2017 The Wildlife Society.

Publication Date

12-1-2017

Publication Title

Wildlife Society Bulletin

Volume

41

Issue

4

Number of Pages

804-809

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.805

Socpus ID

85030175243 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85030175243

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