IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Higginbottom, P.A. | |
| Improving the reliability of jaguar abundance and density estimates from camera trapping surveys | |
| 2012 Full Book | |
Population estimates of jaguar _(Panthera onca) _are important for conservation strategies such as IUCN classification, tracking population trends and establishing protected areas. Estimates produced using camera traps can suffer from a lack of reliability due to the spatial and temporal variations that are possible when deploying camera grids in the field. This PhD examined factors that influence jaguar abundance and density estimates produced from camera trap surveys, and how estimates could be improved upon. The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, Belize, an area known to support a healthy jaguar population was chosen as the study site. Closed models and a Bayesian spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) method were examined. First, camera trapping was modified to produce closed model estimates from areas without trails. Second, temporal issues of survey length, timing and population openness, and spatial factors such as camera density and location were investigated. Finally, performance of the SECR method was compared with closed models, and questions of sample size, survey timing and location sensitivity examined. |
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