IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Thorn, M.; Green, M.; Bateman, P.W.; Cameron, E.Z.; Yarnell, R.W.; Scott, D.M. | |
| Comparative efficacy of sign surveys, spotlighting and audio playbacks in a landscape-scale carnivore survey | |
| 2010 South African Journal of Wildlife Research (40): 77-86 | |
Many carnivores are difficult and labour-intensive to detect, often leading to prohibitively high effort and cost in large-scale surveys. However, such studies provide information that is important for effective management and conservation. Here, we evaluate the suitability of three survey methods for landscape-scale multi-species monitoring. We compare sign surveys, spotlighting, and audio playbacks in terms of detection efficiency, precision, effort, and cost. Sign surveys out-performed the other methods in all comparison criteria, although supplementary methods were needed for some species and sites. We found that using established analysis techniques, robust landscape-scale abundance estimates would require unrealistically high effort and cost. Occupancy estimation required considerably lower sample sizes and was therefore more economical. We conclude that sign-based occupancy estimates constitute a versatile and efficient option for future large-scale, multi-species carnivore surveys. |
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