Comparative efficacy of sign surveys, spotlighting and audio playbacks in a landscape-scale carnivore survey
Many carnivores are difficult and labour-intensive to detect, often leading to prohibitivelyhigh effort and cost in large-scale surveys.However,such studies provide information that isimportant for effective management and conservation. Here, we evaluate the suitability ofthree survey methods for la...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
South African Bureau for Scientific Publications
2010
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/22607 |
| _version_ | 1848750917533302784 |
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| author | Thorn, M. Green, M. Bateman, Bill Cameron, E. Yarnell, R. Scott, D. |
| author_facet | Thorn, M. Green, M. Bateman, Bill Cameron, E. Yarnell, R. Scott, D. |
| author_sort | Thorn, M. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Many carnivores are difficult and labour-intensive to detect, often leading to prohibitivelyhigh effort and cost in large-scale surveys.However,such studies provide information that isimportant for effective management and conservation. Here, we evaluate the suitability ofthree survey methods for landscape-scale multi-species monitoring. We compare signsurveys, spotlighting, and audio playbacks in terms of detection efficiency, precision, effort,and cost. Sign surveys out-performed the other methods in all comparison criteria, althoughsupplementary methods were needed for some species and sites. We found that usingestablished analysis techniques, robust landscape-scale abundance estimates wouldrequire unrealistically high effort and cost. Occupancy estimation required considerablylower sample sizes and was therefore more economical. We conclude that sign-basedoccupancy estimates constitute a versatile and efficient option for future large-scale,multi-species carnivore surveys. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:44:27Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-22607 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:44:27Z |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| publisher | South African Bureau for Scientific Publications |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-226072018-03-29T09:06:47Z Comparative efficacy of sign surveys, spotlighting and audio playbacks in a landscape-scale carnivore survey Thorn, M. Green, M. Bateman, Bill Cameron, E. Yarnell, R. Scott, D. carnivore monitoring hyaena caracal survey Africa landscape jackal Many carnivores are difficult and labour-intensive to detect, often leading to prohibitivelyhigh effort and cost in large-scale surveys.However,such studies provide information that isimportant for effective management and conservation. Here, we evaluate the suitability ofthree survey methods for landscape-scale multi-species monitoring. We compare signsurveys, spotlighting, and audio playbacks in terms of detection efficiency, precision, effort,and cost. Sign surveys out-performed the other methods in all comparison criteria, althoughsupplementary methods were needed for some species and sites. We found that usingestablished analysis techniques, robust landscape-scale abundance estimates wouldrequire unrealistically high effort and cost. Occupancy estimation required considerablylower sample sizes and was therefore more economical. We conclude that sign-basedoccupancy estimates constitute a versatile and efficient option for future large-scale,multi-species carnivore surveys. 2010 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/22607 10.3957/056.040.0113 South African Bureau for Scientific Publications restricted |
| spellingShingle | carnivore monitoring hyaena caracal survey Africa landscape jackal Thorn, M. Green, M. Bateman, Bill Cameron, E. Yarnell, R. Scott, D. Comparative efficacy of sign surveys, spotlighting and audio playbacks in a landscape-scale carnivore survey |
| title | Comparative efficacy of sign surveys, spotlighting and audio playbacks in a landscape-scale carnivore survey |
| title_full | Comparative efficacy of sign surveys, spotlighting and audio playbacks in a landscape-scale carnivore survey |
| title_fullStr | Comparative efficacy of sign surveys, spotlighting and audio playbacks in a landscape-scale carnivore survey |
| title_full_unstemmed | Comparative efficacy of sign surveys, spotlighting and audio playbacks in a landscape-scale carnivore survey |
| title_short | Comparative efficacy of sign surveys, spotlighting and audio playbacks in a landscape-scale carnivore survey |
| title_sort | comparative efficacy of sign surveys, spotlighting and audio playbacks in a landscape-scale carnivore survey |
| topic | carnivore monitoring hyaena caracal survey Africa landscape jackal |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/22607 |