Capturing red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) on camera: A cost-effective approach for monitoring relative abundance and habitat preference.

ABSTRACT: Effective methods for monitoring animal populations are crucial for species conservation and habitat management. Motion-activated cameras provide an affordable method for passively surveying animal presence across the landscape but have mainly been used for studying large-bodied mammals. This paper explores the relative abundance and habitat preferences of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in coniferous forests using cameras and live trapping. The study was conducted in two forests (Newborough and Pentraeth) on Anglesey, North Wales, with a total of 50 sampling locations across four habitat categories. Detailed woodland structure and composition data were gathered around each sampling location. We found a strong positive correlation between the number of individual red squirrels live

SUBMITTER: Shannon G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10546084 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature