Projecting range-wide sun bear population trends using tree cover and camera-trap bycatch data.

ABSTRACT: Monitoring population trends of threatened species requires standardized techniques that can be applied over broad areas and repeated through time. Sun bears Helarctos malayanus are a forest dependent tropical bear found throughout most of Southeast Asia. Previous estimates of global population trends have relied on expert opinion and cannot be systematically replicated. We combined data from 1,463 camera traps within 31 field sites across sun bear range to model the relationship between photo catch rates of sun bears and tree cover. Sun bears were detected in all levels of tree cover above 20%, and the probability of presence was positively associated with the amount of tree cover within a 6-km2 buffer of the camera traps. We used the relationship between catch rates and tree cover across

SUBMITTER: Scotson L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5621681 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature