Snap happy: camera traps are an effective sampling tool when compared with alternative methods.

ABSTRACT: Camera traps have become a ubiquitous tool in ecology and conservation. They are routinely deployed in wildlife survey and monitoring work, and are being advocated as a tool for planetary-scale biodiversity monitoring. The camera trap's widespread adoption is predicated on the assumption of its effectiveness, but the evidence base for this is lacking. Using 104 past studies, we recorded the qualitative overall recommendations made by study authors (for or against camera traps, or ambiguous), together with quantitative data on the effectiveness of camera traps (e.g. number of species detected or detection probabilities) relative to 22 other methods. Most studies recommended the use of camera traps overall and they were 39% more effective based on the quantitative data. They were significant

SUBMITTER: Wearn OR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6458413 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature