Title
Sampling mammalian carnivores in western Thailand: Issues of rarity and detectability
Author(s)
Chutipong, W.;Lynam, A. J.;Steinmetz, R.;Savini, T.;Gale, G. A.
Published
2014
Publisher
Raffles Bulletin of Zoology
Abstract
Many tropical mammalian carnivores are now threatened with extinction due to habitat loss and fragmentation, direct hunting pressure, and depletion of their prey reserves. Due to their cryptic behavior and relative rarity, we still know little regionally about baseline carnivore community composition and habitat preferences at individual sites across Southeast Asia, and consequently where and how best to study these communities, which further impedes conservation and management action. We sampled the mammalian carnivore community within diverse mosaic forest types of Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary in western Thailand using camera traps augmented with direct observations from spotlighting and incidental daytime observations to assess our ability to effectively sample the carnivore community. The community of mammalian carnivores in Thung Yai revealed by this combination of camera trapping and direct sighting consisted of 20 species ranging in size from small (banded linsangs, <1 kg) to very large (tigers, similar to 200 kg). Community occupancy analysis based on camera trapping alone indicated that 66 +/- 13% of the known community of carnivores (26 species) were detected during this survey. Detection probabilities of individual species varied from 0.01 to 0.34 with larger-bodied species having lower detection probabilities, possibly due to the small size of our trapping areas relative to their home range sizes. Effects of camera placement on species detection probability appeared to be subtle; however, terrestrial and large carnivores had higher detectability on the road, and semi-arboreal species seemed to have higher detection probabilities at cameras set on trails and trails by streams. The six species that went undetected included both terrestrial and semi-arboreal species. We attributed their non-detection to their behavior, natural rarity, and the limitations of our camera trap surveys. Spotlight surveys were useful in assessing strictly arboreal species, as we detected two additional species that went undetected by camera traps. Overall, this study suggests that surveys of carnivore assemblages via camera trapping can be improved by: (a) incorporating direct observations e. g., spotlight surveys; (b) surveying specific habitats or micro-habitats, particularly aquatic habitats, open forest/non-forest edges; and (c) placing cameras on a range of trail sizes as well as off-trails.
Keywords
Camera trapping;mammalian carnivores;Southeast Asia;spotlight;surveys;Thailand;tiger panthera-tigris;peat-swamp forest;yai national-park;activity;patterns;tropical forest;peninsular malaysia;conservation status;indonesian borneo;prey populations;model selection
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