Innovations in Research Technology to Assess Forest Wildlife (2023-2024)
Loss of terrestrial vertebrates – defaunation – is occurring at an unprecedented rate. However, the decline of animal species is not uniform. Variation in species sensitivity translates directly to their probability of decline and endangerment. Wildlife management requires efficient, easy-to-use methods to assess species occupancy and abundance over space and time with high accuracy.
Technologies like camera traps are more effective than traditional methods because they are noninvasive, record data over long periods and capture a wide range of species. Similarly, acoustic recorders can record cryptic and arboreal species that camera traps fail to capture. Although rarely combined, pairing both methods alongside other new technologies like terrestrial LiDAR provides a more comprehensive biodiversity picture than any one method alone.
This team tested the effectiveness of combining data from camera traps, acoustic recorders and terrestrial LiDAR to improve estimates of species occupancy. Surveying areas in Duke Forest, North Carolina, and the tropical forest in Ivindo National Park, Gabon, team members assessed species’ habitat needs and threats by combining terrestrial LiDAR and animal data. The team compared the efficacy of the technologies, examined the ecological complexity of temperate and tropical systems, and considered the different ethical considerations that arise when performing research in different locations.
After the data gathering, subteams used various computer software to process their findings and analyzed their data, estimating species occupancies using Bayesian models.
Timing
Summer 2023 – Spring 2024
Team Outputs
Long-term study design and database
Data on species occupancy
Curriculum for Wildlife Camera Trap Analysis course
Innovations in Research Technology to Assess Forest Wildlife (Interactive display presented at Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Showcase, April 17, 2024)
This Team in the News
Two Graduating Nicholas School Master's Students Share Virlis Fischer Award
See related Data+ project, Innovations in Research Technology to Assess Forest Wildlife (2023).
Image: Biology professor Ron Grunwald and students in his herpetology class identify reptiles and amphibians they find in Duke Forest, a teaching and research laboratory established in 1931, by Jared Lazarus/Duke University