Browsing by Author "Rich, Lindsey N."

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    Assessing global patterns in mammalian carnivore occupancy and richness by integrating local camera trap surveys
    Rich, Lindsey N.; Davis, Courtney L.; Farris, Zachary J.; Miller, David A. W.; Tucker, Jody M.; Hamel, Sandra; Farhadinia, Mohammad S.; Steenweg, Robin; Di Bitetti, Mario S.; Thapa, Kanchan; Kane, Mamadou D.; Sunarto, Sunarto; Robinson, Nathaniel P.; Paviolo, Agustin; Cruz, Paula; Martins, Quinton; Gholikhani, Navid; Taktehrani, Atieh; Whittington, Jesse; Widodo, Febri A.; Yoccoz, Nigel G.; Wultsch, Claudia; Harmsen, Bart J.; Kelly, Marcella J. (2017-08)
    Aim: Biodiversity loss is a major driver of ecosystem change, yet the ecological data required to detect and mitigate losses are often lacking. Recently, camera trap surveys have been suggested as a method for sampling local wildlife communities, because these observations can be collated into a global monitoring network. To demonstrate the potential of camera traps for global monitoring, we assembled data from multiple local camera trap surveys to evaluate the interchange between fine- and broad-scale processes impacting mammalian carnivore communities. Location: Argentina, Belize, Botswana, Canada, Indonesia, Iran, Madagascar, Nepal, Norway, Senegal, South Africa, and the U.S.A. Methods: We gathered camera trap data, totalling >100,000 trap nights, from across five continents. To analyse local and species-specific responses to anthropogenic and environmental variables, we fitted multispecies occurrence models to each study area. To analyse global-level responses, we then fitted a multispecies, multi-area occurrence model. Results: We recorded 4,805 detections of 96 mammalian carnivore species photographed across 1,714 camera stations located in 12 countries. At the global level, our models revealed that carnivore richness and occupancy within study areas was positively associated with prey availability. Occupancy within study areas also tended to increase with greater protection and greater distances to roads. The strength of these relationships, however, differed among countries. Main conclusions: We developed a research framework for leveraging global camera trap data to evaluate patterns of mammalian carnivore occurrence and richness across multiple spatial scales. Our research highlights the importance of intact prey populations and protected areas in conserving carnivore communities. Our research also highlights the potential of camera traps for monitoring wildlife communities and provides a case study for how this can be achieved on a global scale. We encourage greater integration and standardization among camera trap studies worldwide, which would help inform effective conservation planning for wildlife populations both locally and globally.
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    Ecological correlates of the spatial co-occurrence of sympatric mammalian carnivores worldwide
    Davis, Courtney L.; Rich, Lindsey N.; Farris, Zachary J.; Kelly, Marcella J.; Di Bitetti, Mario S.; Di Blanco, Yamil; Albanesi, Sebastian; Farhadinia, Mohammad S.; Gholikhani, Navid; Hamel, Sandra; Harmsen, Bart J.; Wultsch, Claudia; Kane, Mamadou D.; Martins, Quinton; Murphy, Asia J.; Steenweg, Robin; Sunarto, Sunarto; Taktehrani, Atieh; Thapa, Kanchan; Tucker, Jody M.; Whittington, Jesse; Widodo, Febri A.; Yoccoz, Nigel G.; Miller, David A. W. (2018-09)
    The composition of local mammalian carnivore communities has far-reaching effects on terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. To better understand how carnivore communities are structured, we analysed camera trap data for 108087 trap days across 12 countries spanning five continents. We estimate local probabilities of co-occurrence among 768 species pairs from the order Carnivora and evaluate how shared ecological traits correlate with probabilities of co-occurrence. Within individual study areas, species pairs co-occurred more frequently than expected at random. Co-occurrence probabilities were greatest for species pairs that shared ecological traits including similar body size, temporal activity pattern and diet. However, co-occurrence decreased as compared to other species pairs when the pair included a large-bodied carnivore. Our results suggest that a combination of shared traits and top-down regulation by large carnivores shape local carnivore communities globally.
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    Monitoring and Conserving Wildlife Communities across Northern Botswana
    Rich, Lindsey N. (Virginia Tech, 2016-09-27)
    To develop effective conservation planning and mitigate biodiversity loss, standardized metrics for monitoring and assessing biodiversity are needed. This information is particularly vital in Botswana, where knowledge of many of the diverse wildlife populations is lacking. To address this knowledge gap, my dissertation research evaluated the distributions, densities, and ecology of the wildlife community in northern Botswana, with a focus on terrestrial carnivore species given their importance both ecologically and economically. My objectives were threefold: 1) estimate the distributions of the mammal community (n = 44 species) and evaluate community, group, and species-specific responses to anthropogenic and environmental variables, 2) test whether the presence of intraguild species or resource availability had a larger influence on the seasonal distributions of carnivore species, and 3) simultaneously estimate the population densities of 7 carnivore species. To accomplish these objectives, I completed a multi-year camera trap survey in a 1,154-km2 study area and analyzed the data using occupancy models (single and multi- species) and spatially explicit capture-recapture models. Estimates of species richness ranged from 8 to 27 unique species, species had a mean occurrence probability of 0.32 (95% credible interval = 0.21–0.45), and estimated densities ranged from 1.8 aardwolves (Proteles cristata) to 12.7 spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) per 100 km2. The occupancy and richness of terrestrial mammals was negatively associated with human disturbance and in general, positively associated with open grasslands/floodplains. Carnivore species, specifically, tended to have greater species richness and larger population densities in open habitats than in closed. I also found carnivore distributions were positively associated with the detection rate of intraguild competitors and predators, suggesting competitor/predator avoidance did not play a large role in shaping carnivore community structure. My research highlights the pivotal role protected areas and grasslands play in conserving wildlife populations in northern Botswana. Additionally, my research helps progress camera trap analyses from single to multi-species assessments. Broader application of this multi-species approach would likely result in a better understanding of wildlife and carnivore communities which in turn, may help inform management actions aimed at addressing the loss of wildlife populations globally.
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    Pangolins in global camera trap data: Implications for ecological monitoring
    Khwaja, Hannah; Buchan, Claire; Wearn, Oliver R.; Bahaa-el-din, Laila; Bantlin, Drew; Bernard, Henry; Bitariho, Robert; Bohm, Torsten; Borah, Jimmy; Brodie, Jedediah; Chutipong, Wanlop; du Preez, Byron; Ebang-Mbele, Alex; Edwards, Sarah; Fairet, Emilie; Frechette, Jackson L.; Garside, Adrian; Gibson, Luke; Giordano, Anthony; Gopi, Govindan Veeraswami; Granados, Alys; Gubbi, Sanjay; Harich, Franziska; Haurez, Barbara; Havmoller, Rasmus W.; Helmy, Olga; Isbell, Lynne A.; Jenks, Kate; Kalle, Riddhika; Kamjing, Anucha; Khamcha, Daphawan; Kiebou-Opepa, Cisquet; Kinnaird, Margaret; Kruger, Caroline; Laudisoit, Anne; Lynam, Antony; Macdonald, Suzanne E.; Mathai, John; Sienne, Julia Metsio; Meier, Amelia; Mills, David; Mohd-Azlan, Jayasilan; Nakashima, Yoshihiro; Nash, Helen C.; Ngoprasert, Dusit; Nguyen, An; O'Brien, Timothy J.; Olson, David; Orbell, Christopher; Poulsen, John; Ramesh, Tharmalingam; Reeder, DeeAnn; Reyna, Rafael; Rich, Lindsey N.; Rode-Margono, Johanna; Rovero, Francesco; Sheil, Douglas; Shirley, Matthew H.; Stratford, Ken; Sukumal, Niti; Suwanrat, Saranphat; Tantipisanuh, Naruemon; Tilker, Andrew; Van Berkel, Tim; Van der Weyde, Leanne K.; Varney, Matthew; Weise, Florian; Wiesel, Ingrid; Wilting, Andreas; Wong, Seth T.; Waterman, Carly; Challender, Daniel W. S. (2019-10)
    Despite being heavily exploited, pangolins (Pholidota: Manidae) have been subject to limited research, resulting in a lack of reliable population estimates and standardised survey methods for the eight extant species. Camera trapping represents a unique opportunity for broad-scale collaborative species monitoring due to its largely nondiscriminatory nature, which creates considerable volumes of data on a relatively wide range of species. This has the potential to shed light on the ecology of rare, cryptic and understudied taxa, with implications for conservation decision-making. We undertook a global analysis of available pangolin data from camera trapping studies across their range in Africa and Asia. Our aims were (1) to assess the utility of existing camera trapping efforts as a method for monitoring pangolin populations, and (2) to gain insights into the distribution and ecology of pangolins. We analysed data collated from 103 camera trap surveys undertaken across 22 countries that fell within the range of seven of the eight pangolin species, which yielded more than half a million trap nights and 888 pangolin encounters. We ran occupancy analyses on three species (Sunda pangolin Manis javanica, white-bellied pangolin Phataginus tricuspis and giant pangolin Smutsia gigantea). Detection probabilities varied with forest cover and levels of human influence for P. tricuspis, but were low (<0.05) for all species. Occupancy was associated with distance from rivers for M. javanica and S. gigantea, elevation for P. tricuspis and S. gigantea, forest cover for P. tricuspis and protected area status for M. javanica and P. tricuspis. We conclude that camera traps are suitable for the detection of pangolins and large-scale assessment of their distributions. However, the trapping effort required to monitor populations at any given study site using existing methods appears prohibitively high. This may change in the future should anticipated technological and methodological advances in camera trapping facilitate greater sampling efforts and/or higher probabilities of detection. In particular, targeted camera placement for pangolins is likely to make pangolin monitoring more feasible with moderate sampling efforts. (c) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.