Integral assessment of active and passive survey methods for large-scale monitoring of mammal occurrence in Mediterranean landscapes

Suárez-Tangil, Bruno D.; Rodrı́guez, Alejandro

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107553

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…Indeed, plot size falls within or slightly outside the interval of home range sizes reported for the nine mammal species (cf. appendix B in Suárez‐Tangil & Rodríguez, 2021a). The high explanatory power of landscape variables within plots may result from second‐order habitat selection (Johnson, 1980), that is, the selection of landscape attributes suitable for placing home ranges.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Alternatively, dispersal distances can be estimated from home range size. We used the power law equations proposed by Bowman et al (2002) and Santini et al (2013) to estimate maximum and median dispersal distances for each species (Appendix S3) as a function of home range sizes gathered by Suárez‐Tangil and Rodríguez (2021a). Dispersal distance was not included in the analyses as a species trait but we considered it to discuss any potential effects of spatial structure on community composition in the light of dispersal limitation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mammal surveys were conducted within eight 4-km 2 square sampling plots in each of the three landscapes (Figure 1b). Sampling plots were 2 km apart from their nearest neighbor, and were considered spatially independent because resident individuals were unlikely to use more than one during each sampling session (Su arez-Tangil & Rodríguez, 2021a). Mammal surveys using a multimethod detection schedule were replicated four times (sessions), at six-month intervals during the spring and autumn of 2000 and 2001.…”

Section: Composition Of Mammal Assemblagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is uncertain, however, whether the segregation signal of competitive relationships is reproduced into co‐occurrence patterns observable at the home range and landscape scales. This is relevant for conservation because the composition of mammal assemblages is typically monitored at medium to large spatial scales (Karanth et al, 2009; Suárez‐Tangil & Rodríguez, 2021a; Thorn et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental filtering drives the assembly of mammal communities in a heterogeneous Mediterranean region

Suárez-Tangil

Rodrı́guez

2023

Ecological Applications

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Agricultural expansion and intensification are major drivers of global change. Quantifying the importance of different processes governing the assembly of local communities in agroecosystems is essential to guide the conservation effort allocated to enhancing habitat connectivity, improving habitat quality or managing species interactions. We used multiple detection methods to record the occurrence of medium‐sized and large‐sized mammals in three managed landscapes of a heterogeneous Mediterranean region. Then we used a joint species distribution model to evaluate the relative influence of dispersal limitation, environmental filtering, and interspecific interactions on the local assembly of mammal communities in 4‐km2 plots. The partitioning of the explained variation in species occurrence was attributed on average 99% to environmental filters and 1% to dispersal filters. No role was attributed to biotic filters, in agreement with the scarce support for strong competition or other negative interactions found after a literature review. Four principal environmental factors explained on average 63% of variance in species occurrence and operated mainly at the landscape scale. The amount of shrub cover in the neighboring landscape was the most influential factor favoring mammal occurrence and accounted for nearly one‐third of the total variance. The proportion of intensively managed croplands and proxies of human activity within landscape samples limited mammal presence. At the microhabitat scale (~80 m2 plots) the mean percentage area deprived of woody vegetation also had a negative effect. Functional traits such as body mass or social behavior accounted for a substantial fraction of the variation attributed to environmental factors. We concluded that multiscale environmental filtering governed local community assembly, whereas the role of dispersal limitation and interspecific interactions was negligible. Our results suggest that further removal of shrubland, the expansion of intensive agriculture, and the increase of human activity are expected to result in species losses. The fact that community integrity responds to a single type of ecological process simplifies practical recommendations. Management strategies should focus on the conservation and restoration of shrubland, adopting alternatives to intensive schemes of agricultural production, and minimizing recreational and other human activities in remnant natural habitats within agroecosystems or mosaic landscapes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Composition Of Mammal Assemblagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental filtering drives the assembly of mammal communities in a heterogeneous Mediterranean region

Suárez-Tangil

Rodrı́guez

2023

Ecological Applications

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“…track surveys, scat surveys) or passive (e.g. camera traps) survey methods (Suárez-Tangil and Rodríguez, 2021). Unfortunately, the data collection mechanisms are imperfect, which implies observed detection/non-detection does not necessarily equate to true presence/absence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occupancy Models with Autocorrelated Detection Heterogeneity

Hepler

Yang

2023

Preprint

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Occupancy models are commonly used in statistical ecology to model binary detection/non-detection data. These hierarchical models make a distinction between detection/non-detection and presence/absence by treating true occupancy as a latent process. In this paper, we propose a multi-species, multi-season occupancy model to jointly model detection/non-detection data on multiple species. Existing literature has shown that models which account for various sources of dependence in the latent occupancy process improve estimation, especially in the single-survey setting. However, the detection process in the model has not received much attention, even though detectability of a species is expected to relate to the detectability of other species and to detectability in previous time periods. In this work, we propose a model to capture this phenomenon by incorporating a multivariate temporal random effect in the detection process. We perform a simulation study to show that the proposed model yields more accurate estimates of regression effects and probabilities as compared to models that only use covariates to quantify detection. We apply our model to detection/non-detection data on three species – Thomson’s gazelle, zebra, and wildebeest – in Serengeti National Park of Tanzania, Africa.

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Monitoring mesocarnivores with tracks and technology using multi‐method modeling

et al. 2023

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Mesocarnivores play important ecological roles and are valued by diverse stakeholders. These species are often the focus of conservation efforts or are managed for sustainable harvest. Management actions require accurate population monitoring, but such monitoring is challenging because mesocarnivores are elusive and persist at low densities. We addressed this challenge by evaluating 2 monitoring methods (scent stations and motion-sensitive cameras) using multi-method modeling.We estimated occurrence probabilities and habitat relationships for 8 mesocarnivore species by fitting occupancy models to data collected at 75 sites from October to December 2021 across a 3,200-km 2 system in New Hampshire, USA. We assessed the relative estimated precision of the methodological approaches and their costs. We also evaluated tradeoffs in occurrence estimation and uncertainty among study designs by analyzing simulations run across various numbers of study sites and 2 study durations. Cameras cost roughly 10 times more than scent stations but strongly outperformed them in terms of species' detectability and parameter estimate precision. Multi-method models yielded the most precise estimates of occurrence probability and habitat relationships. Parameter estimates were on average twice as precise for camera and multi-method models compared to scent stations. Additionally, the estimated precision and direction (positive or negative) of habitat relationships varied with the method employed. Longer camera deployments, additional study sites, and multi-method approaches nearly always reduced uncertainty, but these

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Integral assessment of active and passive survey methods for large-scale monitoring of mammal occurrence in Mediterranean landscapes

Cited by 9 publications

References 84 publications

Environmental filtering drives the assembly of mammal communities in a heterogeneous Mediterranean region

Environmental filtering drives the assembly of mammal communities in a heterogeneous Mediterranean region

Occupancy Models with Autocorrelated Detection Heterogeneity

Monitoring mesocarnivores with tracks and technology using multi‐method modeling

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