The potential and practice of arboreal camera trapping

Abstract

1. Arboreal camera trapping is a burgeoning method providing a novel and effective technique to answer research questions across a variety of ecosystems, and it has the capacity to improve our understanding of a wide range of taxa. However, while terrestrial camera trapping has received much attention, there is little guidance for dealing with the unique challenges of working in the arboreal realm.2. Our review draws on the expertise of researchers from six continents and the broader literature to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of arboreal camera trapping, and challenges to consider when using this technology. We also include mini-guides with detailed information on the current arboreal camera trap literature, mounts used to install arboreal cameras, tree climbing pointers and safety tips, methods for deploying cameras without climbing, and tips for managing interference with camera function.3. We find that arboreal camera traps have been most commonly used in the study of mammals in forests; however, there is potential for this method to be applied to a broad range of habitats including urban areas, and taxa such as birds, amphibians, invertebrates, and plants. Methods in arboreal camera trapping could be improved by developing a greater understanding of the factors affecting detection of species. The most common challenges of arboreal camera trapping are camera placement and camera site access. These can be overcome by understanding correct camera orientation, managing potential sources of interference in front of cameras, utilizing appropriate cameras mounts and training researchers properly. | 1769Methods in Ecology and Evoluঞon MOORE Et al.

Camera traps reveal overlap and seasonal variation in the diel activity of arboreal and semi-arboreal mammals

“…A number of researchers have used camera traps to study large mammal temporal niches (Romero-Munoz et al 2010;Šprem et al 2015;Porfirio et al 2017;Shamoon et al 2018;Vazquez et al 2019;Marinho et al 2020;Kavčić et al 2021), but few have studied the details of activity patterns in sympatric small mammal species (Halle and Stenseth 2012). This limited study is also especially true for obligate arboreal species that are cryptic, as they spend their entire lives in the canopy, and that are nocturnal (Kays and Allison 2001;Moore et al 2021). Thus, there have been very few examinations of activity patterns in arboreal and semi-arboreal mammals (e.g.…”

“…Through the close examination of activity patterns and temporal niche partitioning between species, their co-existence can be examined (Frey et al 2017;Mori et al 2019;Lear et al 2021). Importantly, understanding these processes for arboreal mammals can now be undertaken using camera trapping (Moore et al 2021).…”

Arboreal camera trap reveals the frequent occurrence of a frugivore-carnivore in neotropical nutmeg trees

“… 26 , another arboreal Procyonid in Ecuador, and the potential existence of different species within the genus Potos 27 . However, the development of safer single-rope tree climbing 28 and remote camera trapping 29 offers new opportunities to observe and analyse their behavioural ecology in treetops. Indeed, Gregory et al .…”

“…To test this hypothesis, we used camera traps, which are an effective method for studying arboreal fauna 29 , 47 – 49 . The cost of detecting nocturnal animals such as kinkajous is reduced by half when using camera traps instead of line transect survey 50 .…”

Effect of disturbances and habitat fragmentation on an arboreal habitat specialist mammal using GPS telemetry: a case of the red panda

“…Further, GPS telemetry coupled with camera trapping has not yet been applied in studying how arboreal mammals are adapting in human-dominated landscapes. Arboreal mammals are more susceptible to fragmentation and disturbances than any other mammalian community (Whitworth et al 2019 ), but studying their ecology is difficult due to their special habitat use (Moore et al 2021 ). For that reason, use of cutting-edge technology could provide more authentic evidence to improve our understanding on how arboreal mammals are coping with disturbances.…”