We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Using infrared cameras and skunk lure to monitor swift fox ( Vulpes velox).
- Authors
Stratman, Marty R.; Apker, Jerry A.
- Abstract
State agencies and managers seek more efficient and cost-effective survey methods to monitor wildlife populations in an attempt to maintain biologically defensible results amid continued budgetary constraints. We employed a noninvasive approach using infrared cameras and a skunk-based lure on 52 grids to estimate detection and occupancy rates of swift foxes ( Vulpes velox) in eastern Colorado. We used eight camera stations within 31-km2 grids, monitored each grid for five consecutive nights, and collected 331 swift fox detections from August-October 2011. We documented 78 more swift fox detections on 25% more grids using remote cameras with skunk lure while deploying 60% fewer survey stations per grid than previous mark-recapture surveys. Our estimates showed improvements in precision and accuracy for detecting swift foxes and estimating occupancy across eastern Colorado. Using infrared cameras and a skunk-based lure proved to be an efficient and effective technique for monitoring swift foxes on a landscape scale by reducing labor costs, survey time, and potential biases that may result from using cameras or other survey techniques.
- Subjects
INFRARED cameras; SKUNKS; COST effectiveness; KIT fox; ANIMAL populations
- Publication
Southwestern Naturalist, 2014, Vol 59, Issue 4, p500
- ISSN
0038-4909
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1894/TAL-67.1