ChemirskayaD.S., Podolsky S.A. Camera Traps as a Way to Study Small Mammals Using the Example of the Zeya Nature Reserve (Amur Region) // Ecosystems: ecology and dynamics. No 3. 2024. P. 36-51. | Abstract | PDF | Reference
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- A pika is stocking up (photo S.A.Podolsky)
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- A sable hunting at the pika’s colony (photo S.A.Podolsky)
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- Brown bear (photo S.A.Podolsky)
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- A red squirrel with red coat (photo S.A.Podolsky)
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- Siberian roe deer (photo S.A.Podolsky)
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- A squirrel is stocking up (photo S.A.Podolsky)
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- A sable with its prey (photo S.A.Podolsky)
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- A pika demonstrating its orienting behavior (photo S.A.Podolsky)
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- A pika is stocking up for winter (photo S.A.Podolsky)
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- A feeding pika (photo S.A.Podolsky)
The first experience of using camera traps to determine population density and behavioral patterns of small mammals on the territory of the Zeya State Nature Reserve is described. We used an original method of recording large and medium mammals with camera traps: the load of a certain species on the area of the camera coverage per unit of time (e.g. month, decade, total exposure time). This value is expressed in the number of individuals per unit area (Podolsky et al., 2020).
A Browning Recon Force Advantage camera trap was used, the high response speed of which (0.4 sec) made it possible to apply this technique to small mammals as well. The main object of our study was a colony of northern pika (Ochotona hyperborean Pallas, 1811) located on a stone run within the forest belt. We analyzed all registrations of all species that were spotted near the colony during two summer-autumn seasons of 2022 and 2023. For large and medium mammals, the obtained population density indicators were compared with those obtained via standard methods. Based on this comparison, we assessed the possibility of using this method to simultaneously count various species of both small and large animals. Additionally, we described the influence of the camera traps on the results of counting the number of pikas and the effectiveness of studying their behavior.
Funding. This work was carried out for the Zeya State Nature Reserve, theme No. 1-22-37-1 “Dynamics of Phenomena and Processes in the Ecosystems of the Zeya State Nature Reserve and Tokinsko-Stanovoy National Park”, as well as for the state task of Water Problems Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, theme No. FMWZ-2022-0001 “Studies of the Processes of Land Hydrological Cycle and Water Resources Formation, Geophysical Processes in Water Bodies and Their Basins, Formation of Extreme Hydrological Phenomena and Dynamics of Hydrological Systems under the Changing Climate and Anthropogenic Factors”.
Keywords: camera traps, census methods, small mammals, population density, behavioral patterns.
DOI: 10.24412/2542-2006-2024-3-36-51
EDN: DBCAVG