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Assessing the effectiveness of attractants to increase camera trap detections of North American mammals

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Abstract

Camera traps are a cost-effective tool for large-scale and long-term population monitoring of mammals. Either bait or lure is often used to attract animals in front of a camera; however, the relative efficiency of these two attractants, or their combination, is not well understood. Our objective was to determine the optimal attractant setup for maximizing detection probabilities of mammals in the northeast USA. We conducted a camera trapping project in northern Maine, USA, from August to November 2018, and tested three distinct attractant treatments against a control. Sampling stations were a minimum of 5 km apart, and consisted of four camera units spaced 100 m apart, and paired with one of the four setups: (1) bait plus lure (treatment), (2) bait (treatment), (3) lure (treatment), and (4) camera only (control). Detection data on 11 species of mammals were collected from 41 stations and analyzed through multi-method occupancy models. We totaled 4280 photo-trap-nights and captured 37,781 images. Results showed that the combination of bait plus lure was the most effective for increasing detection probability of carnivores. Specifically, bait plus lure proved to be particularly effective for mustelid species, while lure was particularly effective for American black bear (Ursus americanus). While attractant usage was shown to be ineffective for increasing detection probability of non-carnivores, it also did not decrease effectiveness. Based on our results, we recommend the simultaneous use of both bait and lure as attractants when conducting camera trapping work on mammals. The combination of bait and lure appears to maximize detection of carnivore species, while simultaneously having minimal effects on the detection of other taxa.

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Acknowledgements

This study was made possible with volunteered field work by Griffin Archambault. This work was supported by the Charlie Slavin Research Fund at the University of Maine Honors College, the Academic Year Fellowship from the Center for Undergraduate Research at the University of Maine, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (Pittsmann–Robertson Funds), the Cooperative Forestry Research Unit and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (McIntire-Stennis Project Number ME0-41913) through the Maine Agricultural & Forest Experiment Station. All funding agencies did not play any role in the planning, execution, or analysis of the research. Thanks to Dr. Daniel Harrison, Dr. Walter Jakubas and two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.

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Correspondence to Alessio Mortelliti.

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Handling editor: Mauro Lucherini.

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Buyaskas, M., Evans, B.E. & Mortelliti, A. Assessing the effectiveness of attractants to increase camera trap detections of North American mammals. Mamm Biol 100, 91–100 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-020-00011-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-020-00011-3

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