Camera trap data:

managing and archiving

Zoe A. Woodgate UCT & EWT

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

© Johnny Armstrong

Features of camera traps

Features of camera traps

White flash Infrared flash Black flash

© Cuddeback

Common Survey Designs

Analyses

Trade-offs Sample size

Target Species

Type of camera Camera placement

Aim of study

Extent of survey

Mike Meredith (taken from www.mikemeredith.net)

Common Survey Designs

Mike Meredith (taken from www.mikemeredith.net)

Common Survey Designs

Mike Meredith (taken from www.mikemeredith.net)

Common Survey Designs

Define

What is an independent event?

What is a sampling period?

Data management

Duplicates and independence

Manual excel input = inefficient

Programs designed to ease management

Snoopy Aardwolf

Camera Base

Camera Base

Camera Base Batch import allows you to quickly

process a large number of images

from digital cameras.

Sorts photographs into surveys/ and

sites that have been previously

created.

Automatically stores information of

time and data from image.

Camera Base

Camera Base

Basic Analyses

Determine drivers of distribution

Abundance estimates

Compare over spatial/temporal scales

Behavioural studies

Variation in long-term community surveys

(check out https://www.snapshotserengeti.org!)

Basic Analyses

Community

Relative abundance

Indices

Diversity indexes

Species accumulation

Presence/ absence

Detection-nondetection occupancy

models

Estimated abundance

Spatially-explicit

capture- recapture

Rowcliffe (2008) density

estimation

Basic Analyses

Not all surveys were made equal

Human error

Detection issues

Incomplete surveys

Overparameterization of models

BUT bear in mind not perfect! Many drawbacks/trade-offs

Discussion

Where is it coming from?

What was the survey’s intent?

Additional ecological data?

What is your objective?

When looking to manage camera trap data: