Remote Cameras

Wildlife Techniques Exam 2

Improvements of cameras

• Durability

• Water resistance

• Cost

• User-friendly

What do camera improvements coincide with?

Desire to reduce impact on study animals

Advantages of cameras

• Declining costs

• Reduced size

• User-friendly

• Increasing quality

• Uniform data storage

• Flexibility

Disadvantages of cameras

• Dependent on operator skill

• Maintenance and repair

• Rapid technological advances

• Expensive replacement

Variables that effect battery life

• Temperature

• Camera age

• Camera settings

• Flash use

• Battery quality

How to handle issues of battery life?

• Add extra battery packs

• Turn down sensitivity

• Add solar panels

• Lithium batteries last longer than alkaline

What do we usually use for data storage?

SD cards

Exact number of photos that can be stored is dependent on what?

• Card

• Photo quality

• Videos

Image quality is dependent on what?

Equipment and settings

Active infrared

• Beam break sensors

• more popular in past

Passive infrared

• Sensors detect movement and radiation

• more commonly used

System considerations

• Field of view

• Trigger speed

• Detection zone

• Power efficiency

• Flash intensity/type

• Sensor responsiveness

• Recovery time

Data collected by cameras

• Image

• Date/time

• Moonphase

• Temperature

Research questions

• Occupancy and distribution

• Disease (transmission) and vaccine delivery

• Wildlife crossing

• Estimating abundance

• Animal activity

• Diet

• Nest predation

Occupancy and distribution

Most simplistic and common research question

Disease (transmission) and vaccine delivery

• Monitor vaccinated baits

• contact between individuals directly or indirectly

• diseased animals

Wildlife crossing

• Understand where animals cross barriers

• if animals are using established crossing structures

• continuous operation of camera over extended periods

• full coverage of structure

Estimating abundance

• Based on mark-recapture

• can work with unique individuals

Animal activity

• Daily and seasonal activity patterns

• use of specific resources

Diet

• Alternative to direct observation and scat, prey remains, and stomach analysis

• works well for nestlings

Nest predation

Cameras provide verifiable evidence of the event, predator, and timing

Study design considerations

• Species

• Question

• Spacing

• Number of cameras

• Length of survey

• Single vs. array

• Bait

• Camera settings

Photo processing

• Software

• Definition of event

• Time consuming

• AI

• Personnel costs

• Training costs

• QAQC (quality assurance quality control)

Thermal infrared cameras

• Convert temperature to visible spectrum

• improve nocturnal observations

• detecting diseased animals

Modifications and advancements

• Pressure triggers

• cell phone connections

• macro modifications (changing box or environment around camera in some way)

• peep cameras (on pole)