Integrating camera traps and autonomous recording units for wildlife monitoring in the Northwest Territories
department or school: Forestry, Faculty of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Stewart, Laura Nicole
issued: 2023-09-30T07:00:00Z
issued: 2023
related degree: Master of Science - MSc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Monitoring animals in northern Canada is especially difficult, and there is a need for cost-effective methods and sampling designs. Camera traps and autonomous recording units (ARUs) are both promising tools, but they are rarely combined. This thesis focuses on two areas of integration: sampling design and habitat modeling. Data were collected in Ts’udé Nilįné Tuyeta, an Indigenous and Territorial Protected Area in the Northwest Territories. Hierarchical sampling designs, where sensors are deployed in clusters, are common for ARUs but rarely used for camera traps. I evaluated a hierarchical design for camera traps using resampling to determine the sample size required to estimate detection rate, habitat associations, and species richness across our study area. I found that 4 cameras per cluster across 35 clusters were sufficient for most of the metrics tested, but up to 13 cameras per cluster were needed to precisely estimate detection rate of rarer species. Cluster-scale species richness was unreliable even with up to 18 cameras per cluster, suggesting richness is best estimated at a larger scale. In my third chapter, I evaluated the use of ARUs and camera traps to create habitat models for sandhill crane Antigone canadensis. I tested for differences in the spatial scale of inference by performing model selection using two buffer sizes, and whether a model that integrated both data types would improve predictive performance. I found that ARUs made the best inferences at the landscape scale, while cameras made the best inferences at the home range scale. The integrated model did show evidence for hierarchical habitat selection by cranes, but did not improve predictive performance. Overall, I found that each data source had merits of its own, but that, in this case, integration into one model was not an improvement over modeling data separately. These two data chapters showcase two benefits of pairing camera traps and ARUs: first, improving response variables by care…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/85575
note: INTEGRATING CAMERA TRAPS AND AUTONOMOUS RECORDING UNITS FOR WILDLIFEMONITORING IN THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIESbyLAURA NICOLE STEWARTB.Sc., The University of British Columbia, 2018A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OFTHE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OFMASTER OF SCIENCEinTHE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES(Forestry)THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA(Vancouver)August 2023© Laura Nicole Stewart, 2023The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduateand Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the thesis entitled:Integrating camera traps and autonomous recording units for wildlife monitoring in theNorthwest Territoriessubmitted by Laura Nicole Stewart in partial fulfillment of the requirements forthe degree of Master of Sciencein ForestryExamining Committee:Dr. Cole Burton, Associate Professor, Forestry, UBCSupervisorDr. Samuel Haché, Boreal Ecologist, Government of CanadaSupervisory Committee MemberClaudia Haas, Protected Areas Biologist, Government of the Northwest TerritoriesSupervisory Committee MemberDr. Kaitlyn Gaynor, Assistant Professor, Zoology, UBCAdditional ExaminerAdditional Supervisory Committee Members:Dr. Kathy Martin, Professor, Forestry, UBCSupervisory Committee MemberiiAbstractMonitoring animals in northern Canada is especially difficult, and there is a need forcost-effective methods and sampling designs. Camera traps and autonomous recording units(ARUs) are both promising tools, but they are rarely combined. This thesis focuses on two areasof integration: sampling design and habitat modeling. Data were collected in Ts’udé NilįnéTuyeta, an Indigenous and Territorial Protected Area in the Northwest Territories.Hierarchical sampling designs, where sensors are deployed in clusters, are common for ARUsbut rarely used for camera traps. I evaluated a hierarchical design for camera traps usingresampling to determine the sample size required to estimate detection rate, habitatassociations, and species ric…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2023-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0435530
language: eng
degree discipline: Forestry
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Burton, Cole
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/85575