mark antos parks victoria kally yuen parks victoria australian mathematical sciences institute
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Remote camera monitoring across a statewide park network Tailoring approaches for specific applications. Mark Antos Parks Victoria Kally Yuen Parks Victoria Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute. First things first. Signs of Healthy Parks monitoring initiative - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Remote camera monitoring across a statewide park network
Tailoring approaches for specific applications
Mark AntosParks Victoria
Kally YuenParks Victoria
Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute
First things first
• Signs of Healthy Parks monitoring initiative– Identify key park values, threats and existing monitoring– Prioritise monitoring needs– Develop clear objectives– Assess where, when and how- which is the best method?– Management relevance – Data analysis plan and staff feedback
• All this needs to happen before anyone deploys a camera
Great Otway NP
Mornington Peninsula NP
Getting the methods right
• Protocol based approach– Developed by experts at ARI (DSE)
• Using a suite of complementary methods
Two case studiesGreat Otway NP
• Is fox baiting effective in reducing fox activity?
• Is there a positive response from prey species?
Fairly large, intact and diverse landscape
Mornington Peninsula NP
• Which mammal species are present in the park?
• Which areas are important for native mammals?
Linear park with large edge to area ratio
Great Otway NPHeathy woodland Wet forest
Fox baiting
20 sites
No baiting
20 sites
Fox baiting
20 sites
No baiting
20 sites
>2km >2km
Comparing meat vs oat lures
Monitoring since 2009
Fox baiting since 2010
Great Otway NP- refining the methodNo of active camera days
Year Median Mean SD Range
2009 16.5 16.6 4.0 1-21
2010 21 19.0 6.5 1-28
2011 23 22.4 1.8 16-28
2012 22 21.8 2.8 10-27
Influence of bait type: No. of sites with detection (2009-11)
Species Meat baits Oat-peanut butter
Antechinus spp 20 7Long-nosed Bandicoot 19 16Southern Brown Bandicoot 3 0Long-nosed Potoroo 5 2Black Wallaby 31 37Bush Rat 28 31Cat 32 25Dog 5 0Fox 22 16Bassian Thrush 29 34
Great Otway NP- Analysis
• Dynamic occupancy model (MacKenzie et al 2003) used to estimate site occupancy probability for each year
• AIC used to rank a set of 14 candidate models• AIC weights used to assess whether poison has an effect on
occupancy probabilities • All models with Δ AIC <2 compared to top ranked model were
used to derive occupancy probabilities
Effect of fox baiting on occupancy probability over time
Species Sum AICwt Level of support
Red Fox 5% very weakNative animals combined 25% not strongPotoroos and bandicoots 17% not strongBassian Thrush 90% very strong
The summation is over the six models which allow for the possible effect of fox-poison baiting on the occupancy rate over time.
Great Otway NP- Foxes and snack-sized mammals
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
Occ
upan
cy r
ate
(
)
2009 2010 2011 2012
Fox occupancy rate for each year ± 1 SE
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
Occ
upan
cy r
ate
()
2009 2010 2011 2012
Bandicoot & potoroo occupancy rate for each year ± 1 SE
Great Otway NP- Bassian Thrush
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
Occ
upan
cy r
ate
()
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
2009 2010 2011 2012
fox poison bait appliedno fox poison bait
Bassian Thrush occupancy rates ± 1 standard error
Lessons and limitations
• Pilot studies are critical• Experimental design is critical• Be prepared to review and refine• Adequate sampling and spatial segregation?• Other variables (habitat, climate, cats etc)?
Benefits• Better understanding of predator distribution• Better understanding of native fauna distribution• Improved staff skills
Mornington Peninsula
• Over 150 randomly allocated survey points (>1km apart)• Stratified by vegetation type• Roll out of cameras over autumn/winter with oat baits
Mornington Peninsula
• 32 native spp recorded• 6 exotic spp• Surprises
– Long-nosed Bandicoots and White-footed Dunnart well represented– Lewin’s Rail recorded at 5 sites– Broad-toothed Rat?
Using the data
Highest value area
Mid range areas
Dysfunctional? corridor
Urban pressure
Next steps
• Results used to help with planning– Predator control– Planned burns– Weed works and habitat restoration
• Repeat survey in 2 years– Compare results- link to State of the Parks reporting– Measure management effectiveness
Concluding remarks
• Be clear about monitoring objectives and make sure you are using the best method
• Acknowledge limitations of the method• Pilot studies and test runs are really useful• Don’t underestimate data curation and analysis time• Be prepared for surprises and to make the most of them
Thanks
• Great Otway NP– Emma Danby– Carlie Bronk– Gary Summers– Mick Biddle– Sylvia van de Peet– Lachie Davis– Suzanna McCoy– Scot Mitri
• ARI– Michael Scroggie– Jenny Nelson– Peter Menkhorst
• Mornington Peninsula– Brendan McKay– Louise Bracy– Kim Kott– Sarah Dodd– Danny Hudson– Alisson Bolden– Darren Mitchell
• PV mapping support– Jenny Bunnage– Steve Shelley
• Trust for Nature– Ben Cullen