Longitudinal Terrestrial Animal Monitoring Through Camera Traps

Photo by TBS Camera Trap Program

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The basic objectives of the camera trap project are to document the occurrence and spatial distribution patterns of terrestrial mammals and birds and how those patterns change from year to year. Currently, pairs of cameras are located at specific locations along some of the trails at the station, with the same locations used every year. Images from the cameras are identified to species, with the location and time stamped on every image. Most species are not identified to individual level but jaguars and ocelots, because of their distinctive coat patterns, can be identified to an individual level. This allows us to monitor use of the station by these important predators. Tiputini is not much affected by human activities, such as hunting, so data (images) from the site provide a baseline for comparison with other sites that are more affected by humans. By studying the impact of human-related activities on the ecosystem, the project contributes to the development of effective conservation strategies.

PROJECT HISTORY

We started using camera traps at Tiputini in December 2004 and have been operating them at the station every year since (except for 2021). The original objectives of the study were simply to document the occurrence and distribution patterns of terrestrial mammals and birds and how those patterns might change over time. During the first few years, camera traps operated throughout the year, providing information on seasonal patterns in activity but since then we have used cameras primarily from January into March. Images from camera traps have been used to answer a variety of questions, such as: which species use saladeros (mineral licks), how frequent is that use, and does proximity of hunting activity affect that use; do patterns of occurrence (rates of image captures) change from year to year; how many individual jaguars and ocelots occur at the station and how does that number change over years; what are the daily activity patterns of different species (i.e., to what extent are species primarily nocturnal or diurnal); does proximity to the station buildings affect occurrence; and do the species recorded by camera traps differ depending on whether cameras are located along trails or away from trails.

MULTIMEDIA 

Did you know that spix’s night monkeys only weigh around 1 kg? (Mongabay Series: Candid Animal Cam)

How loud are howler monkeys?  (Mongabay Series: Candid Animal Cam)

Uncovering the private lives of Amazon wildlife through camera traps (Mongabay)

Videos reveal rare birds, wild monkeys, and jaguar family in oil-exploited park (Mongabay)

Featured video: camera traps catch jaguars, anteaters, and a sloth eating clay in the Amazon rainforest (Mongabay)

Could camera trap videos galvanize the world to protect Yasuni from oil drilling? (Mongabay)

Behold, the World's First Footage of the Super Elusive Dark Tree Rat (Motherboard)

Oil-Threatened Ecuador Is a Jaguar Hotspot (Motherboard)

PUBLICATIONS FROM THIS RESEARCH

Blake, J. G., J. Guerra, D. Mosquera, R. Torres, B. A. Loiselle, and D. Romo. 2010. Use of mineral licks by white-bellied spider monkeys (Ateles belzebuth) and red howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus) in eastern Ecuador. International Journal of Primatology 31:471-483.

Blake, J. G., and B. A. Loiselle. 2018. Annual and spatial variation in composition and activity of terrestrial mammals on two replicate plots in lowland forest of eastern Ecuador. PeerJ 6:e4241; DOI 10.7717/peerj.4241

Blake, J. G., and D. Mosquera. 2014. Camera trapping on and off trails in lowland forest of eastern Ecuador: Does location matter? Maztozoologia Neotropical 21:17-26.

Blake, J. G., D. Mosquera, J. Guerra, B. A. Loiselle, D. Romo, and K. Swing. 2014. Yasuní – a hotspot for jaguars Panthera onca (Carnivora: Felidae)? Camera-traps and jaguar activity at Tiputini Biodiversity Station, Ecuador. Revista de Biología Tropical 62:689-698.

Blake, J. G., D. Mosquera, J. Guerra, B. A. Loiselle, D. Romo, and K. Swing. 2011. Mineral licks as diversity hotspots in lowland forest of eastern Ecuador. Diversity 2011: 217-234; doi:10.3390/d3020217.

Blake, J. G., D. Mosquera, B. A. Loiselle, D. Romo, and K. Swing. 2017. Effects of human traffic on use of trails by mammals in lowland forest of eastern Ecuador. Neotropical Biodiversity 3:57-64.

Blake, J. G., D. Mosquera, J. Guerra, and D. Romo. 2010. New locality records and the first photographs of living Echimys saturnus (Dark Tree Rat, Echimyidae) from eastern Ecuador. Ecotropica. 16:141-144.

Blake, J. G, D. Mosquera, B. A. Loiselle, K. Swing, J. Guerra, and D. Romo. 2012. Temporal activity patterns of terrestrial mammals in lowland rainforest of eastern Ecuador. Ecotropica 18:137-146.

Blake, J. G., D. Mosquera, B. A. Loiselle, K. Swing, J. Guerra, and D. Romo. 2016. Spatial and temporal activity patterns of ocelots Leopardus pardalis in lowland forest of eastern Ecuador. Journal of Mammalogy 97:455-463.

Blake, J. G., D. Mosquera, B. A. Loiselle, K. Swing, and D. Romo. 2017. Long-term variation in abundance of terrestrial mammals and birds in eastern Ecuador as measured by photographic rates and occupancy estimates. Journal of Mammalogy 98:1168-1178.

Blake, J. G., D. Mosquera, and J. Salvador. 2013. Use of mineral licks by mammals and birds in hunted and non-hunted areas of Yasuní National Park, Ecuador. Animal Conservation 16:420-437.

Link, A., S. Alvarez-Solas, J. Blake, F. Campos, S. Espinosa, P. Medrano-Vizcaíno, D. Mosquera, E. Payán, M. C. Peñuela, J. Salvador, and L. Valenzuela.  2022. Insights into the habits of the elusive Nocturnal Curassow (Nothocrax urumutum). Ornitología Neotropical 33: 74-78.

Mosquera, D., J. G. Blake, D. Romo, and K. Swing. 2016. New observations, activity and first videos of living Echimys saturnus (dark tree rat, Echimyidae) from eastern Ecuador. Maztozoologia Neotropical 23:87-91.

Mosquera, D., J. G. Blake, D. Romo, and K. Swing. 2016. Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) density in eastern Ecuador based on capture-recapture analyses of camera-trap data. Neotropical Biodiversity 2:51-58.

Mosquera, D., G. Vinueza-Hidalgo, and J. G. Blake. 2019. Patterns of mineral lick visitation by Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth Choloepus didactylus (Pilosa, Megalonychidae) in eastern Ecuador. Notas Sobre Mamíferos Sudamericanos doi.org/10.31687/saremNMS.19.0.07.

Quintero, S., M. I. Abrahams, C. Beirne, J. Blake, E. Carvalho Jr., H. C. M. Costa, M. J. de Paula, W. Endo, T. Haugaasen, M. G. M. Lima, F. Michalski, D. Mosquera, D. Norris, T. Oliveira, E. Paemelaere, C. A. Peres, J. Pezzuti, S. Romero, F. Santos, C. Sillero-Zubiri, A. Whitworth, S. Zwicker, L. Maffei, and C. Sahley. 2023. Effects of human-induced habitat changes on site-use patterns in large Amazonian Forest mammals. Biological Conservation 279:109904.

Rocha, D. G. et al. (49 others). 2020. Wild dogs at stake: Deforestation threatens the only Amazon endemic canid, the short-eared dog (Atelocynus microtis). Royal Society of Open Science 7: 190717. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.190717.

Vinueza-Hidalgo, G., D. Mosquera, and J. G. Blake. 2019. Notes on the breeding biology of Rufous Potoos (Nyctibius bracteatus) in lowland Ecuadorian Amazon. Journal of Field Ornithology 90:229-234.