Efficient mammal biodiversity surveys for ecological restoration monitoring
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Abstract
Efficient biodiversity surveys are critical for successful restoration monitoring and management. We studied the effect of varying sampling effort on the observed species richness of surveys of small mammals (trapping transects), bats (passive acoustic detection), and medium to large mammals (trail cameras). Field studies provided mammalian biodiversity data for 4 bottomland hardwood restoration sites in northeastern Indiana. Subsampled data were used to simulate monitoring surveys with a range of levels of effort. We then used hierarchical Bayesian nonlinear mixed models to analyze how different components of sampling effort affected observed species richness, a key monitoring outcome. We found that observed small mammal richness increased with the increased number of transects in a survey, while observed bat and medium to large mammal richness increased with the increased duration of sampling. Variation between sites was important for the observed richness of small mammals and bats but not for medium to large mammals. The key driver of richness observed in simulated surveys was related to the spatial scale at which target fauna interact with the habitat, with decreasing richness accompanied by a greater spatial scale of animal–habitat interactions. Our findings suggest taxon-specific recommendations for efficiently quantifying the mammalian diversity of managed sites.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Efficient mammal biodiversity surveys for ecological restoration monitoring |
| Series title | Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management |
| DOI | 10.1002/ieam.4324 |
| Edition | Online First |
| Year Published | 2023 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Wiley |
| Contributing office(s) | Columbia Environmental Research Center |
| Description | 13 p. |
| Country | United States |
| State | Indiana |
| City | Bluffton, New Haven |
| Other Geospatial | Bluffton Native Habitat Waterway Project, Deetz Nature Preserve, Fish Creek complex |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |