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
–
–
–
–
–
–
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
Mornington Peninsula NP
Great Otway NP
Getting the methods right
• Protocol based approach
– Developed by experts at ARI (DSE)
• Using a suite of complementary methods
Two case studies
Great Otway NP
Mornington Peninsula NP
• Is fox baiting effective in
reducing fox activity?
• Which mammal species are
present in the park?
• Is there a positive response
from prey species?
• Which areas are important
for native mammals?
Fairly large, intact and diverse landscape
Linear park with large edge to area ratio
Great Otway NP
Heathy woodland
Wet forest
Monitoring since 2009
Fox baiting since 2010
>2km
>2km
Fox baiting
No baiting
20 sites
20 sites
Fox baiting
20 sites
No baiting
20 sites
Comparing meat vs oat lures
Great Otway NP- refining the method
Influence of bait type: No. of sites with detection (2009-11)
No of active camera days
Species
Meat baits
Oat-peanut
Year
Median
Mean
SD
Range
butter
2009 spp 16.5
16.6 20
4.0
1-21
Antechinus
7
2010 Bandicoot
21
Long-nosed
19.0 19
6.5
2011Brown Bandicoot
23
Southern
22.4 3
21.8 5
1.8
1-28
16
16-28
0
2.8
10-27
2
2012 Potoroo 22
Long-nosed
Black Wallaby
31
37
Bush Rat
28
31
Cat
32
25
Dog
5
0
Fox
22
16
Bassian 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 weak
Native animals combined
25%
not strong
Potoroos and bandicoots
17%
not strong
Bassian Thrush
90%
very strong
The summation is over the six models which allow for the possible effect of foxpoison baiting on the occupancy rate over time.
Great Otway NP- Foxes and snack-sized mammals
Bandicoot & potoroo occupancy rate for each year ± 1 SE
1.0
1.0
0.8
0.8
Occupancy rate ( )
Occupancy rate ( )
Fox occupancy rate for each year ± 1 SE
0.6
0.4
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.2
0.0
0.0
2009
2010
2011
2012
2009
2010
2011
2012
Great Otway NP- Bassian Thrush
Bassian Thrush occupancy rates ± 1 standard error
Occupancy rate ( )
1.0
fox poison bait applied
no fox poison bait
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
2009
2010
2011
2012
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
Mid range areas
Highest
value area
Dysfunctional?
corridor
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