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Rapid assessment of wildlife abundance: estimating animal density with track counts using body mass–day range scaling rules
Author(s) -
Keeping D.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
animal conservation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.111
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1469-1795
pISSN - 1367-9430
DOI - 10.1111/acv.12113
Subject(s) - wildlife , range (aeronautics) , abundance (ecology) , allometry , scaling , ecology , environmental science , wildlife conservation , relative species abundance , track (disk drive) , ecosystem , habitat , home range , statistics , biology , mathematics , computer science , materials science , geometry , composite material , operating system
Limited resources in conservation dictate the need for efficient means of assessing wildlife abundance. Body mass–day range scaling rules and empirical track counts were applied to an established formula to estimate a wide range of wildlife densities. Using the southern K alahari ecosystem of B otswana as an example, I provide the first comprehensive density estimates for the mammalian wildlife community (>0.2 kg), including densities for several species previously unattainable by other methods. Among a subset of species, empirical day ranges from this area were consistently greater than those predicted using scaling rules modeled with species from diverse ecosystems. I applied a correction factor based on this discrepancy, which generated values congruent with independent density estimates from the area. Although accurate measures of day range are a practical constraint to estimating densities from track counts, the results suggest that modest efforts to obtain location‐specific day range estimates for a subset of species can improve density estimates for others derived from general allometric relationships. Given the strength of track surveys to accumulate unbiased observations quickly, in environments where animal tracks are readily visible, this approach shows potential for the rapid assessment of wildlife abundance.