Face Value: Towards Robust Estimates of Snow Leopard Densities

PloS One
Justine S AlexanderPhilip Riordan

Abstract

When densities of large carnivores fall below certain thresholds, dramatic ecological effects can follow, leading to oversimplified ecosystems. Understanding the population status of such species remains a major challenge as they occur in low densities and their ranges are wide. This paper describes the use of non-invasive data collection techniques combined with recent spatial capture-recapture methods to estimate the density of snow leopards Panthera uncia. It also investigates the influence of environmental and human activity indicators on their spatial distribution. A total of 60 camera traps were systematically set up during a three-month period over a 480 km2 study area in Qilianshan National Nature Reserve, Gansu Province, China. We recorded 76 separate snow leopard captures over 2,906 trap-days, representing an average capture success of 2.62 captures/100 trap-days. We identified a total number of 20 unique individuals from photographs and estimated snow leopard density at 3.31 (SE = 1.01) individuals per 100 km2. Results of our simulation exercise indicate that our estimates from the Spatial Capture Recapture models were not optimal to respect to bias and precision (RMSEs for density parameters less or equal to 0.87). ...Continue Reading

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Citations

May 14, 2016·PloS One·Justine Shanti AlexanderPhilip Riordan
Feb 20, 2020·PloS One·Keshab GogoiYadvendradev V Jhala
May 3, 2016·Integrative Zoology·Justine S AlexanderPhilip Riordan
Nov 7, 2019·Ecology and Evolution·Olivier GimenezEric Marboutin
Nov 5, 2020·Ecology and Evolution·Gopal KhanalKulbhushansingh Ramesh Suryawanshi
Jun 25, 2021·Scientific Reports·Muhammad Ali NawazChris Sutherland

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Software Mentioned

QNNR
Valmiera
SPACECAP
Google Earth
R
ArcGIS
QGIS
MASS

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