Documentation of wildlife species in Northern Great Plains Network National Parks using automated cameras

Licht, Daniel

In the summer of 2002, the National Park Service (NPS)—through an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station—initiated a comprehensive mammal inventory at several park units in the Northern Great Plains. Dr. Cheryl Schmidt was the principal investigator on the project. Under her guidance several methods were used to document the presence of mammals including the use of live traps and pitfall traps for small mammals, mist nets and ultra-sonic detectors for bats, and visual observations of mammals and sign. However, early on in the study it was mutually agreed between Dr. Schmidt and Dan Licht of the NPS Northern Great Plains Inventory & Monitoring (I&M) Program that it would be more efficient if the I&M Program conducted the motion-sensing camera portion of the mammal inventory. This document reports the results of that study and is designed to supplement Dr. Schmidt’s final report. The motion-sensing cameras were used to document the mid-size nocturnal mammals that would be hard to detect using other methods. Although many mammals were detected using the cameras, all were common species and were expected in the parks. Equipment malfunctions were common. Although the use of motion-sensing cameras may be a useful tool in inventory and monitoring efforts, more reliable equipment is needed.

Documentation of wildlife species in Northern Great Plains Network National Parks using automated cameras

Collections