Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Animal Movement Affectsinterpretation Of Occupancy Models From Camera Trap Surveys Of Unmarked Animals, Eric W. Neilson, Tal Avgar, A. Cole Burton, Kate Broadley, Stan Boutin

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Occupancy models are increasingly applied to data from wildlife camera-trap (CT) surveys to estimate distribution, habitat use, or relative abundance of unmarked animals. Fundamental to the occupancy modeling framework is the temporal pattern of detections at camera stations, which is influenced by animal population density and the speed and scale of animal movement. How these factors interact with CT sampling designs to affect the interpretation of occupancy parameter estimates is unclear. We developed a simple yet ecologically relevant animal movement simulation to create CT detections for animal populations varying in movement rate, home range area, and population density. We also …