Do you see what I see? Variation in detection, identification and enumeration of mammals during transect surveys

Goodenough, Anne E ORCID: 0000-0002-7662-6670, Berry, Danielle L, Carpenter, William S ORCID: 0009-0001-9031-5561, Dawson, Melissa, Furlong, Natasha, Lamb, Rachel J, MacTavish, Lynne, 'O'Reilly, Niall, Toms, Hannah, Whitehead, Lauren H and Hart, Adam G ORCID: 0000-0002-4795-9986 (2024) Do you see what I see? Variation in detection, identification and enumeration of mammals during transect surveys. African Journal of Ecology, 62 (1). e13205. doi:10.1111/aje.13205

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Text 13111 Goodenough, Berry, Carpenter, Dawson, Furlong, Lamb, MacTavish, O'Reilly, Toms, Whitehead, Hart (2023) Do you see what I see - Variation in detective, identification and enumeration of mammals during transect surv.pdf - Accepted Version Available under License All Rights Reserved. Download (398kB) | Preview

Abstract

Effective monitoring, management and conservation of wildlife axiomatically depend on accurate data but causes of variation, including inter-observer variation, are rarely explicitly quantified. Here, under controlled conditions, we demonstrate considerable variation in detection, identification and enumeration of (theoretically) readily-identifiable African mammals at a reserve with a known species assemblage. Detection: 97.8% of sightings were missed by ≥1 observer; frequency of detection was affected by observer ID, detection distance, visibility, and animal group size. Identification: just 3/14 species were identified consistently at all sightings. Enumeration: lack of consensus for 60.5% of sightings; consensus likelihood was affected by visibility and group size.

Item Type:	Article
Article Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Inter-observer variation; Ecological data reliability; Mammal detection; Species misidentification; Estimating group size
Related records:	'Transect IOV' Dataset
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences Q Science > QL Zoology
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Education and Science
Research Priority Areas:	Place, Environment and Community
Depositing User:	Anna Kerr
Date Deposited:	05 Sep 2023 10:02
Last Modified:	08 Jan 2024 17:15
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/13111

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