Power of faecal pellet count and camera trapping indices to monitor mammalian herbivore activity

Abstract

Context. Monitoring spatial and temporal change in relative abundance using statistically powerful designs is a critical aspect of wildlife management. Many indices of relative abundance are available, but information regarding their influence on statistical power is limited. Aims. We compared the statistical power associated with occurrence-based and frequency-based indices derived from faecal pellet counts and camera trapping to detect changes in the activity of five mammalian herbivores. Methods. We deployed camera traps and counted faecal pellets in native vegetation subjected to four management treatments in south-eastern Australia. We used simulation coupled with generalised linear mix..