Number of cameras 🎯

Hint

If you only have a set number of cameras to deploy (e.g., 30), enter the number of cameras in the numeric field.

If you aren’t limited by a certain number of cameras, select “No” and leave the numeric field blank.

If you’re unsure about how many cameras you have or you would like to see all of the options (irrelevant of the number of cameras; e.g., to be gauge your options and/or to determine the number of cameras you need), you can also select “No.”

Overview

How does this relate to study design?

The number of cameras available will impact the appropriate modelling approaches (in combination with other aspects of your study, such as the detectability and/or rarity of your Target Species.) or the number of covariates you hope to include in your models.

For example, 30 cameras may be enough to evaluate “occupancy” if your Target Species.) is relatively common, however, if your target species is rare, more sites will be required in order for your estimates to be reasonably precise (Shannon et al., 2014; Kays et al., 2020; Wearn & Glover-Kapfer, 2017). More sites will be needed if covariates on occupancy or detection probability are to be added into models (Wearn & Glover-Kapfer, 2017).

See also

You can refer to Appendix A - Table A2 below from the Remote Camera Survey Guidelines (RCSC et al., 2024) to get a sense of the required number of cameras for each of the modelling approaches and according to the Survey Objective..

RCSC et al. (2024) - Appendix A - Table A2. Summary of appropriate study design, camera spacing., and survey. effort (adapted from Wearn & Glover-Kapfer [2017] with additional references included) for various modelling approaches. Note: these guidelines use the best available information, however, there is uncertainty associated with each approach. To address this, the table contains ‘minimum,’ ‘ideal’ and ‘often’ used values, as well as qualifiers.

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Visual resources

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Analytical tools & Resources

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References

Colyn, R. B., Radloff, F., & O'Riain, M. J. (2018). Camera trapping mammals in the scrubland’s of the cape floristic kingdom - the importance of effort, spacing and trap placement. Biodiversity and Conservation, 27(2), 503-520. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-017-1448-z

Efford, M. G., & Boulanger, J. (2019). Fast Evaluation of Study Designs for Spatially Explicit Capture-Recapture. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 10(9), 1529-1535. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13239

Kays, R., Arbogast, B. S., Baker‐Whatton, M., Beirne, C., Boone, H. M., Bowler, M., Burneo, S. F., Cove, M. V., Ding, P., Espinosa, S., Gonçalves, A. L. S., Hansen, C. P., Jansen, P. A., Kolowski, J. M., Knowles, T. W., Lima, M. G. M., Millspaugh, J., McShea, W. J., Pacifici, K., & Spironello, W. R. (2020). An Empirical Evaluation of Camera Trap Study Design: How Many, How Long and When? Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 11(6), 700-713. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.13370

O'Connor, K. M., Nathan, L. R., Liberati, M. R., Tingley, M. W., Vokoun, J. C., & Rittenhouse, T. A. G. (2017). Camera trap arrays improve detection probability of wildlife: Investigating study design considerations using an empirical dataset. PloS One, 12(4), e0175684. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175684

Pease, B. S., Nielsen, C. K., & Holzmueller, E. J. (2016). Single-Camera Trap Survey Designs Miss Detections: Impacts on Estimates of Occupancy and Community Metrics. PloS One, 11(11), e0166689. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0166689

Rovero, F., Zimmermann, F., Berzi, D., & Meek, P. (2013). “Which camera trap type and how many do I need?” A review of camera features and study designs for a range of wildlife research applications. Hystrix, the Italian Journal of Mammalogy, 24(2), 148-156. https://doi.org/10.4404/hystrix-24.2-6316

Stokeld, D., Frank, A. S., Hill, B., Choy, J. L., Mahney, T., Stevens, A., & Gillespie, G. R. (2016). Multiple Cameras Required to Reliably Detect Feral Cats in Northern Australian Tropical Savannah: An Evaluation of Sampling Design When Using Camera Traps. Wildlife Research, 42(8), 642-649. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR15083

Wearn, O. R., & Glover-Kapfer, P. (2017). Camera-Trapping for Conservation: A Guide to Best-ractices. WWF conservation technology series, 1, 1-181. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.23409.17767