Back to Search
Start Over
Unmanned aerial vehicle surveys reveal unexpectedly high density of a threatened deer in a plantation forestry landscape.
- Source :
- Oryx; Jan2023, Vol. 57 Issue 1, p89-97, 9p
- Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- The Vulnerable marsh deer Blastocerus dichotomus , the largest native cervid in South America, is declining throughout its range as a result of the conversion of wetlands and overhunting. Estimated densities in open wetlands of several types are 0.1–6.8 individuals per km<superscript>2</superscript>. We undertook the first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) survey of the marsh deer to estimate the density of this species in a 113.6 km<superscript>2</superscript> area under forestry management in the lower delta of the Paraná River, Argentina. During 6–8 August 2019, at a time of year when canopy cover is minimal, we surveyed marsh deer using Phantom 4 Pro UAVs along 94 transects totalling 127.8 km and 8.6 km<superscript>2</superscript> (8.1% of the study area). The 5,506 photographs obtained were manually checked by us and by a group of 39 trained volunteers, following a standardized protocol. We detected a total of 58 marsh deer, giving an estimated density of 6.90 individuals per km<superscript>2</superscript> (95% CI 5.26–8.54), which extrapolates to 559–908 individuals in our 113.6 km<superscript>2</superscript> study area. As it has generally been assumed that marsh deer prefer open habitats, this relatively high estimate of density within a forestry plantation matrix is unexpected. We discuss the advantages of using UAVs to survey marsh deer and other related ungulates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- TREE farms
AERIAL surveys
DEER
FOREST management
NUMBERS of species
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00306053
- Volume :
- 57
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Oryx
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 161308885
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605321001058