Files and links (1)
Austral Ecology - 2024 - Gill - Detection dogs can help researchers with elusive forest owl conservation1.13 MB
Published VersionCC BY-NC V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Detection dogs can help researchers with elusive forest owl conservation
Austral Ecology, Vol.49(5), pp.1-13
2024
Abstract
Elusive fauna are often studied indirectly, via traces they leave behind, or via other non-invasive survey methods. Critically endangered Tasmanian masked owls are both rare and elusive, which hampers conservation efforts. Spotlighting and call playback often have low success rates in accurately determining the presence/absence of Tasmanian masked owls. Using indirect survey techniques for traces such as owl pellets can be more efficient and provide a more reliable source of detailed data regarding presence/absence, diet, health, population structure and environmental contaminants. However, pellets can be difficult for researchers to find in the field. We evaluate whether detection dogs are effective in finding owl pellets in two steps: an experimental trial comparing the performance of a dog team to that of an ecologist with significant field experience with masked owls; and in a pilot field study where the dog team searched potential owl habitat in Tasmanian forests. During the experimental trials, the dog team significantly outperformed the ecologist. The dog team was more sensitive, finding 89% versus 40% of pellets present for the ecologist, and took half as long to search an equivalent-sized search area. The combined efficiency of the dog team was 4.5 times greater than that of an ecologist working alone. During the pilot study, in searching areas of potential masked owl habitat, no pellets were found. However, when sites were visited where owls were known to have been recently sighted, the dog team were able to find large numbers of owl pellets suitable for collection and potential data extraction. Our trials suggest that dogs can find owl pellets with considerably greater sensitivity and efficiency than ecologists working alone and that they would be best used in combination with targeted surveys, especially when the detection and subsequent collection of as many pellets as possible is desirable for DNA extraction or other analysis.
Details
- Title
- Detection dogs can help researchers with elusive forest owl conservation
- Authors
- Nicole Gill (Corresponding Author) - Australian National UniversityRomane Cristescu - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringAdam Cisterne - Australian National UniversityDejan Stojanovic - Australian National University
- Publication details
- Austral Ecology, Vol.49(5), pp.1-13
- Publisher
- John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
- Date published
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.1111/aec.13513
- ISSN
- 1442-9993; 1442-9985
- Copyright note
- © 2024 The Authors. Austral Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Ecological Society of Australia. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
- Data Availability
- Data are available on request.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991027292002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
2 File views/ downloads
40 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Ecology
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: InCites