Yasuni Canopy Mammals Project

The goal of this study was to collect baseline camera trap data for canopy mammals at two sites around Yasuní National Park. One site was accessible by road and has had reportedly lower densities of large-bodied primates due to hunting, the other is only accessible by boat and has less hunting pressure. All cameras were deployed in Ficus trees that were not fruiting at time of deployment. Two cameras were placed in each tree. Six trees were chosen at each site, for planned a total of twelve trees and twenty-four camera deployments. Camera malfunctions decreased this total to 21 deployments in 12 trees.

Caveats: No detection distance was recorded, as it was often not possible to reach in front of the field of view. The area surveyed by each camera must consider the fact that the camera can see three-dimensional space, but also not all of that space can be used by an animal if it is walking on branches.

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