Terrestrial Vertebrate (Camera Trapping) Monitoring Protocol | TEAM Network

Terrestrial mammals and birds play important roles in tropical forest ecosystem function, including seed dispersal, herbivore regulation, pollination and carbon sequestration among others. However, for tropical forests, we have little or no information on the status of most of these species that is collected consistently through time. The TEAM Terrestrial Vertebrate Monitoring Protocol provides a standardized and efficient way to monitor the status of species and communities of vertebrates using digital camera traps.

TEAM Terrestrial Vertebrate protocol in a nutshell:

A minimum of 60 camera trap sampling points is deployed at each site.
Sampling points are at a density of 1 camera every 2 km².
Sampling points are distributed along an elevational gradient if one exists.
Camera trapping is done in the dry season (months with less than 100 mm of rain or less than 200 mm for sites with less seasonality).
Cameras are deployed for a minimum of 30 days.
No bait is used.
Camera traps are set 30-40 cm from the ground and close to animal trails.

Current Protocol Document:

Other Documents

Data Products (in development)

Annual occupancy time series
Spatial occurrence
Wildlife picture Index
Species diversity time series

Data: Download TEAM Terrestrial Vertebrate data here.

Archived Protocol Documents:

Contact Person: Jorge Ahumada