Camera trap distance sampling in tropical forests: assessing drivers of terrestrial wildlife abundance in Ivindo National Park, Gabon

Abstract

The loss of wildlife species and populations, termed defaunation, significantly impacts biodiversity and vertebrate community structure. Terrestrial mammals are especially vulnerable to anthropogenic activities such as habitat destruction, overhunting, and exploitation. Extractive industries are increasing in scale in central African forests, thereby increasing human access to forests and leaving a potential for defaunation. Camera traps are reliable, effective, and non-intrusive technologies to monitor and assess wildlife populations. Using camera trap distance sampling, we estimated wildlife density, capture rates, and species richness to evaluate drivers of wildlife abundance and defaunation in Ivindo National Park, Gabon. We present one of the first uses of camera trap distance sampling to estimate the density of multiple species in a tropical forest. From these estimates, we have baseline population data for this region and can identify factors influencing their populations to inform collaborative conservation and wildlife management efforts.