Mammals camera trap survey in eastern Sierra Nevada (Spain)

Study Extent

The study was carried out in the eastern part of Sierra Nevada National and Natural Park (southeastern Iberian peninsula), within the municipal boundaries of Abrucena, Abla, Ohanes and Las Tres Villas. The area surveyed comprises an altitudinal range between 942 and 2215 m a.s.l. Vegetation in the area can be separated into three different habitats: the high mountain habitat dominated by rocky outcrops and natural crevices, the mid-mountain habitat occupied by deciduous forests such as oak, maple and cherry, and the lower areas, where oak and riverside forests can be found mixed with almond orchards. A woodland ring formed by autochthonous oak forest (Quercus sp.) and pine plantations (Pinus pinaster, P. nigra and P. sylvestris) is a characteristic of the area that appears below 2400 m a.s.l

Sampling

Each camera trap was left at the same point for an average of two months and then moved to another location. Cameras deployed on the same date were separated by each other by a mean distance of 900 m approximately. However, in order to maximize the possibility to record wildcats, in each new deployment of several cameras, old positions were not taken into account, meaning that some positions might be very close to each other, but correspond to different sampling periods. We used two different models of camera traps (Bushnell Trophy Cam HD Black Led and Acorn LTL5310) similarly programmed to take 3 pictures per trigger at the minimum speed trigger available. Cameras were tied to trees at 0.20–1 m above ground and Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) urine was used as an attractant for wildcats at a distance of 2-4 m from camera traps.

Method steps

1. Pictures were sorted following the methodology of R package CamtrapR (Niedballa et al. 2016) in order to extract metadata (date and time of the picture). Consecutive pictures of the same species within a 30 min interval were considered as the same event unless individuals could be identified by their fur patterning or other features (injuries, marks, spots). Mammals belonging to domestic animal herds or other species of vertebrates such as birds or reptiles were not included.

N/A

1. Chordata
   rank: phylum
2. Rodentia
   rank: order
3. Carnivora
   rank: order
4. Cervidae
   rank: family
5. Muridae
   rank: family
6. Mustelidae
   rank: family
7. Suidae
   rank: family
8. Bovidae
   rank: family
9. Artiodactyla
   rank: order
10. Felidae
    rank: family
11. Mammalia
    rank: class
12. Animalia
    rank: kingdom
13. Canidae
    rank: family

The study area was located in the east of the National and Natural park of Sierra Nevada (Spain), and includes the municipalities of Abrucena, Abla, Ohanes and Las Tres Villas.