A study of methods for monitoring wild mammals in Unmunsan, Korea

Abstract

We tried to find an effective method of monitoring wild mammals. We conducted 8 line surveys for Unmunsan from 2016 to 2017 and compared the results with the number of field signs (FSs) per km. The total distance of 8 tracks was 63.65 km, and 520 FSs were identified in 13 species of the wild mammals. By comparing these results, it was confirmed that there is a positive correlation that the number of FSs increases as the survey path becomes longer. We classified FS into three grades: the lower 25%, the middle 50%, and the upper 25%, with reference to the results of the frequency analysis for the number of FS/km. Then, the grades could be classified by the number of FSs of 4.0/km for the low grade, 8.1/km for the middle grade, and 10.1/km for the high grade. These results show that it is possible to calculate indices such as the habitat quality of wild mammals based on the data for the number of FSs. We also suggest that quantitative methods can be used to compare the FS of wild mammals by converting the survey distance into 1 km based on these results. Keywords: Field sign points, Frequency analysis, Spatial analysis, Standard unit, Habitat quality