Substrate and species constraints on the use of track incidences to estimate African large carnivore abundance
Abstract
Population size and trends of large carnivores are difficult to determine, but are often needed to inform conservation actions. Direct counts maintained over long time periods are extremely difficult to achieve. Indices of population sizes can be used to estimate large carnivore abundances, but are often case-, species- and site-specific. Here, we test the general applicability of track-based indices to estimate large carnivore abundance. We surveyed 15 306.4 km of roads associated with 339 transects across a wide geographical scale, large range of densities and variable substrates for tracks of African large carnivores. A combined model for all carnivore species on sandy soils serves as a robust approach to predict large carnivore densities. Thus, indices based on track counts can provide useful estimates of carnivore abundance. We found consistent relationships between track densities and the actual carnivore densities, having taken account of substrate.
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Carnivore spoor density is correlated with population density.
“Carnivore spoor density is correlated with population density (Funston et al., 2010).”
From The impact of land reform on the status of large carnivores in Zimbabwe (2016) · cites this paper as Funston et al., 2010
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The impact of land reform on the status of large carnivores in Zimbabwe
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- Authors
- Funston, P. J., Frank, L., Stephens, T., Davidson, Z., Loveridge, A., Macdonald, D. M., Durant, S., Packer, C., Mosser, A., & Ferreira, S. M.
- Affiliations
- Tshwane University of Technology (ZA)
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (US)
- University of Southampton (GB)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Zoological Society of London (GB)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- South African National Parks (ZA)
- Corresponding author
- Funston, P. J.
- Venue
- Journal of Zoology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2010-04-22
- Volume
- 281
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 56-65
- ISSN
- 0952-8369 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-7998
- OpenAlex
- W1606552287
- Cited by
- 114
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 5.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Zoology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Census and Population Estimation
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies
- Keywords
- large carnivores, track counts, abundance estimation, population indices, sandy soil, African carnivores
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