Habitat use in three-dimensional environments: A camera-trap assessment of vertical profile use by wildlife in the temperate forests of Chile
Studies relating habitat and wildlife in forest ecosystems have typically been conducted from the ground, even though most wildlife use the three-dimensional space. The objective of our study was to understand how wildlife uses the whole vertical profile of the forest and to analyze possible associations between different species and vertical forest strata, using camera traps and occupancy models. We defined four strata (forest floor, understory, lower canopy, and upper canopy) that range from 0 to 32 m from the ground and installed 16 camera-traps per stratum. It was observed that with the exception of one species (lizard Liolaemus sp.), the activity patterns were similar between the upper and lower strata of the forest. Thus, the study shows that wildlife species differ in the use of the vertical profile of the forest and suggests that occupancy of species that select the canopy can be largely underestimated from ground-based surveys affecting management decisions.
