Various approaches are used to determine wildlife presence-absence data while other sampling methods help to quantify abundance. Presence-absence methods allow researchers to determine if a species is found in a particular area, in addition to whether the species is restricted to or dependent upon a distinct habitat or spatial arrangement. Examples of presence-absence methods include: analyzing tracks or imprints, tracking tubes, anecdotal reports, and consulting historical records or museum samples. Abundance estimates provide researchers with the number of individuals of a species within an area. Techniques to quantify abundance include: cameras, transects, point counts, road-kill surveys, numerous trapping methods, and several tracking devices. Presence-absence data collection tends to be considerably less expensive than abundance data collection; however, abundance data provides more information.
Tracks refer to the imprints left behind by an animal after it walks over a substrate. While tracks do not provide a reliable estimate of density, they do, however, indicate that a species is present in a particular area. A drawback of utilizing tracks to determine presence-absence is that they are not preserved for long periods of time. Depending on the environment, tracks can be damaged or destroyed if say a climatic event like a …show more content…
While tracking tubes are not utilized often, they are used for the Perdido Key beach mouse. Tracking tubes not only provide presence-absence data but also give insight into beach mouse diet as mice tend to take food items inside tubes. Downsides to tracking tubes is that non-target animals tend to occupy tubes, as well as the fact that it is difficult to determine whether an area has many mice or few mice. Many mice could enter a tube, thereby leaving multiple prints, or perhaps a single mouse ran back and forth giving the impression of numerous