Improving technology aids biologists during wildlife surveys. Cameras are already used widely in wildlife biology in camera traps, drone/aerial footage, and thermal-imaging. Here, we explain how the use of cameras with telephoto lenses can contribute to more accurate characterizations of the local wildlife community, and can serve as evidence of detections. Throughout California, we completed 56 reconnaissance surveys averaging 2.3 hours at sites averaging 19 acres, where we used binoculars and full-frame DSLR cameras fitted with 400mm and 500mm lenses to help detect vertebrate species. Our photography of animals during surveys aided in identifying 7% of the total species detected in a survey (mean = 2 species per survey) by confirmation (3.4%), new identifications (3.5%), and corrections (<1%), species of which could have been missed using binoculars alone. The use of photography reduced mis-identified species and helped detect additional species post-survey, hence reducing the classification errors of species detections in the field. We found photography to be especially useful for taxa we are least familiar with, distant animals, birds in flight, and species that are challenging to identify. Here, we also make recommendations for camera gear and accessories, camera settings, and tips for photographing wildlife during surveys.

Noriko is a Southern California based wildlife ecologist focused on urban ecology, avian ecology, and habitat conservation. She works in affiliation with Dr. K. Shawn Smallwood, wildlife ecologist. Noriko received her master’s degree in Environmental Science from Cal State Los Angeles where she studied the benefits of native plant landscaping to avifauna. Noriko has multiple years of experience conducting habitat assessments, special status species surveys, general biological surveys, construction monitoring, and conducting research related to wildlife conservation. She is also a photographer and values integrating wildlife photography into her work.

Snapshot USA is an annual collaborative effort between scientists and community scientists to sample mammal populations with camera traps across the United States. Every year, Snapshot collaborators use a standardized protocol to sample sites stratified across habitats and development zones from September through October. In 2022, data were collected across 132 camera trap arrays in 44 states and consisted of 2,160 camera sites, 2,393 camera deployments, and 94,175 camera trap nights. All data are managed and identified within the Wildlife Insights platform, which uses Artificial Intelligence to assist with identifications and enables nationwide collaboration. Since the project began in 2019 through 2022, we have recorded over 410,000 detections of 131 mammal species and collaborated with over 150 institutions across all states. We are now processing the 2023 data and are preparing to conduct surveys again in 2024. This continually growing dataset has a wide range of potential uses, including tracking wildlife populations’ responses to changes in land use, land cover, and climate across spatial and temporal scales. With this in mind, we are seeking to expand the Snapshot USA network and welcome many new collaborators. To facilitate participation, we have five camera kits available for participants belonging to underprivileged groups.

Brigit Rooney is the Survey Coordinator for the nationwide and collaborative Snapshot USA camera trapping project, based at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. After developing a passion for camera traps during her Master’s fieldwork on African elephants, Brigit dove head-first into using them both as a hobby in her home state of Montana and then in her work as a bobcat research technician in California. She loves to spread the joy of camera traps and appreciates the many opportunities to do so through Snapshot USA.

Habitat loss and fragmentation from land use change are a leading driver of wildlife declines and species extinctions. California continues to undergo land use change from ongoing urbanization and agriculture, including expanding cannabis cultivation. To understand impacts on wildlife, we employed non-invasive, automated field methods (ARUs, traditional camera traps, and novel drift fence/camera methods) combined with efficient, cutting-edge data processing tools (e.g., BirdNET and Wildlife Insights). These approaches facilitated large-scale surveys encompassing 170 long-term monitoring sites in north-central CA, where we conduct biennial surveys of bird, bat, reptile, and terrestrial mammal species from rodents to large carnivores. We then integrated this wildlife occurrence data with land use data, to assess how urban development, well-established agriculture like vineyards, newly established agriculture like cannabis, and the resulting habitat edge influence the distributions of vertebrate wildlife species, groups of species, and the entire community. In doing so, we provide critical information on how to minimize the impacts of continuing human development on vulnerable wildlife species and ensure long-term conservation of the region’s biodiversity.

[last name pronounced like "tennis"]: Matt Toenies is a Senior Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. He studied Wildlife Management at the University of Minnesota, and a Master's in Ecology at Penn State University. His primary roles are to lead his team's large-scale avian monitoring and assist with monitoring other taxa including reptiles and mammals. Matt is a birder and a native plant enthusiast and is passionate about rigorous science that directly informs management and conservation of vulnerable ecosystems and species.

A dense population of endangered San Joaquin kit foxes occurs in the urban environment of Bakersfield, California.  Sarcoptic mange was detected in 2013 and rapidly spread causing a significant decline in kit fox abundance.  Kit foxes use dens on a daily basis.  Sarcoptic mange mites can live off-host under conditions found to occur in kit fox dens.  We monitored den use patterns of 37 kit foxes on the CSU-Bakersfield campus.  All foxes had unique dye marks and 20 were fitted with radio-collars.  During 390 one-week monitoring sessions, the proportion of sessions that other foxes used the same den as the collared fox within two, four, and seven days was 78.5%, 84.4 %, and 89.0%, respectively.  The mean number of other foxes using the dens was 1.8, 2.2, and 2.5, respectively.  Also, an average of 1.8 foxes was detected in a den concurrently with the collared fox during each week-long session.  During 120-day intervals (the time from infection to death), collared foxes used a mean of 7.6 dens, 9.8 other foxes used the same dens within one week, and 7.3 foxes used the dens concurrently with the collared foxes.  These results potentially explain the rapid spread of mange throughout this population.

Brian Cypher is Director Emeritus and a Research Ecologist with the Endangered Species Recovery Program at CSU-Stanislaus.  His primary interest is the ecology and conservation of wild canids.  Since 1990, he has conducted extensive work with endangered San Joaquin kit foxes, but also has conducted work on several other canid species as well as a variety of rare animal and plant species in the San Joaquin Valley.

The Western Section’s Conservation Affairs Committee (CAC) tracks and responds to policies that may affect the conservation of wildlife and their habitats within the Section’s geographical scope, which includes the Hawaii chapter, Nevada chapter, and 6 California chapters, as well as at least 5 active student chapters. The Western Section CAC operates under the framework of the Conservation Affairs Network, which engages and unifies the efforts of The Wildlife Society to advance wildlife conservation policy issues at the national, regional, and local levels. Through a lens that focuses on the efforts of the Western Section CAC from 2017 to present, we will explore the ways that TWS chapters and sections can engage in federal policy. Case studies will include Section-wide comment letters and actions that focused on issues that either (1) touched each of the Section’s 8 chapters (such as ESA and MBTA policies), or (2) affected only some of the Section’s chapter geographies (such as proposed changes to National Monuments). Further, we will touch on examples where Section-to-Section collaboration has proven beneficial to add our active voice for science advocacy, including collaborating with other Sections on comments on the border wall or on ESA species listings. We will explore the operationalized processes, approaches, and opportunities for responding to federal policy from a Section perspective.

Kelly Holland is a senior wildlife biologist and environmental compliance expert, who leads GEI’s Biological Resources Team. She is a Certified Wildlife Biologist, who has served as the Section's Conservation Affairs Committee Chair since 2017 and is also the Section’s representative to the TWS Certification Review Board. She has over 27 years of experience in ecological research, program management, environmental regulation and compliance, and terrestrial ecosystem monitoring. Much of her career and her involvement with TWS has focused on the intersection of science and policy, and particularly engaging scientists to participate in shaping policy that affects the wildlife and habitats that we all care about.