Training of a dog for the monitoring of Osmoderma eremita

Fabio Mosconi,Simone Sabatelli,Stefano Chiari,Emanuela Maurizi,Franco Mason,Paolo Audisio,Emiliano Mancini,Sönke Hardersen,Giuseppe M Carpaneto,Agnese Zauli,Alessandro Campanaro

doi:10.3897/natureconservation.20.12688

Fabio Mosconi, Simone Sabatelli + Show 9 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.20.12688

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Abstract

One aim of the MIPP Project (http://www.lifemipp.eu) was to develop non-invasive monitoring methods for selected saproxylic beetles. In this paper, a method is proposed for monitoring the larvae of Osmoderma eremita in their natural habitat (i.e. hollow trees), using a conservation detection dog (CDD). Wood mould sampling (WMS), the standard method to detect hermit beetles and other saproxylic insects inside tree hollows, is time-consuming and exposes the target species and the whole saproxylic communities to some risks. In contrast, CDDs pose no risk to the species living inside trees while, at the same time, offer a powerful tool for surveying the insects. In this paper, the methods applied to train the dog are presented, together with the results for accuracy (the overall proportion of correct indications), sensitivity (the proportion of correct positive indications) and specificity (the proportion of correct negative indications) obtained once the CDD had been fully trained. Results are presented for nitrocellulose filters with the odour of the target species, for larvae living inside hollow trees, for frass and for the remains of adults. A comparison of the efficiency between CDD and WMS showed that employing the dog was much less time-consuming than WMS. The literature on training CDDs for nature conservation tasks, with particular reference to cases involving Coleoptera, was also reviewed.

Highlights

In the last few decades, conservation detection dogs (CDDs) (Beebe et al 2016) have been increasingly used for the protection of wildlife due to their keen sense of smell for locating biological targets
The protocol developed to train the conservation detection dog in the MIPP project was successful in teaching the dog the specific task required, i.e. to find larvae of the saproxylic beetle O. eremita living inside hollow trees
A conservation detection dog is a powerful tool for locating O. eremita and these results can be useful for the other related European species of Osmoderma (Audisio et al 2007, 2009, Zauli et al 2016) and in general for other saproxylic insects

Summary

Introduction

In the last few decades, conservation detection dogs (CDDs) (Beebe et al 2016) have been increasingly used for the protection of wildlife due to their keen sense of smell for locating biological targets. These skills offered by dogs for the collection of wildlife data are well recognised and documented in recent reviews (Helton 2009, Dahlgren et al 2012, Johnen et al 2013, Beebe et al 2016). Conservation dogs are employed to detect the occurrence of birds and bats killed by turbines in order to evaluate the impact of wind farms on wildlife (Arnett 2006, Paula et al 2011)

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