Tree trunk camera trapping for a small dormouse

Abstract

The Japanese dormouse (Glirulus japonicus) is a small, arboreal Murid. Because of the dormouse’s nocturnal habits, direct observation is difficult, which has resulted in the study of this elusive species being limited. Since camera trapping is increasingly becoming a useful tool for surveying wildlife, we evaluated the survey efficiency of camera trapping for the dormice. In 2008, we established 154 sites at two study areas in Japan. We placed cameras in trees and directed them towards a nearby tree trunk, sampling for 30 consecutive days. We detected dormice a total of 54 times at 27 sites (4.6% detection rate and 18% naive occupancy rate), which is a much higher detection rate compared with traditional survey methods (e.g. nest boxes) for this species. The distance between the cameras and the target tree influenced the detection of dormice, with smaller distances increasing detection (χ2 = 17.589, P < 0.001). In addition, camera trapping detected the dormice more rapidly than the nest boxes, which had a minimum of 30 days’ time lag before the dormice began using the boxes. These results indicate that camera trapping is an efficient survey tool for Japanese dormice and can improve the monitoring of the species.