Comparison of Two Non-Invasive Techniques to Monitoring Two Canids in a Peri-Urban Protected Area of South-Central Chile

Abstract

Peri-urban protected areas are continually invaded by alien species, and monitoring of these populations is important for their management. To evaluate the detectability of their performance, the use of scats and traps/cameras was compared for the monitoring of two canid species, one alien, the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) & one native, the chilla fox (Lycalopex griseus), in a protected area in central-southern Chile. This comparison was carried out for one year, and seasonal variations in the records were analysed. In the case of dogs, differences were observed between techniques, with the use of camera traps being the most successful. These differences were also observed between seasons. In contrast, no differences between techniques were observed for chilly foxes, and no seasonal variations were found. Differences were also observed in the coverage associated with the detection of both species. The ecological and behavioural implications of the results obtained are discussed, which are mainly related to competitor avoidance mechanisms in the chilla fox. We recommend the combined use of both techniques, as this allows us to minimise the biases introduced by each of them separately.