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• Between 1950-1994 Costa Rica had the fastest rate of deforestation in the western hemisphere (Borges-Mendez, Ramon., 2008)• Caused by colonization schemes, agricultural expansion, and increased cattle ranching

COSTA RICA’S ECOLOGICAL HISTORY

60 hectare (150 acre) property located on the southwest coast of Costa Rica

Originally lowland forest until it was cleared for cattle farming in the 1950’s and 1960’s

Since 1993 the property has been under restoration

Hacienda Baru is 830 acres of protected area including primary, secondary and selectively logged tropical wet forest.

FIRESTONE CENTER FOR RESTORATION ECOLOGY

• 5 sub-habitats• Open secondary

forest• Closed secondary

forest• Primary forest• An abandoned

banana plantation• Bamboo plantation

FIRESTONE CENTER FOR RESTORATION ECOLOGY

PURPOSE OF EXPERIMENT

•Cameras are a very efficient, low cost way to estimate species richness in an area without disturbing natural habitats or behavioral patterns (Silveira, L., 2003)•Extension of a project done in 2012 by Emily Cole•Generate estimates of animal density•Gather information about different animals and animal behaviors in the different habitats throughout the reserve.

• 7 week time span• 24 Bushnell Trail

Trophy Cameras total set up in 3 sets of 8

• 10-20 second videos• The cameras were

placed either along cleared pathways or in square formations

• Each plot stayed for approximately 8 days before being moved

METHODS

Videos on the SD cards were reviewed

Each animal’s species was identified

Time stamps on each video were referred to prevent over counting the animals

METHODS

A formula based on an article by J. Marcus Rowcliffe was used to estimate the density

CALCULATIONS

RESULTS

 Banana Trees

Hacienda-clearing-path

Yoga Studio

Bamboo Lake

Bamboo Trail

Top Upper Loop Trail

Top Acess Road

Upper Access Road Nest

Middle Loop Trail

Lowest Path Access Road

Lowest Square Access Road

Lowest Loop Trail

Agouti 5 15 0 2 0 1 14 14 9 9 2 2

Armadillo 4 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Possum 4 7 1 1 2 0 9 2 1 0 0 0

Peccary 6 12 24 0 0 29 2 12 23 2 0 9

Paca 7 21 6 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 0

Deer 1 4 13 8 0 5 0 2 2 4 0 2

Coati 6 9 0 4 1 0 0 8 1 0 0 0

Mouse 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0

Weasel 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0White-headed Capuchin 0 2 0 4 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0

Squirrel 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Ocelot 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 1 0 0

Nothern Tamandua 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0

Figure 1. The number of animals found in each area of the Firestone Reserve over the span of 7-12 days.

RESULT

 Banana Trees

Hacienda-clearing-path

Yoga Studio

Bamboo lake

Bamboo trail

Top upper loop trail

Top Acess Road

Upper Access Road Nest

Middle loop trail

Lowest path access road

Lowest square access road

Lowest loop trail

Agouti 0.0041 0.0101 0 0.0014 0 0.0014 0.0571 0.0200 0.0129 0.0367 0.0029 0.0029

Armadillo 0.0033 0.0040 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0014

Possum 0.0033 0.0047 0.0008 0.0007 0.0041 0 0.0367 0.0029 0.0014 0 0 0

Peccary 0.0050 0.0081 0.0185 0 0 0.0414 0.0082 0.0171 0.0329 0.0081 0 0.0129

Paca 0.0058 0.0141 0.0046 0 0 0.0014 0 0.0029 0.0014 0 0 0

Deer 0.0008 0.0027 0.0100 0.0057 0 0.0071 0 0.0029 0.0029 0.0163 0 0.0029

Coati 0.0050 0.0061 0 0.0029 0.0020 0 0 0.0114 0.0014 0 0 0

Mouse 0.0008 0 0 0 0 0 0.0041 0 0 0 0.0014 0

Weasel 0 0.0007 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0White-headed Capuchin 0 0.0013 0 0.0029 0 0 0 0.0043 0   0 0

Squirrel 0 0.0013 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Ocelot 0 0 0 0.0007 0 0   0 0 0.0040 0 0Nothern Tamandua 0 0 0 0 0 0.0014 0.0041 0.0029 0 0 0 0Figure 2. The density of each

animal in various areas of the Firestone Reserve in units of animal/night/m2

Largest density in the Hacienda-clearing-path, the banana trees, and along the upper access road next to an ant nest Clear areas Towards the west area of

the reserve Relatively near the

Hacienda Baru border Areas of least density

tended to be in bamboo plantation and towards the east of the reserve

CONCLUSION

• The time and date feature was somewhat faulty• Some SD cards did not collect videos and some of the cameras did not function properly• To continue this project I would replace some of the memory cards and fix some of the cameras

SOURCES OF ERROR

REFERENCES

• http://costarica.jsd.claremont.edu/index.shtml• http://www.haciendabaru.com/hacienda-baru-history• Borges-Mendez, Ramon. "Sustainable Development and Participatory

Practices in Community Forestry: The Case of FUNDECOR in Costa Rica." Local Environment13.4 (2008): 365-83. Web.

• Rowcliffe, J. M. et al. 2008. Estimating animal density using camera traps withoutthe need for individual recognition. Journal of Applied Ecology 45: 1228–1236 

• Silveira, L., Jacomo, A.T.A. & Diniz-Filho, J.A.F. (2003) Camera trap, line transect census and track surveys: a comparative evaluation.Biological Conservation, 114, 351–355.