Catch me if you can: personality drives technique-specific biases during live-capture trapping
Kyla Chloe Johnstone
A B C , Clare McArthur A and Peter Bruce Banks A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
B Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, PO Box 69040, Lincoln 7640, New Zealand.
C Corresponding author. Email: johnstonek@landcareresearch.co.nz
Wildlife Research 48(8) 713-721 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR20121
Submitted: 27 July 2020 Accepted: 15 May 2021 Published: 21 June 2021
Journal Compilation © CSIRO 2021 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND
Abstract
Context: Wildlife surveys often rely on a single live-capture technique to sample animal populations. Yet, animal personality (e.g. bold vs shy) can drive heterogeneity in capture probability, leading to biased sampling during live-capture trapping surveys.
Aims: We tested whether a personality-related capture bias is similar between two live-capture techniques, or whether techniques with different capture mechanisms are biased towards certain spectrums of personality.
Methods: We compared two live-capture techniques commonly used for surveying lizards, namely, noosing and pitfall traps. Techniques were deployed several days apart to survey populations of a desert-dwelling agamid, the military dragon, and we used outdoor open-field arenas to test for personality traits relating to boldness, activity and exploration.
Key results: We found that noosing and pitfall traps sampled distinctly different spectrums of personality, with no individuals being captured by both techniques. Unexpectedly, noosing, which involved people approaching dragons to capture them, was biased towards shyer individuals that stayed close to shelter. In contrast, pitfall traps, which were generally set in open areas, were biased towards capturing individuals that moved further from shelter.
Conclusions: We demonstrated that different live-capture techniques can be biased towards different spectrums of personality. We attribute the relationship between personality and technique to an interaction between the capture mechanisms of each technique and individual perceptions of risk and microhabitat use.
Implications: To overcome biased and selective sampling and target individuals along a broad spectrum of personality, surveys should use complementary techniques that vary in their capture mechanisms.
Keywords: applied ecology, behaviour, ethology, mark–recapture, wildlife management.
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