Aerial application of management tools can provide a cost‐effective means to conserve or control wildlife populations at the landscape scale. Large spatial scales, however, present difficulties when assessing in situ reliability and integrity of the devices themselves. We demonstrate application of a distance‐sampling density estimation approach to assess the performance of a newly developed toxicant bait system for the control of invasive brown treesnakes (Boiga irregularis). Bait cartridges were designed to open in flight to expose the toxicant‐laced bait and tangle in the forest canopy via a plastic ribbon component. Following application of 12,686 bait cartridges from an automated aerial delivery system over a 55‐ha site on Guam, USA, we employed distance sampling techniques to evaluate cartridge performance. We performed 22 line‐transect surveys for a total distance of 10.3 km, during which we recorded all observations of unopened bait cartridges, instances in which the ribbon did not remain attached to the cartridge capsule (i.e., ribbon failure), and carcasses of brown treesnakes and nontarget species. Too few undeployed bait cartridges (n = 6), brown treesnake carcasses (n = 1), or nontarget carcasses (n = 0) were observed during surveys to support additional analysis. We detected 299 instances of ribbon failure. Using standard distance‐sampling analyses, we estimate that ribbon failure occurred in 3,376 ± 351 (estimate ± SE; 95% CL = 2,746–4,150) cartridges or 21.6–32.7% of the total applied. Our results demonstrate the utility of distance‐sampling density estimation techniques to validate performance and reliability of aerially applied management tools. Published 2020. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Wildlife Society Bulletin published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

---

验证空中输送的有毒诱饵弹药筒的部署，以控制入侵的棕色树蛇

空中应用管理工具可以提供一种经济有效的手段来在景观尺度上保护或控制野生动植物种群。但是，当评估设备本身的现场可靠性和完整性时，较大的空间比例会带来困难。我们演示了一种距离采样密度估计方法的应用，以评估一种新开发的毒饵系统的性能，该系统用于控制侵入性棕色树蛇（不规则Boiga））。诱饵盒设计为可在飞行中打开，以通过塑料色带组件暴露出被毒物缠住的诱饵和林冠中的缠结。在美国关岛一个55公顷的场地上，通过自动化的空中输送系统应用了12,686个诱饵弹，我们采用了距离采样技术来评估弹的性能。我们进行了22条线样调查，总距离为10.3公里，在此期间，我们记录了所有未打开的诱饵盒，色带未保持附着在盒囊上（即，色带失效）和棕色尸体的情况。树木和非目标物种。未部署的诱饵盒（n  = 6），棕色树蛇尸体（n  = 1）或非目标尸体（n = 0）在调查期间被观察到以支持其他分析。我们检测到299个功能区故障实例。使用标准的距离采样分析，我们估计色带损坏发生在3,376±351（估计值±SE； 95％CL = 2,746–4,150）墨盒中，占总墨盒的21.6–32.7％。我们的结果证明了距离采样密度估计技术可用于验证航空管理工具的性能和可靠性。出版于2020年。本文是美国政府的工作，在美国属于公共领域。Wiley Periodicals LLC代表野生动物协会发布的《野生动物协会公告》。