Accurate estimates of survival are crucial for many management decisions in translocation programs. Maximizing detection probabilities and reducing sampling biases for released animals can aid in estimates of survival. One important source of sampling bias is an animal’s behavior. For example, individuals that are consistently more exploratory or active may be more likely to be detected visually. Behavioral traits can be related to survival after reintroduction, and because many pre-release treatments aim to manipulate animal behavior, it is critical to tease apart relationships between behavior and detection probability. Here, we assessed the repeatability (intra-individual consistency and inter-individual variation) of behavioral traits for an endangered amphibian, the mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa). Because new technological tools offer one potential solution for reducing sampling biases while increasing detection, we also tested whether a long-range passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag reader could enhance surveys for these individuals after translocation into the wild. After confirming that ex situ bred R. muscosa exhibit repeatable behavioral traits (repeatability = 0.25–0.41) and releasing these frogs (N = 196) into the wild, we conducted post-release surveys visually and with the long-range PIT tag reader. Integrating the long-range reader into surveys improved detection probability four-fold in comparison to visual surveys alone (~0.09 to ~0.36). Moreover, mark–recapture modeling revealed that tag reader detection probability was not biased toward detecting individuals of specific behavioral types, while visual detection was significantly related to behavioral traits. These results will enable a more accurate understanding of individual differences in post-release success in translocations. This may be particularly important for amphibian species, which can be difficult to detect and are expected to increasingly be involved in human-managed breeding and translocation programs due to their vulnerable conservation status.

中文翻译：

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行为和检测方法影响易位濒危两栖动物检测概率

准确的生存估计对于易地计划中的许多管理决策至关重要。最大限度地提高检测概率并减少放生动物的抽样偏差有助于估计存活率。抽样偏差的一个重要来源是动物的行为。例如，始终更具探索性或活跃性的个体可能更容易被视觉检测到。行为特征可能与重新引入后的生存有关，并且由于许多预释放治疗旨在操纵动物行为，因此梳理行为与检测概率之间的关系至关重要。在这里，我们评估了濒危两栖动物山黄腿蛙（Rana muscosa）。由于新技术工具提供了一种减少采样偏差同时增加检测的潜在解决方案，我们还测试了远程无源集成转发器 (PIT) 标签阅读器是否可以在易位到野外后加强对这些个体的调查。在确认异地繁殖的R. muscosa表现出可重复的行为特征（可重复性 = 0.25–0.41）并释放这些青蛙（N = 196) 到野外，我们在视觉上和使用远程 PIT 标签阅读器进行了发布后调查。与单独的视觉调查相比，将远程阅读器集成到调查中将检测概率提高了四倍（~0.09 到~0.36）。此外，标记重捕获模型显示，标签阅读器检测概率不偏向于检测特定行为类型的个体，而视觉检测与行为特征显着相关。这些结果将有助于更准确地了解易位释放后成功的个体差异。这对于两栖动物物种可能特别重要，因为它们可能难以被发现，并且由于其脆弱的保护状态，预计它们将越来越多地参与人类管理的育种和易地计划。