Abstract

We propose a new reconnaissance method for mouse-sized mammal abundance estimation that does not involve animal capture. For survey purposes, we used plastic bottles without covers, which were baited and set out with free entry and exit for animals. Two patterns of setting out were tested: 5 and 10 m intervals on transects of 120 m in length. The total abundance of small mammals was estimated by the proportion of bottles in which baits were absent or eaten. These values were compared with data obtained in the same places by means of snap-trap lines or live-trap plots. We determined empirical coefficients for the conversion of the bottle attendance index into relative numbers (individuals per 100 trap nights) or community density (individuals per ha). It was shown that the method can be used in urban environments and combines quantitative estimation with low labour expenditures and high simplicity.

中文翻译：

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一种城市环境中小型哺乳动物数量评估的侦察方法

摘要

我们提出了一种新的侦察方法，用于不涉及动物捕获的小鼠大小的哺乳动物丰度估计。出于调查目的，我们使用了没有盖子的塑料瓶，这些塑料瓶带有诱饵，动物可以自由进出。测试了两种放样模式：在 120 m 长的横断面上间隔 5 和 10 m。小型哺乳动物的总丰度是通过没有或没有吃过诱饵的瓶子的比例来估计的。这些值与通过捕捉线或实时捕捉图在相同地方获得的数据进行了比较。我们确定了将瓶子出勤率指数转换为相对数字（每 100 个陷阱夜的个人数）或社区密度（每公顷的个人数）的经验系数。