Evaluating Ecological Inferences from Camera Trap Data: A Comparative Analysis of Two Sampling Designs

Effective long-term ecological monitoring (LTEM) is critical for monitoring wildlife activity, yet the consequences of the study design choices on its results are not well established. This study examines how camera trap sampling design influences activity estimates of roe deer and wild boar in Belgium’s National Park Hoge Kempen. We compared two three-year designs: a systematic-random (SYS) and a stratified-random (STRAT) design, differing in camera trap (CT) number, deployment duration, and number of sampled locations. While activity levels were largely consistent across designs, diel activity patterns varied significantly, especially among years. This suggests that the use of different sampling designs in LTEM is not the main driver of differences in activity estimations. Hence, LTEM may be facilitated by adapting CT sampling designs to incorporate multiple study designs in one LTEM project.