A camera trap appraisal of species richness and community composition of medium and large mammals in a Miombo woodland reserve

Abstract

Biological monitoring in protected areas is essential for making management decisions, especially in small (<1000 km2 ), fenced reserves which require intensive intervention to maintain core habitat characteristics. Estimates of species richness and community structure provide important information for planning and evaluating conservation strategies. Majete Wildlife Reserve (MWR) is a small (691 km2 ), isolated reserve in southern Malawi in the Miombo Woodland Ecoregion. We investigated species richness and community structure of the terrestrial medium and large mammals at MWR through a standardised camera trap survey. During the 2018 dry season, 140 camera locations were sampled for 40 days each. Thirty-five mammal species were detected and Chao 2, ICE and Jackknife 1 and 2 richness estimators indicated between 36–41 species present which aligns closely with historic accounts. Non-detection of some species is attributed to species specialised habitat requirements not catered for in the systematic camera trap survey design. Mammal community structure, calculated from the camera detected species’ relative abundance indices (RAI), was atypical for Miombo woodland, with an underrepresentation of elephants. Camera trap-derived RAI was positively related with 2018 aerial census species encounter data. These results can assist management in refining survey techniques and act as a baseline to monitor conservation efforts.