Massachusetts Wildlife Monitoring Project is a project within the AMMonitor community, which features projects that monitor wildlife and ecosystems with remotely deployed monitoring devices. Devices that capture media typically include trail cameras (photos, video) and/or autonomous recording units (audio). As with all AMMonitor projects, Massachusetts Wildlife Monitoring Project utilizes an AMMonitor SQLite database to track wildlife monitoring data in a standardized format, permitting cross-project collaboration. The monitoring data are released to the public in "volumes". Releases include the raw media files and their metadata, including the date, time, and location of media capture. Additional attachments at the volume level include [...]
Summary
Massachusetts Wildlife Monitoring Project is a project within the AMMonitor community, which features projects that monitor wildlife and ecosystems with remotely deployed monitoring devices. Devices that capture media typically include trail cameras (photos, video) and/or autonomous recording units (audio). As with all AMMonitor projects, Massachusetts Wildlife Monitoring Project utilizes an AMMonitor SQLite database to track wildlife monitoring data in a standardized format, permitting cross-project collaboration. The monitoring data are released to the public in "volumes". Releases include the raw media files and their metadata, including the date, time, and location of media capture. Additional attachments at the volume level include human- and machine-labeled tags that describe taxa or other environmental characteristics within the media. For more information on the AMMonitor R package, see https://code.usgs.gov/vtcfwru/ammonitor.
In 2022 the Massachusetts Cooperative Research Units established an array of 60 trail cameras at in MA to evaluate the potential drivers of winter tick epizootics in moose. The array was established under the protocol used by the Northeast Wildlife Monitoring Network (NEWMN), thereby ensuring that it has several features enabling multi-species monitoring: randomized multi-scale nested design; encompasses large latitudinal and elevational gradients; samples sites with the highest and lowest average forest cover within selected blocks; year-round deployment; and use of trails and lure to maximize detection. As a result of this the camera array is suitable for monitoring a diverse array of species, including many furbearers in need of baseline data. In addition to the ubiquitous deer, moose, and bears we already have repeated detections of coyote, bobcat, fisher, red fox, and raccoon.
