Camera traps equipped with macro lenses as a tool for monitoring arboreal small mammals: a case study in an agroecosystem (NE Italy)

Abstract

Despite their increasing use, camera traps as a monitoring tool for arboreal small mammals leave room for further improvements to increase their effectiveness. In the summer of 2023, we conducted a small mammal survey in a wooded area of a lowland agroecosystem in the Veneto region, using standard camera traps equipped with macro lenses for close-up shooting. This camera trap technique made it possible to contact three species of small mammals in the tree-shrub layer: Eurasian red squirrel Sciurus vulgaris, wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus, and black rat Rattus rattus. The use of macro lenses combined with the standard camera trapping technique made it possible to obtain better quality images and more information even on smaller species compared to more traditional camera traps.