Pros And Cons Of Elliott Traps

Discussion: Throughout the study many different species were caught and examined. For starters, the Elliot traps resulted in eleven different organisms being caught by group two throughout the weekend, all of which were Rattus fuscipes and Antechinus stuartii. These species had a very similar distribution to each other, and were well dispersed throughout the tested area. The fact that we only caught these two species could demonstrate their high population in this area. However, it could also be due to bias with where we set our traps and what we baited them with. Since the groups traps were set in the riparian zone, we could have missed out on catching some non-riparian mammals. Also, this was a rather small survey, so for more accurate results, a more intensive survey could be done over a long period of time. One positive of the elliott trap method is that a researcher can target specific species by the size of the traps and the time the traps are set. Additionally, with proper amount of bait, they do not harm

However, other cameras did photograph organisms, displaying a diversity of animals like goanna, possums, mice, and rats. The pros of this method of sampling are that the camera can be left out over long period of time to collect much data, and it is seen as more ethical and good for the animal because there is no need to capture and handle the animal. Camera trapping is also good because it can show a wide variety of species in an area instead of just targeting one. On the other hand, a con of this method is we were unable to cover a large area of the forest as all we could view was the area our camera was pointed at. Also, the use of bait for these traps could result in alteration of the animal’s behavior or higher predation risk, so these must be considered while setting the traps (Eyre, et al., 2014; section 8.7,