Journal
NATURE CONSERVATION-BULGARIA
Volume -, Issue 20, Pages 237-264Publisher
PENSOFT PUBL
DOI: 10.3897/natureconservation.20.12688
Keywords
Conservation detection dog; Osmoderma eremita; saproxylic beetles; Habitats Directive; monitoring methods; conservation biology
Categories
Funding
- EU [LIFE11 NAT/IT/000252]
- European Union
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One aim of the MIPP Project (http://www.lifemipp.eu) was to develop non-invasive monitoring methods for selected saproxylic beetles. In this paper, a method is proposed for monitoring the larvae of Osmoderma eremita in their natural habitat (i.e. hollow trees), using a conservation detection dog (CDD). Wood mould sampling (WMS), the standard method to detect hermit beetles and other saproxylic insects inside tree hollows, is time-consuming and exposes the target species and the whole saproxylic communities to some risks. In contrast, CDDs pose no risk to the species living inside trees while, at the same time, offer a powerful tool for surveying the insects. In this paper, the methods applied to train the dog are presented, together with the results for accuracy (the overall proportion of correct indications), sensitivity (the proportion of correct positive indications) and specificity (the proportion of correct negative indications) obtained once the CDD had been fully trained. Results are presented for nitrocellulose filters with the odour of the target species, for larvae living inside hollow trees, for frass and for the remains of adults. A comparison of the efficiency between CDD and WMS showed that employing the dog was much less time-consuming than WMS. The literature on training CDDs for nature conservation tasks, with particular reference to cases involving Coleoptera, was also reviewed.
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