Use of Camera Traps as a Biodiversity Measurement Tool in Gorce National Park, Southern Poland ^†

Noninvasive methods, which do not require direct access to or harassment of animals, are essential for biodiversity monitoring. For mammals, analyses of scats and hair samples, tracking and recording by remote cameras are among the most commonly used. This study aimed to verify the current status of animal populations using camera traps in Gorce National Park (GNP), located in the Polish Carpathians, an area covered by natural beech and spruce mountain forests. On average, 35 passive infrared camera traps annually were deployed in GNP. Archived data from the period of December 2013 to December 2017 were processed. In total, there were 21,087 recordings of animals with 23 different taxa of mammals including 17 large and medium-sized species. Shannon’s diversity index was H′ = 1.908. Among ungulates, the most commonly observed species were red deer (Cervus elaphus; n = 7898), followed wild boar (Sus scrofa; n = 526) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus; n = 482). Three large carnivores, i.e., grey wolf (Canis lupus), Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) and brown bear (Ursus arctos) were all regularly observed, though they belong to rare species in Poland and other neighbouring countries. The use of camera traps allowed us to distinguish lynx individuals and estimate the size of its local population. The European wildcat (Felis silvestris) which had not been observed in GNP since the 1990s, was surprisingly recorded by camera traps in 2015 and 2016. Additionally, we registered raccoon (Procyon lotor), an invasive alien species in Poland, which can pose a potential threat to local fauna. Similarly, domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and cats (Felis catus) were free-ranging in GNP without any confinement and far from the nearest human settlements. The collected information helped to improve management and conservation measures in GNP. We showed that this noninvasive method is particularly useful for the monitoring of elusive and individually recognizable animal species.