Camera-trap methodology update: reducing false triggers in humid conditions

Humidity produces false triggers. Over two seasons, roughly 38 per cent of images from our Kanuku grid contained no animal, and most of those were caused by moving vegetation in front of the sensor.

Three changes reduced that figure to 19 per cent: clearing vegetation to 1.5 m in front of each lens, lowering mounting height to 40 cm, and moving the trigger interval from one to three seconds.

We are publishing the settings here because the same problems affect almost every small survey in the Guiana Shield, and the fixes cost nothing.