Comparative evaluation of funnel, box, and camera traps for reptile and amphibian inventory

This publication evaluates differences in performance between funnel traps, box traps, and AHDriFT-style camera traps for herpetofaunal inventory. Traps were operated along drift fences in various combinations comprised of standard arrays (funnels + box), hybrid arrays (funnels + camera), and camera arrays (cameras only) in Florida, USA. Funnel and camera traps had complementary strengths, with funnels capturing small species that cameras failed to detect, whereas cameras detected species too large to enter funnel traps, as well as rarer species that visited when funnel traps were closed. Hybrid and standard arrays performed similarly overall, but the hybrid design was more effective for detection of turtles. Both center and distal cameras were required to maximize species detections at camera arrays. Results suggest that the hybrid array design is best suited for general herpetofaunal inventory, but that different combinations of trap types may be preferred for surveys with narrower targets.