A Window into the Wild Using Remote Cameras to Analyze Schoolyard Biodiversity
By Dawn R. Tanner
“Wow, forests aren’t as scary as they look in movies!” —Wes, 5th grade
“If a Gray fox eats me, my mom will be really upset with you!” —Dakota, 5th grade
presence of species such as jaguars, rhinos, snow leopards and tigers. This enabled them to develop species inventories, explore questions about animal behavior, and estimate popu- lation density of target species1-3
F . Closer to home, scientists
in Minnesota use remote cameras to monitor Canada lynx7 . Even deer hunters now use them to find good
hunting locations. In recent years, Minnesota Project Wild has helped
schools use remote cameras to monitor the presence of wildlife in their schoolyards, as a stepping stone towards learning about habitat fragmentation and wildlife manage- ment. Typically, ten weeks’ of photographic “captures” are compared with those taken in a nearby protected area that is known to provide prime wildlife habitat. This allows
.
In Montana, these cameras are used to discover new wolver- ine habitats8
OR YEARS, RESEARCH SCIENTISTS, wildlife managers, and conservation organizations around the world have used remote cameras to document the
students to compare wildlife in relatively pristine habitats to more human-dominated landscapes. Three Minnesota organizations developed lessons for
grade 5–6 students that were field-tested at Afton-Lakeland Elementary in Lakeland, Minnesota, a small town 25 miles from Minneapolis-St.Paul. Edged with mixed deciduous trees and conifers, the 10 acre schoolyard is on the periphery of a housing development. Cameras mounted on school- yard trees there have captured surprising pictures of Red and Gray fox, White-tailed deer, and Virginia opossum in addition to the expected Red squirrels, Gray squirrels, and Eastern cottontails. Students then compared those images with ones taken at nearby Afton State Park. An additional 19 Minnesota schools, urban and subur-
ban, now use the program. Some boast extensive wildlife habitat that includes outdoor classrooms and school forests. Others have only small patches of scrubby vegetation, but even those support a surprising array of species. During the day, they may only be visited by squirrels and children, but at night, deer, raccoons, native rodent species and even bea- vers and foxes may visit those small patches of vegetation. During the day, remote cameras use visible light to
produce color images. At night, an invisible infrared beam collects black-and-white images, whenever its sensor is trig- gered by an animal’s body heat and/or motion. Unlike earlier and inexpensive versions, good quality remote cameras do
GREEN TEACHER 89 Page 35
Taking Action Opportunities
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