title: Estimating abundance and density of Amur tigers along the Sino-Russian border.
abstract: As an apex predator the Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) could play a pivotal role in maintaining the integrity of forest ecosystems in Northeast Asia. Due to habitat loss and harvest over the past century, tigers rapidly declined in China and are now restricted to the Russian Far East and bordering habitat in nearby China. To facilitate restoration of the tiger in its historical range, reliable estimates of population size are essential to assess effectiveness of conservation interventions. Here we used camera trap data collected in Hunchun National Nature Reserve from April to June 2013 and 2014 to estimate tiger density and abundance using both maximum likelihood and Bayesian spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) methods. A minimum of 8 individuals were detected in both sample periods and the documentation of marking behavior and reproduction suggests the presence of a resident population. Using Bayesian SECR modeling within the 11 400 km(2) state space, density estimates were 0.33 and 0.40 individuals/100 km(2) in 2013 and 2014, respectively, corresponding to an estimated abundance of 38 and 45 animals for this transboundary Sino-Russian population. In a maximum likelihood framework, we estimated densities of 0.30 and 0.24 individuals/100 km(2) corresponding to abundances of 34 and 27, in 2013 and 2014, respectively. These density estimates are comparable to other published estimates for resident Amur tiger populations in the Russian Far East. This study reveals promising signs of tiger recovery in Northeast China, and demonstrates the importance of connectivity between the Russian and Chinese populations for recovering tigers in Northeast China.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Engineering, and College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.|Wildlife Biology Program, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA.
authors.forename: Wenhong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Engineering, and College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Limin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Engineering, and College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Pu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mou
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York, USA.|Department of Ecology, Far Eastern Federal University, Ayaks, Russki Island, Vladivostok, Russia.
authors.forename: Dale G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Miquelle
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Biology Program, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hebblewhite
authors.affiliation: Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology Program, Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.affiliation: Panthera, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Hugh S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Engineering, and College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaodan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Engineering, and College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Engineering, and College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Tianming
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Engineering, and College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ge
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002681:China; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D056727:Endangered Species; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D011156:Population Density; D012426:Russia; D046010:Tigers
keywords: Amur tiger; camera traps; density; individual identification; spatial capture-recapture