Lifeplan Camera Trapping Protocol v3

Lifeplan is a global biodiversity monitoring project with the aim of assessing the current state of biodiversity worldwide, and using this knowledge to generate predictions of how biodiversity might look in the future. In this protocol we describe the method used within the Lifeplan project for collecting camera trap data on an international scale in a wide variety of environmental conditions and habitats. The aim is to use this data to identify species from images and create species lists for the different locations across the globe. This protocol contains a detailed description from setup of the cameras in the field to weekly data collection, as well as steps to configure cameras and collect necessary information to help in species identification. We identify the equipment used in Lifeplan, but also give technical specifications of that equipment so that other users of this protocol can find equivalent alternative equipment. We also specify what metadata should be collected with the camera trap data. The technical solution we use to collect metadata in the Lifeplan project is described in detail in the full Lifeplan protocol. The expected outcome of this method is camera trap images with associated metadata. The species identification process is outside the scope of this protocol and will be described elsewhere.