Abstract
Population studies often incorporate capture‐mark‐recapture (CMR) techniques to gather information on long‐term biological and demographic characteristics. A fundamental requirement for CMR studies is that an individual must be uniquely and permanently marked to ensure reliable reidentification throughout its lifespan. Photographic identification involving automated photographic identification software has become a popular and efficient noninvasive method for identifying individuals based on natural markings. However, few studies have (a) robustly assessed the performance of automated programs by using a double‐marking system or (b) determined their efficacy for long‐term studies by incorporating multi‐year data. Here, we evaluated the performance of the program Interactive Individual Identification System (I3S) by cross‐validating photographic identifications based on the head scale pattern of the prairie lizard (Sceloporus consobrinus) with individual microsatellite genotyping (N = 863). Further, we assessed the efficacy of the program to identify individuals over time by comparing error rates between within‐year and between‐year recaptures. Recaptured lizards were correctly identified by I3S in 94.1% of cases. We estimated a false rejection rate (FRR) of 5.9% and a false acceptance rate (FAR) of 0%. By using I3S, we correctly identified 97.8% of within‐year recaptures (FRR = 2.2%; FAR = 0%) and 91.1% of between‐year recaptures (FRR = 8.9%; FAR = 0%). Misidentifications were primarily due to poor photograph quality (N = 4). However, two misidentifications were caused by indistinct scale configuration due to scale damage (N = 1) and ontogenetic changes in head scalation between capture events (N = 1). We conclude that automated photographic identification based on head scale patterns is a reliable and accurate method for identifying individuals over time. Because many lizard or reptilian species possess variable head squamation, this method has potential for successful application in many species.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-18-2020
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7031
Funding Information
Funding for this study was provided by an Arkansas Audubon Society Trust grant to S.A.T. and Arkansas Tech University Professional Development grant to C.J.K.
Related Content
Sampling locations, morphological data, and microsatellite genotypes are available at Dryad https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1rn8pk0s3.
Repository Citation
Tomke, Sarah A. and Kellner, Chris J., "Genotyping Validates the Efficacy of Photographic Identification in a Capture-Mark-Recapture Study Based on the Head Scale Patterns of the Prairie Lizard (Sceloporus consobrinus)" (2020). Forestry and Natural Resources Graduate Research. 1.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/forestry_gradpub/1
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Ecology and Evolution, v. 10, issue 24.
© 2020 The Authors
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.