Drift fences in traps: theoretical evidence of effectiveness of the two most common arrays applied to terrestrial tetrapods

Biodiversity inventories are well acknowledged as key to conservation planning. One widely used method for sampling terrestrial fauna is traps with drift fences. Such drift fences, however, may be configured in several arrays, varying the height, length of the fence, space between conjugated traps (e.g., buckets or funnels), and it can be arranged in linear (I) or radial (Y) formats. Consequently, some criticism arose questioning which drift fence arrangement should be employed. Therefore, we made use of geometrical models to test the probability of capturing terrestrial tetrapods (as model organisms) using traps associated along with both I and Y drift fence arrays. With distances varying from 8 to 100 m from the fence, the capturing rate of the I format was in average 1.16 times higher than the Y format. Besides this, we also present data that may enable field ecologists to better decide the minimum distance between two traps with drift fences, ensuring accurate statistics. Correct decisions in ecological and management studies may prevent wastes and fundament efficient conservation policies.