Mammals – Camera Trap Surveys – Spain – 2014–2026 – MOMAT Project

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 23,456 records.

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Rodríguez-Rodríguez E J, Matutano J, Calzada J, Fernández-López J, Mas M, Palomo J, Rouco C, Santoro S, Román J (2026). Mammals – Camera Trap Surveys – Spain – 2014–2026 – MOMAT Project. Version 2.2. Sociedad Ibérica para la Conservación y Estudio de los Mamíferos (SECEM). Occurrence dataset. https://doi.org/10.15470/plsrp1

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Sociedad Ibérica para la Conservación y Estudio de los Mamíferos (SECEM). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 626c16d0-c37e-4b1f-9337-09d58c9eb9ff.  Sociedad Ibérica para la Conservación y Estudio de los Mamíferos (SECEM) publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Spain.

Keywords

Occurrence; Observation

Contacts

Geographic Coverage

The study area encompasses the entire Spanish territory, including the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla.

Temporal Coverage

Project Data

No Description available

The personnel involved in the project:

Sampling Methods

Camera trapping was used to detect medium- and large-sized terrestrial mammals following SECEM’s standard protocol. Passive infrared cameras were placed at 50 cm height, typically three per 10 × 10 km grid cell in professional surveys (sometimes one in volunteer surveys), in habitats likely to maximize detections such as trails or bottlenecks. Cameras operated continuously for a fixed period, and each deployment was recorded as a sampling event with associated metadata (location, duration, detections, individuals, observer, images, and taxonomy). This method provides efficient, non-invasive presence data for elusive species.

Method step description:

1. Camera trapping was used to detect medium- and large-sized terrestrial mammals. The surveys were conducted by both trained professionals and volunteers. Passive infrared camera traps were deployed at knee height (50 cm), following the standard protocol established by the Spanish Society for the Conservation and Study of Mammals (SECEM). In each 10 × 10 km grid cell, three cameras were typically deployed for professional surveys, while in some volunteer surveys only one camera was sometimes used. Cameras were placed in the predominant habitats within each grid cell likely to maximize detection probability, such as animal trails or natural bottlenecks, and operated continuously for a predefined sampling period. Each camera deployment constituted a sampling event, and records include information on location, deployment duration, detection date, number of individuals, responsible person, image identifiers, and taxonomy. Camera trapping provides a non-invasive and highly efficient method for obtaining presence data for elusive species with minimal disturbance.

Additional Metadata