Measuring agreement among experts in classifying camera images of similar species

Camera trapping and solicitation of wildlife images through citizen science have become common tools in ecological research. Such studies collect many wildlife images for which correct species classification is crucial; even low misclassification rates can result in erroneous estimation of the geographic range or habitat use of a species, potentially hindering conservation or management efforts. However, some species are difficult to tell apart, making species classification challenging - but the literature on classification agreement rates among experts remains sparse. Here, we measure agreement among experts in distinguishing between images of two similar congeneric species, bobcats (Lynx rufus) and Canada lynx (L. canadensis). We asked experts to classify the species in selected images to test whether the season, background habitat, time of day, and the visible features of each animal (e.g., face, legs, tail) affected agreement among experts about the species in each image. Overall, ...