Best practice for minimising unmanned aerial vehicle disturbance to wildlife in biological field research

Abstract

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), colloquially referred to as 'drones', for biological field research is increasing [1-3]. Small, civilian UAVs are providing a viable, economical tool for ecology researchers and environmental managers. UAVs are particularly useful for wildlife observation and monitoring as they can produce systematic data of high spatial and temporal resolution [4]. However, this new technology could also have undesirable and unforeseen impacts on wildlife, the risks of which we currently have little understanding [5-7]. There is a need for a code of best practice in the use of UAVs to mitigate or alleviate these risks, which we begin to develop here.

The Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems in Marine Mammal Research

“…Consequently, scientific best practices for the use of UAS in wildlife surveys are being developed in order to minimize the disturbance levels. That is, systematic assessment of the potential impacts on the targeted species is of paramount importance for the survey design [3,5,65]. Finally, the current low endurance of VTOL UAV still represents a limitation, requiring back-up options to be considered for long observations.…”

Counting crocodiles from the sky: monitoring the critically endangered gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) population with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)

“…Flying altitude was restricted to 80m following 116 the local civil aviation regulation and avoiding potential disturbance to the species in 117 investigation (Hodgson & Koh, 2016 takeoff.…”

A UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)-approved operations manual for safe deployment of lightweight drones in research

“…This could apply across different organizational scales, from individuals to a research group or an entire research institute. Alongside having a working document, understanding the process by which PfAW is granted can demonstrate the best practice that Hodgson and Koh (2016) advocate as the precautionary principle to manage operational risks.…”

“…In the context of biological research, this relates primarily to disturbances to wildlife, but such consideration should be given also to safe operations and minimizing disturbance in a wide variety of settings. Sandbrook (2015), writing about drone use in conservation suggests that, 'little attention has been given to their possible social impacts' whilst Hodgson and Koh (2016) define the need for work that improves the suitability of drones 'as a low impact ecological survey tool'.…”

“…Some papers have already sought to determine the effects of drone disturbance on wildlife (e.g. Pomeroy, O'Connor, and Davies 2015;McEvoy, Hall, and McDonald 2016) but most recently, work by Hodgson and Koh (2016) states that, 'there is a need for a code of best practice in the use of UAVs to mitigate or alleviate risks' to third parties. In the context of biological research, this relates primarily to disturbances to wildlife, but such consideration should be given also to safe operations and minimizing disturbance in a wide variety of settings.…”