Utility of biological sensor tags in animal conservation

Wilson, Alexander D. M.; Wikelski, Martin; Wilson, Rory P.; Cooke, Steven J.

doi:10.1111/cobi.12486

Cited by 101 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 101 publications

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“…In future work, our technique might provide additional information that can be used in conjunction with the vector of the dynamic body acceleration (VeDBA), magnetometer measurements and GPS data to achieve this goal. It is clear that biological sensor tags can play a critical role in animal conservation [42]. We hope that further research in the presented and related directions can serve to optimise system longevity and data resolution, thereby enabling advances in applied ecological monitoring and wildlife conservation by means of sensor-equipped tags and real-time on-board processing techniques.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal-borne behaviour classification for sheep (Dohne Merino) and Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum and Diceros bicornis)

et al. 2017

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Background:The ability to study animal behaviour is important in many fields of science, including biology, behavioural ecology and conservation. Behavioural information is usually obtained by attaching an electronic tag to the animal and later retrieving it to download the measured data. We present an animal-borne behaviour classification system, which captures and automatically classifies three-dimensional accelerometer data in real time. All computations occur on specially designed biotelemetry tags while attached to the animal. This allows the probable behaviour to be transmitted continuously, thereby providing an enhanced level of detail and immediacy. Results:The performance of the animal-borne automatic behaviour classification system is presented for sheep and rhinoceros. For sheep, a classification accuracy of 82.40% is achieved among five behavioural classes (standing, walking, grazing, running and lying down). For rhinoceros, an accuracy of 96.10% is achieved among three behavioural classes (standing, walking and lying down). The estimated behaviour was established approximately every 5.3 s for sheep and 6.5 s for rhinoceros. Conclusions:We demonstrate that accurate on-animal real-time behaviour classification is possible by successful design, implementation and deployed on sheep and rhinoceros. Since the bandwidth required to transmit the behaviour class is lower than that which would be required to transmit the accelerometer measurements themselves, this system is better suited to low-power and error-prone data communication channels that may be expected in the animals habitat.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal-borne behaviour classification for sheep (Dohne Merino) and Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum and Diceros bicornis)

et al. 2017

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“…The general premise is that such tags allow free-living animals to be studied with Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10344-016-1051-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. only minor disturbance Ropert-Coudert and Wilson 2005) and minimal observer effects (Cagnacci et al 2010) while delivering insights into animal behaviour and ecology (Shillinger et al 2012;Weimerskirch 2007) with potential implications for conservation and management actions (Schofield et al 2007;Wilson et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-term effects of tagging on activity and movement patterns of Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber)

et al. 2016

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Bio-logging is becoming increasingly popular amongst wildlife researchers, providing a remote way of monitoring free-ranging animals in their natural habitats. However, capturing and tagging can be stressful and may alter animal behaviour. In this study, we investigated whether tagging altered activity and movement patterns of Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber) during the first week after release, predicting that beavers would be less active, travel shorter distances and stay closer to the lodge in the first nights after the tagging event. We captured 29 dominant free-ranging beavers (12 females, 17 males) in Telemark county, Norway, and tagged them with GPS units (n = 23; 12 males, 11 females) and triaxial acceleration data loggers (n = 14; 9 males, 5 females). Accelerometer data was used to investigate activity levels (using mean overall dynamic body acceleration ODBA and principal activity periods), while GPS data was used to determine movement patterns (using distance moved and lodge displacement rate). Tagging effects were apparent only in activity levels of beavers, where we found lower mean ODBA values after release although the small effect size (Cohen's d = 0.17) indicates only a minimal difference in activity. Neither principal activity periods nor distances moved or lodge displacement rate changed within the first week after release, which indicates that beavers were active and post-release space use within the territory was not affected by the tagging event in this respect.

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“…Groups of interest for marine spatial planning could include for example specific community-level functional groups (e.g., apex predators, Block et al, 2011), taxonomic groups (e.g., seabirds, Ronconi et al, 2012), species-at-risk (e.g., African penguins Spheniscus demersus, Ludynia et al, 2012), sub-populations (e.g., seabird colonies, Louzao et al, 2011; sea turtle breeding areas, Schofield et al, 2013) or specific life history phases, often divided further by sex (e.g., pupping female white sharks Carcharodon carcharias, Domeier and Nasby-Lucas, 2013). Our ability to study the space use of marine animals belonging to a specific group of-concern continues to expand with innovations in animal-attached biologging devices that record location and other ancillary data (Cooke, 2008;Hussey et al, 2015;Wilson et al, 2015). Importantly, how we use these individual-based data to define space use more broadly for the higher-level group to which the tracked animals belong, influences how we interpret the biological and management implications of the findings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual-level Variation and Higher-level Interpretations of Space Use in Wide-ranging Species: An Albatross Case Study of Sampling Effects

et al. 2015

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Marine ecologists and managers need to know the spatial extent of at-sea areas most frequented by the groups of wildlife they study or manage. Defining group-specific ranges and distributions (i.e., space use at the level of species, population, age-class, etc.) can help to identify the source or severity of common or distinct threats among different at-risk groups. In biologging studies, this is accomplished by estimating the space use of a group based on a sample of tracked individuals. A major assumption of these studies is consistency in individual movements among members of a group. The implications of scaling up individual-level tracking data to infer higher-level spatial patterns for groups (i.e., size and extent of areas used, overlap or segregation among groups) is not well documented for wide-ranging pelagic species with high potential for individual variation in space use. We present a case study exploring the effects of sampling (i.e., number and identity of individuals contributing to an analysis) on defining group-specific space use with year-round multi-colony tracking data from two highly vagile species, Laysan (Phoebastria immutabilis) and black-footed (P. nigripes) albatrosses. The results clearly demonstrate that caution is warranted when defining space use for a specific species-colony-period group based on datasets of small, intermediate, or relatively large sample sizes (ranging from n = 3-42 tracked individuals) due to a high degree of individual-level variation in movements. Overall, we provide further support to the recommendation that biologging studies aiming to define higher-level patterns in space use exercise restraint in the scope of inference, particularly when pooled Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) techniques are applied to small datasets for wide-ranging species. Transparent reporting in respect to the potential limitations of the data can in turn better inform both biological interpretations and science-based management decisions.

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Utility of biological sensor tags in animal conservation

Cited by 101 publications

References 101 publications

Animal-borne behaviour classification for sheep (Dohne Merino) and Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum and Diceros bicornis)

Animal-borne behaviour classification for sheep (Dohne Merino) and Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum and Diceros bicornis)

Short-term effects of tagging on activity and movement patterns of Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber)

Individual-level Variation and Higher-level Interpretations of Space Use in Wide-ranging Species: An Albatross Case Study of Sampling Effects

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