Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck
Thanks to technological improvements that have come in recent years, the “golden age of animal tracking science” is upon us, claim researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in new research published in the June 12 edition of the journal Science.
Among these improvements, the authors write, are the development of smaller tracking devices that are capable of returning millions of movement steps for increasingly small animals. Furthermore, a new tool that allows for the collection and transmission of detailed, high-resolution animal movement data – data that has implications for animal ecology, behavior and biodiversity.
The new technology stemmed from consumer demand and it replaces radio-tracking systems with smaller GPS tags allowing for the more accurate tracking of a larger number of animals. Creatures are fitted with multiple sensors to monitor their health, brain waves and energy use, and they’re tracked by satellites as they travel around the globe.
The information collected using these tracking tags can be combined with weather data and other remotely-collected information about the environment, and can be used to help scientists monitor how entire groups of animals interact with each other, the authors explained in a statement. “The upcoming years will be a time of unprecedented, exciting discoveries,” they added.
Bringing animal tracking into the realm of big data
STRI research associates Roland Kays, Margaret Crofoot, and Martin Wikelski initially worked together on developing what they refer to as an Automated Radio Telemetry System (ARTS) at the Smithsonian’s Barro Colorado Island Research Station in Panama back in 2002, as part of a joint project with Princeton University and the New York State Museum.
Their ARTS system used towers with radio receivers to track animals as they moved through the dense tropical lowland forest. By the time the project ended in 2010, their technology could provide around-the-clock tracking of up to 200 animals at the same time. It also allowed them to visualize the movements of these creatures on the internet.
“Improved technology has brought animal tracking into the realm of big data, not only through high-resolution movement trajectories, but also through the addition of other on-animal sensors and the integration of remote sensing data about the environment through which these animals are moving,” the authors wrote, noting that solar power has made it possible for some species to be tracked throughout their entire lifetimes.
“Technology continues to improve our ability to track animals, with the promise of smaller tags collecting more data, less invasively, on a greater variety of animals,” they added. “We expect that the field will soon reach a transformational point where these studies do more than inform us about particular species of animals, but allow the animals to teach us about the world.”
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