A remote‐controlled observatory for behavioural and ecological research: A case study on emperor penguins
Abstract Long‐term photographic recordings of animal populations provide unique insights into ecological and evolutionary processes. However, image acquisition at remote locations under harsh climatic conditions is highly challenging. We present a robust, energetically self‐sufficient and remote‐con...
Published in: | Methods in Ecology and Evolution |
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crwiley:10.1111/2041-210x.12971 2024-06-23T07:47:38+00:00 A remote‐controlled observatory for behavioural and ecological research: A case study on emperor penguins Richter, Sebastian Gerum, Richard C. Schneider, Werner Fabry, Ben Le Bohec, Céline Zitterbart, Daniel P. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.12971 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2F2041-210X.12971 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/2041-210X.12971 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/2041-210X.12971 https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/2041-210X.12971 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Methods in Ecology and Evolution volume 9, issue 5, page 1168-1178 ISSN 2041-210X 2041-210X journal-article 2018 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.12971 2024-05-31T08:12:08Z Abstract Long‐term photographic recordings of animal populations provide unique insights into ecological and evolutionary processes. However, image acquisition at remote locations under harsh climatic conditions is highly challenging. We present a robust, energetically self‐sufficient and remote‐controlled observatory designed to operate year‐round in the Antarctic at temperatures below −50°C and wind speeds above 150 km/h. The observatory is equipped with multiple overview cameras and a high resolution steerable camera with a telephoto lens for capturing images with high spatial and temporal resolution. Our observatory has been in operation since 2013 to investigate an emperor penguin ( Aptenodytes forsteri ) colony at Atka Bay near the German Neumayer III research station. Data recorded by this observatory give novel biological insights in animal life cycle and demographic trends, but also in collective and individual behaviour. As an example, we present data showing how wind speed and direction influence movements of the entire colony and of individual penguins. We also estimate daily fluctuations in the total number of individuals present at the breeding site. Our results demonstrate that remote‐controlled observation systems can bridge the gap between remote sensing, simple time‐lapse recording setups, and on‐site observations by human investigators to collect unique biological datasets of undisturbed animal populations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Aptenodytes forsteri Emperor penguins Wiley Online Library Antarctic Atka ENVELOPE(151.789,151.789,60.835,60.835) Neumayer The Antarctic Methods in Ecology and Evolution 9 5 1168 1178 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Long‐term photographic recordings of animal populations provide unique insights into ecological and evolutionary processes. However, image acquisition at remote locations under harsh climatic conditions is highly challenging. We present a robust, energetically self‐sufficient and remote‐controlled observatory designed to operate year‐round in the Antarctic at temperatures below −50°C and wind speeds above 150 km/h. The observatory is equipped with multiple overview cameras and a high resolution steerable camera with a telephoto lens for capturing images with high spatial and temporal resolution. Our observatory has been in operation since 2013 to investigate an emperor penguin ( Aptenodytes forsteri ) colony at Atka Bay near the German Neumayer III research station. Data recorded by this observatory give novel biological insights in animal life cycle and demographic trends, but also in collective and individual behaviour. As an example, we present data showing how wind speed and direction influence movements of the entire colony and of individual penguins. We also estimate daily fluctuations in the total number of individuals present at the breeding site. Our results demonstrate that remote‐controlled observation systems can bridge the gap between remote sensing, simple time‐lapse recording setups, and on‐site observations by human investigators to collect unique biological datasets of undisturbed animal populations. |
author2 |
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Richter, Sebastian Gerum, Richard C. Schneider, Werner Fabry, Ben Le Bohec, Céline Zitterbart, Daniel P. |
spellingShingle |
Richter, Sebastian Gerum, Richard C. Schneider, Werner Fabry, Ben Le Bohec, Céline Zitterbart, Daniel P. A remote‐controlled observatory for behavioural and ecological research: A case study on emperor penguins |
author_facet |
Richter, Sebastian Gerum, Richard C. Schneider, Werner Fabry, Ben Le Bohec, Céline Zitterbart, Daniel P. |
author_sort |
Richter, Sebastian |
title |
A remote‐controlled observatory for behavioural and ecological research: A case study on emperor penguins |
title_short |
A remote‐controlled observatory for behavioural and ecological research: A case study on emperor penguins |
title_full |
A remote‐controlled observatory for behavioural and ecological research: A case study on emperor penguins |
title_fullStr |
A remote‐controlled observatory for behavioural and ecological research: A case study on emperor penguins |
title_full_unstemmed |
A remote‐controlled observatory for behavioural and ecological research: A case study on emperor penguins |
title_sort |
remote‐controlled observatory for behavioural and ecological research: a case study on emperor penguins |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.12971 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2F2041-210X.12971 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/2041-210X.12971 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/2041-210X.12971 https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/2041-210X.12971 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(151.789,151.789,60.835,60.835) |
geographic |
Antarctic Atka Neumayer The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Atka Neumayer The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Aptenodytes forsteri Emperor penguins |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Aptenodytes forsteri Emperor penguins |
op_source |
Methods in Ecology and Evolution volume 9, issue 5, page 1168-1178 ISSN 2041-210X 2041-210X |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.12971 |
container_title |
Methods in Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1168 |
op_container_end_page |
1178 |
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1802651761934073856 |