Data from: Evaluating behavioral responses of nesting lesser snow geese to unmanned aircraft surveys
Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are relatively new technologies gaining popularity among wildlife biologists. As with any new tool in wildlife science, operating protocols must be developed through rigorous protocol testing. Few studies have been conducted that quantify the impacts UAS may have on u...
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ftdans:oai:easy.dans.knaw.nl:easy-dataset:99920 2023-07-02T03:33:55+02:00 Data from: Evaluating behavioral responses of nesting lesser snow geese to unmanned aircraft surveys Barnas, Andrew Newman, Robert Felege, Christopher J. Corcoran, Michael P. Hervey, Samuel D. Stechmann, Tanner J. Rockwell, Robert F. Ellis-Felege, Susan N. 2017-12-27T21:57:02.000+01:00 http://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:nl:ui:13-xi-zjow https://easy.dans.knaw.nl/ui/datasets/id/easy-dataset:99920 unknown doi:10.5061/dryad.r21pc/1 doi:10.1002/ece3.3731 http://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:nl:ui:13-xi-zjow doi:10.5061/dryad.r21pc https://easy.dans.knaw.nl/ui/datasets/id/easy-dataset:99920 OPEN_ACCESS: The data are archived in Easy, they are accessible elsewhere through the DOI https://dans.knaw.nl/en/about/organisation-and-policy/legal-information/DANSLicence.pdf Life sciences medicine and health care 2017 ftdans https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.r21pc/110.1002/ece3.373110.5061/dryad.r21pc 2023-06-13T13:26:02Z Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are relatively new technologies gaining popularity among wildlife biologists. As with any new tool in wildlife science, operating protocols must be developed through rigorous protocol testing. Few studies have been conducted that quantify the impacts UAS may have on unhabituated individuals in the wild using standard aerial survey protocols. We evaluated impacts of unmanned surveys by measuring UAS-induced behavioral responses during the nesting phase of lesser snow geese (Anser caerulescens caerulescens) in Wapusk National Park, Manitoba, Canada. We conducted surveys with a fixed-wing Trimble UX5 and monitored behavioral changes via discreet surveillance cameras at 25 nests. Days with UAS surveys resulted in decreased resting and increased nest maintenance, low scanning, high scanning, head-cocking and off-nest behaviors when compared to days without UAS surveys. In the group of birds flown over, head-cocking for overhead vigilance was rarely seen prior to launch or after landing (mean estimates 0.03% and 0.02%, respectively) but increased to 0.56% of the time when the aircraft was flying overhead suggesting that birds were able to detect the aircraft during flight. Neither UAS survey altitude nor launch distance alone in this study was strong predictors of nesting behaviors, although our flight altitudes (≥75 m above ground level) were much higher than previously published behavioral studies. Synthesis and applications: The diversity of UAS models makes generalizations on behavioral impacts difficult, and we caution that researchers should design UAS studies with knowledge that some minimal disturbance is likely to occur. We recommend flight designs take potential behavioral impacts into account by increasing survey altitude where data quality requirements permit. Such flight designs should consider a priori knowledge of focal species’ behavioral characteristics. Research is needed to determine whether any such disturbance is a result of visual or auditory stimuli. Other/Unknown Material Wapusk national park Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS): EASY (KNAW - Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen) Canada |
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Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS): EASY (KNAW - Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen) |
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ftdans |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Life sciences medicine and health care |
spellingShingle |
Life sciences medicine and health care Barnas, Andrew Newman, Robert Felege, Christopher J. Corcoran, Michael P. Hervey, Samuel D. Stechmann, Tanner J. Rockwell, Robert F. Ellis-Felege, Susan N. Data from: Evaluating behavioral responses of nesting lesser snow geese to unmanned aircraft surveys |
topic_facet |
Life sciences medicine and health care |
description |
Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are relatively new technologies gaining popularity among wildlife biologists. As with any new tool in wildlife science, operating protocols must be developed through rigorous protocol testing. Few studies have been conducted that quantify the impacts UAS may have on unhabituated individuals in the wild using standard aerial survey protocols. We evaluated impacts of unmanned surveys by measuring UAS-induced behavioral responses during the nesting phase of lesser snow geese (Anser caerulescens caerulescens) in Wapusk National Park, Manitoba, Canada. We conducted surveys with a fixed-wing Trimble UX5 and monitored behavioral changes via discreet surveillance cameras at 25 nests. Days with UAS surveys resulted in decreased resting and increased nest maintenance, low scanning, high scanning, head-cocking and off-nest behaviors when compared to days without UAS surveys. In the group of birds flown over, head-cocking for overhead vigilance was rarely seen prior to launch or after landing (mean estimates 0.03% and 0.02%, respectively) but increased to 0.56% of the time when the aircraft was flying overhead suggesting that birds were able to detect the aircraft during flight. Neither UAS survey altitude nor launch distance alone in this study was strong predictors of nesting behaviors, although our flight altitudes (≥75 m above ground level) were much higher than previously published behavioral studies. Synthesis and applications: The diversity of UAS models makes generalizations on behavioral impacts difficult, and we caution that researchers should design UAS studies with knowledge that some minimal disturbance is likely to occur. We recommend flight designs take potential behavioral impacts into account by increasing survey altitude where data quality requirements permit. Such flight designs should consider a priori knowledge of focal species’ behavioral characteristics. Research is needed to determine whether any such disturbance is a result of visual or auditory stimuli. |
author |
Barnas, Andrew Newman, Robert Felege, Christopher J. Corcoran, Michael P. Hervey, Samuel D. Stechmann, Tanner J. Rockwell, Robert F. Ellis-Felege, Susan N. |
author_facet |
Barnas, Andrew Newman, Robert Felege, Christopher J. Corcoran, Michael P. Hervey, Samuel D. Stechmann, Tanner J. Rockwell, Robert F. Ellis-Felege, Susan N. |
author_sort |
Barnas, Andrew |
title |
Data from: Evaluating behavioral responses of nesting lesser snow geese to unmanned aircraft surveys |
title_short |
Data from: Evaluating behavioral responses of nesting lesser snow geese to unmanned aircraft surveys |
title_full |
Data from: Evaluating behavioral responses of nesting lesser snow geese to unmanned aircraft surveys |
title_fullStr |
Data from: Evaluating behavioral responses of nesting lesser snow geese to unmanned aircraft surveys |
title_full_unstemmed |
Data from: Evaluating behavioral responses of nesting lesser snow geese to unmanned aircraft surveys |
title_sort |
data from: evaluating behavioral responses of nesting lesser snow geese to unmanned aircraft surveys |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:nl:ui:13-xi-zjow https://easy.dans.knaw.nl/ui/datasets/id/easy-dataset:99920 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Wapusk national park |
genre_facet |
Wapusk national park |
op_relation |
doi:10.5061/dryad.r21pc/1 doi:10.1002/ece3.3731 http://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:nl:ui:13-xi-zjow doi:10.5061/dryad.r21pc https://easy.dans.knaw.nl/ui/datasets/id/easy-dataset:99920 |
op_rights |
OPEN_ACCESS: The data are archived in Easy, they are accessible elsewhere through the DOI https://dans.knaw.nl/en/about/organisation-and-policy/legal-information/DANSLicence.pdf |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.r21pc/110.1002/ece3.373110.5061/dryad.r21pc |
_version_ |
1770274079067078656 |