Right on track? Performance of satellite telemetry in terrestrial wildlife research

• Published in: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
• Main Authors: Hofman, M. P. G., Hayward, M. W., Heim, M., Marchand, P., Rolandsen, C. M., Mattisson, J., Urbano, F., Heurich, M., Mysterud, A., Melzheimer, J., Morellet, N., Voigt, U., Allen, B. L., Gehr, B., Rouco, C., Ullmann, W., Holand, O., Jorgensen, n H., Steinheim, G., Cagnacci, F., Kroeschel, M., Kaczensky, P., Buuveibaatar, B., Payne, J. C., Palmegiani, I., Jerina, K., Kjellander, P., Johansson, O., LaPoint, S., Bayrakcismith, R., Linnell, J. D. C., Zaccaroni, M., Jorge, M. L. S., Oshima, J. E. F., Songhurst, A., Fischer, C., McBride, R. T. Jr., Thompson, J. J., Streif, S., Sandfort, R., Bonenfant, C., Drouilly, M., Klapproth, M., Zinner, D., Yarnell, R., Stronza, A., Wilmott, L., Meisingset, E., Thaker, M., Vanak, A. T., Nicoloso, S., Graeber, R., Said, S., Boudreau, M. R., Devlin, A., Hoogesteijn, R., May-Junior, J. A., Nifong, J. C., Odden, J., Quigley, Howard B., Tortato, F., Parker, D. M., Caso, A., Perrine, J., Tellaeche, C., Zieba, F., Zwijacz-Kozica, T., Appel, C. L., Axsom, I., Bean, W. T., Cristescu, B., Periquet, S., Teichman, K. J., Karpanty, Sarah M., Licoppe, A., Menges, V., Black, K., Scheppers, T. L., Schai-Braun, S. C., Azevedo, F. C., Lemos, F. G., Payne, A., Swanepoel, L. H., Weckworth, B., V., Berger, A., Bertassoni, A., McCulloch, G., Sustr, P., Athreya, V., Bockmuhl, D., Casaer, J., Ekori, A., Melovski, D., Richard-Hansen, C., van de Vyver, D., Reyna-Hurtado, R., Robardet, E., Selva, N., Sergiel, A., Farhadinia, Mohammad S., Sunde, P., Portas, R., Ambarli, H., Berzins, R., Kappeler, P. M., Mann, G. K., Pyritz, L., Bissett, C., Grant, T., Steinmetz, R., Swedell, L., Welch, R. J., Armenteras, D., Bidder, O. R., Gonzalez, T. M., Rosenblatt, A., Kachel, S., Balkenhol, N.
• Other Authors: Fish and Wildlife Conservation
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PLOS 2019
• Subjects: Arctic; New Zealand; Norway
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10919/92202; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216223

Satellite telemetry is an increasingly utilized technology in wildlife research, and current devices can track individual animal movements at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions. However, as we enter the golden age of satellite telemetry, we need an in-depth understanding of the main technological, species-specific and environmental factors that determine the success and failure of satellite tracking devices across species and habitats. Here, we assess the relative influence of such factors on the ability of satellite telemetry units to provide the expected amount and quality of data by analyzing data from over 3,000 devices deployed on 62 terrestrial species in 167 projects worldwide. We evaluate the success rate in obtaining GPS fixes as well as in transferring these fixes to the user and we evaluate failure rates. Average fix success and data transfer rates were high and were generally better predicted by species and unit characteristics, while environmental characteristics influenced the variability of performance. However, 48% of the unit deployments ended prematurely, half of them due to technical failure. Nonetheless, this study shows that the performance of satellite telemetry applications has shown improvements over time, and based on our findings, we provide further recommendations for both users and manufacturers. Forest and Nature for Society (FONASO) Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate programme [2013-09] University of Goettingen Norwegian Environment Agency Research Council of Norway [212919] Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Messerli Foundation, WWF Landcare Research Ltd New Zealand TBfree New Zealand (AHB project) [R10737] Norwegian Research Counsil, Smafefondet, NMBU Research Council of Norway Federal State of Baden-Wuerttemberg (Landesjagdabgabe) Wildlife Conservation Society Swedish Environmental Protection Agency private foundation "Marie Clair Cronstedts stiftelse" NASA Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment [NNX15AV92A] National Geographic Society ...