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6 results for “wildlife tracking”
SEV LTER: Tracking Vegetation Phenology Using PhenoCam Imagery at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico, 2014-2024
As of 03/03/2024, the Sevilleta Long-Term Ecological Research Program is equipped with a total of 65 digital RGB cameras, or PhenoCams, across the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. These cameras are installed on eddy covariance flux towers and at a number of precipitation manipulation experiments to track vegetation phenology and productivity across dryland ecotones. PhenoCams have been paired with eddy covariance flux tower data at the site since 2014, while some Mean-Variance Experiment PhenoCams were installed as recently as June 2023. For information on PhenoCam data processing and formatting, see Richardson et al., 2018, Scientific Data (https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2018.28), Seyednasrollah et al., 2019, Scientific Data (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-019-0229-9), and the PhenoCam Network web page (https://phenocam.nau.edu/webcam/). The PhenoCam Network uses imagery from digital cameras to track vegetation phenology and seasonal changes in vegetation activity in diverse ecosystems across North America and around the world. Imagery is uploaded to the PhenoCam server hosted at Northern Arizona University, where it is made publicly available in near-real time, every 30 minutes from sunrise to sunset, 365 days a year. The data are processed using simple image analysis tools to yield a measure of canopy greenness, from which phenological metrics are extracted, characterizing the start and end of the growing season. These transition dates have been shown to align well with on-the-ground observations at various research sites. Long-term PhenoCam data can be used to track the impact of climate variability and change on the rhythm of the seasons.
Bird observations collected by volunteers along census tracks in the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, intervals of observations are approximately twice a month.
This file contains bird observations collected by volunteers along census tracks in the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Massachusetts. Intervals of observations are approximately twice a month.
Tracking wildlife energy dynamics with unoccupied aircraft systems and 3-dimensional photogrammetry
<p>We present a novel application using unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS; drones) for structure-from-motion three-dimensional (3-D) photogrammetry of multiple, free-ranging animals simultaneously. Pinnipeds reliably haul-out on shore for pupping and breeding each year, accompanied by dramatic female-to-pup mass transfer over a short lactation period and males lose mass while defending mating territories. This provides a tractable study system for validating the use of UAS as a non-invasive tool for tracking energy dynamics in wild populations.</p> <p>UAS imagery of grey seals (<i>Halichoerus grypus</i>) was collected at Saddle Island, Nova Scotia. A multirotor UAS was piloted in 360-degree orbits around relatively dense animal aggregations and georeferenced images were used for construction of a 3-D point cloud, orthomosaic, and Digital Surface Model for animal volumetric measurements. Directly following UAS survey, a subset of adult females were hand-measured (morphometrics, blubber depth, n=21 handlings [15 were unique animals]) and female-pup pairs were weighed (adult females: n=32 [24]; pups: n=33 [23]) to validate that UAS 3-D photogrammetric models provided accurate animal volume and mass estimates.</p> <p>UAS two-dimensional body length measurements were sensitive to animal recumbency and posture. The new UAS 3-D photogrammetric method overcame these constraints, and aerial-derived body volume measurements were equivalent to those collected from the ground. UAS body volume measurements precisely predicted 'true' body mass (mean-absolute-error, adult female: 8 kg, 2.1% body mass; pup: 4.1 kg, 9.8%), and exhibited a stronger relationship with total body mass than with blubber volume.</p> <p>The method was applied to 673 free-ranging animals to characterize volume and mass dynamics across lactation and breeding for a much larger sample size than would be possible using traditional ground methods. Indeed, 1-46 animals (mean±SE: 9.2±1.2) were modeled concurrently within the focal area of a UAS flight. Application of the method also captured significant inter-annual variation in body volume/mass dynamics, and female-to-pup energy transfer efficiencies were lower when there was low sea-ice extent. The UAS 3-D photogrammetric method presented in this study is likely to be broadly applicable to other species, and the ability to measure whole groups of free-ranging animals at once makes strides towards 'weighing populations'.</p>
Integrating animal tracking datasets at a continental scale for mapping wildlife habitat
<div><em>Aim:</em></div> <div> </div> <div>The increasing availability of animal tracking datasets collected across many sites provides new opportunities to move beyond local assessments to enable detailed and consistent habitat mapping at biogeographic scales. However, integrating wildlife datasets across large areas and study sites is challenging, as species' varying responses to different environmental contexts must be reconciled. Here, we compare approaches for large-area habitat mapping and assess available habitat for a recolonizing large carnivore, the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx).</div> <div> </div> <div> <em>Location: </em>Europe</div> <div> </div> <div><em>Methods:</em></div> <div> </div> <div>We use a continental-scale animal tracking database (450 individuals from 14 study sites) to systematically assess modeling approaches, comparing (1) global strategies that pool all data for training vs. building local, site-specific models and combining them, (2) different approaches for incorporating regional variation in habitat selection, and (3) different modeling algorithms, testing nonlinear mixed effects models as well as machine-learning algorithms.</div> <div> </div> <div><em>Results:</em></div> <div> </div> <div>Both global and local modeling strategies allowed building transferable habitat models with overall similar predictive performance. Model performance was the highest using flexible machine-learning algorithms and when incorporating variation in habitat selection as a function of environmental variation. Our best-performing model used a weighted combination of local, site-specific habitat models. Our habitat maps identified large areas of suitable, but currently unoccupied lynx habitat, with many of the most suitable unoccupied areas located in regions that could foster connectivity between currently isolated populations.</div> <div> </div> <div><em>Main conclusions:</em></div> <div> </div> <div>We demonstrate that global and local modeling strategies can achieve robust habitat models at the continental scale and that considering regional variation in habitat selection improves broad-scale habitat mapping. More generally, we highlight the promise of large wildlife tracking databases for large-area habitat mapping. Our maps provide the first high-resolution, yet continental assessment of lynx habitat across Europe, providing a consistent basis for conservation planning for restoring the species within its former range.</div>
Tracking wildlife energy dynamics with unoccupied aircraft systems and 3-dimensional photogrammetry
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Snow Properties and Wildlife Tracks in Washington and Alaska
This dataset contains three field seasons of snow-wildlife observations conducted at 707 sites from January 2021 to March 2023 in Washington and Alaska, spanning a broad range of snow conditions. Relatively fresh tracks (usually <24 h) of common large mammal predators (bobcats, coyotes, cougars, and wolves) and their ungulate prey (caribou, Dall sheep, moose, mule deer, and white-tailed deer) were investigated to determine how snow affects predator-prey interactions. The track sink depth and dimensions (width and length) of three consecutive footprints were measured from one individual. Age class was recorded for moose based either on visual confirmation of an individual creating snow tracks or based on track dimensions. The ability to differentiate age classes for smaller ungulates was more uncertain, so age classes for deer, caribou, or sheep were not specified. Animal gait was identified using a simple classification scheme. Data also include animal species, snow density, hardness, total ice, surface temperature, and vegetation type. To best capture snow hardness, surface penetrability and hand-hardness were measured throughout the snowpack. The data are provided in comma-separated values (CSV) format.
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Allen Brain Atlas
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DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.