ecological monitoring

Question 1

what is population growth?

Answer 1

-populations grow, shrinks or remain stable due to births, deaths, immigration and emigration
-populations growth rate= (birth rate + immigration) - ( death rate + emigration)

Question 2

what is carrying capacity?

Answer 2

-greatest population that an area can support indefinitely without damaging or over-exploiting the environment
-the mortality rate changes if the population is above or below the CC, to restore the balance

Question 3

what is artificial population control?

Answer 3

-when natural control mechanisms are no longer present
-e.g. culling overgrazing red deer in scotland as wolves have been exterminated
-e.g. introduce non-indigenous species ( could be a predator, competitor or pathogen)
-captive breeding and release programs, removal of predators

Question 4

what is r-selection?

Answer 4

-early age of maturity
-large number of young
-semelparity
-no parental care
-a large reproduction effort
-e.g. mice, rabbits, locusts, greenfly

Question 5

what is k-selection?

Answer 5

-delayed reproduction
-small number of young
-iteroparity
-parental care
-smaller reproductive effort
-e.g. whales, elephants, rhinos

Question 6

what are advantages / disadvantages of r and k selection?

Answer 6

• r-selected species can respond rapidly to sudden death rate increase
• r-selected species can disperse widely, energetically cost
• k-selected species may experience a sudden population crash- may be impossible to recover from
  -long lived- may be resilient to short term conditions

Question 7

what are pros of satellite tracking?

Answer 7

-not intrusive
-improvements in tech
-generated lots of data
-essential approach for many species
-identify features for feeding, resting, breeding

Question 8

what are the cons of satellite tracking?

Answer 8

-attaching collars
-data retrieval
-battery life
-cost
-weight
-prone to failure

Question 9

what is historical tracking?

Answer 9

-fit animals with transmitters
-track radio signals with receivers on the ground

Question 10

what are current receivers?

Answer 10

-receivers high above ground
-orbiting space satellite can hear a transmitter
-even if the animal is out of sight over the horizon, the satellite can hear the transmitter and respect its signal to trackers on the ground

Question 11

how are animals tracked?

Answer 11

-radio transmitter strapped to an animal
-signal sent from the transmitter up to a NOAA weather satellite
-this is an uplink
-a signal sent from a satellite to a ground station is a downlink
-at the end of the transmission, the data is sent to wildlife researchers

Question 12

what do we learn from the data?

Answer 12

-animal/bird activity- motion activated
-longitude/latitude- speed
-battery voltage- slows the battery chemical reaction can reveal temperature

Question 13

what is photography in specialist monitoring techniques?

Answer 13

-camera traps have minimal impact on the habitat and are one way of ensuring wild animals don’t become accustomed to humans
-can be used to recognise individuals by facial, tail, spots, scars, stripes, fins
-provide info like territory size, population movements, lifespans, social groupings

Question 14

what are motion sensitive cameras in specialist monitoring techniques?

Answer 14

-activity during the day (visible light) or night (infrared)
-cctv (bird nests)
-put them in trees

Question 15

what is marking in specialist monitoring techniques?

Answer 15

-rings placed in birds legs provide info on movements and lifespan

Question 16

what is auditory in specialist monitoring techniques?

Answer 16

-e.g. dolphins, bats and insects
-evidence of presence, abundance and activity

Question 17

what are sensors in specialist monitoring techniques?

Answer 17

-data collected in a single location
-uses a carrier system to move sensors to the study areas:
-rov (remotely operated vehicles)
-auv (autonomous unmanned vehicles)
-balloon
-aircraft
-satellites
-animals

Question 18

what are databases (dna) in specialist monitoring techniques?

Answer 18

-dna can identify individuals, gene pools or genetic relationships
-individuals shed dna into the environment (eDNA)
-presence may prevent new developments
-can be used to track sources of timber, elephant ivory or commercial fish

Question 19

what are eDNA metabarcoding applications?

Answer 19

-ancient ecosystems
-plant pollinator interactions
-diet analysis
-invasive species detection
-pollution response
-air quality monitoring

Question 20

what is indirect evidence?

Answer 20

-nest/burrows
-droppings (diet, gender, territory size)
-feeding marks (chewed food)
-owl pellets
-tracks/footprints
-territorial marks (scratching post)

Question 21

what is a drone?

Answer 21

-small helicopter like device that can fly by remote control
-take aerial film or photographs

Question 22

what are some wildlife drone uses?

Answer 22

-scare invasive birds from crops
-spotting high altitude nests
-counting populations
-surveying inaccessible areas

Question 23

what are some terminologies to know?

Answer 23

-MAV= micro air vehicle, for UAVs having a mass of less than 1g
-sUAS= small unmanned aircraft system, used for UAVs weighing less than 25kg
-UAV= used for unmanned aircraft’s with a weight of more than 25kg
-can be remote controlled or can fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans

Question 24

what are UAVs?

Answer 24

-more popular for wildlife management/research:
-miniaturisation of electronics
-improvements in reliability
-affordability

Question 25

what are some UAV responses?

Answer 25

-birds= significant effect on the approach angle
-approach speed, UAV colour, and flight repetition had no effect
-adeline penguins more alert
-physiology= black bears fitted with cardiac bio loggers - UAV flights increased heart rate by 123bpm
-not visually disturbed, but physiologically stressed

Question 26

what are the types of drones?

Answer 26

-military
-medical
-conservation

Question 27

which industries use drones?

Answer 27

-surveying and mapping
-mining
-engineering
-agriculture
-environmental protection
-humanitarian

Question 28

what is the guide to using drones?

Answer 28

-first do no harm
-animals natural state
-how behaviour changes when conditions are altered

Question 29

what is the code of practise?

Answer 29

-not enough evidence
-code of best practise in lieu of evidence
-responses are varied
-responses can be hard to detect
-responses could have severe consequences

Question 30

what is the best practise?

Answer 30

-use institution animal ethics process
-adhere to civil aviation rules
-consider non-target organisms
-minimise visual and audio stimulus
-launch and recovery sites should be out of sight

Question 31

what are abiotic factors?

Answer 31

-light
-water
-nutrients
-pH
-abiotic habitat provision

Question 32

what happens if there isn’t enough light?

Answer 32

-nothing would grow (plants)
-no plants=no humans
-no photosynthesis

Question 33

what happens if there’s too much light?

Answer 33

-burning
-animals die (bats)

Question 34

bats

Answer 34

-legislation-conserve habitats
-effects- increase predators, may get lost (leave group behind), deserting roost, too much light means they can’t eat

Question 35

what happens if there isn’t enough water?

Answer 35

-droughts
-overheating
-removal of habitats

Question 36

what happens if there is too much water?

Answer 36

-flooding
-destroy habitats
-landslides
-waterlogging

Question 37

water voles

Answer 37

-why? don’t like to swim long distances, 2km of habitat, feeding
-considerations- artificial ponds, redirect water

Question 38

nutrients

Answer 38

nitrogen

Question 39

pH

Answer 39

acid grassland management