Susan N. Ellis‐Felege, Tanner J. Stechmann, Samuel D. Hervey, Christopher J. Felege, R. Rockwell, Andrew F. Barnas
{"title":"Nesting common eiders (Somateria mollissima) show little behavioral response to fixed-wing drone surveys","authors":"Susan N. Ellis‐Felege, Tanner J. Stechmann, Samuel D. Hervey, Christopher J. Felege, R. Rockwell, Andrew F. Barnas","doi":"10.1139/juvs-2021-0012","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Drones may be valuable in polar research because they can minimize researcher activity and overcome logistic, financial, and safety obstacles associated with wildlife research in Polar Regions. Because Polar species may be particularly sensitive to disturbance and some research suggests behavioral responses to drones are species-specific, there is a need for focal species-specific disturbance assessments. We evaluated behavioral responses of nesting Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima, n =19 incubating females) to first, second, or in a few cases third exposure of fixed-wing drone surveys using nest cameras. We found no effect of drone flights (F1,23 = 0, P < 1.0) or previous exposures (F1,23 = 0.75, P = 0.397) on the probability of a daily recess event (bird leaves nests). Drone flights did not impact recess length (F1,25 = 1.34, P = 0.26); however, eiders with prior drone exposure took longer recess events (F1,25 = 5.27, P = 0.03). We did not observe any overhead vigilance behaviors common in other species while the drone was in the air, which may reflect eider’s anti-predator strategies of reducing activity at nests in response to aerial predators. Surveying nesting common eider colonies with a fixed-wing drone did not result in biologically meaningful behavioral changes, providing a potential tool for research and monitoring this Polar nesting species.","PeriodicalId":45619,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2021-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"6","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1139/juvs-2021-0012","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"REMOTE SENSING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 6
Abstract
Drones may be valuable in polar research because they can minimize researcher activity and overcome logistic, financial, and safety obstacles associated with wildlife research in Polar Regions. Because Polar species may be particularly sensitive to disturbance and some research suggests behavioral responses to drones are species-specific, there is a need for focal species-specific disturbance assessments. We evaluated behavioral responses of nesting Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima, n =19 incubating females) to first, second, or in a few cases third exposure of fixed-wing drone surveys using nest cameras. We found no effect of drone flights (F1,23 = 0, P < 1.0) or previous exposures (F1,23 = 0.75, P = 0.397) on the probability of a daily recess event (bird leaves nests). Drone flights did not impact recess length (F1,25 = 1.34, P = 0.26); however, eiders with prior drone exposure took longer recess events (F1,25 = 5.27, P = 0.03). We did not observe any overhead vigilance behaviors common in other species while the drone was in the air, which may reflect eider’s anti-predator strategies of reducing activity at nests in response to aerial predators. Surveying nesting common eider colonies with a fixed-wing drone did not result in biologically meaningful behavioral changes, providing a potential tool for research and monitoring this Polar nesting species.
无人机在极地研究中可能很有价值,因为它们可以最大限度地减少研究人员的活动,并克服与极地野生动物研究相关的后勤、财务和安全障碍。由于极地物种可能对干扰特别敏感,并且一些研究表明对无人机的行为反应是物种特异性的,因此有必要对焦点物种特异性干扰进行评估。研究人员利用固定翼无人机对巢内摄像机进行了第一次、第二次或少数情况下的第三次暴露,评估了筑巢中的普通绒鸭(Somateria mollissima, n =19只孵化雌性绒鸭)的行为反应。我们发现无人机飞行(F1,23 = 0, P < 1.0)或以前的暴露(F1,23 = 0.75, P = 0.397)对每日休息事件(鸟窝)的概率没有影响。无人机飞行对课间休息长度没有影响(F1,25 = 1.34, P = 0.26);然而,先前暴露于无人机的羽绒鸭需要更长时间的休息事件(F1,25 = 5.27, P = 0.03)。当无人机在空中时,我们没有观察到任何其他物种常见的头顶警戒行为,这可能反映了绒鸭的反捕食者策略,即减少巢穴活动以应对空中捕食者。用固定翼无人机调查筑巢的普通绒鸭群落并没有导致生物学上有意义的行为变化,为研究和监测这种极地筑巢物种提供了一个潜在的工具。