C. Knott, Amy M. Scott, Caitlin A O'Connell, T. Susanto, Erin E. Kane
{"title":"Field and laboratory analysis for non-invasive wildlife and habitat health assessment and conservation","authors":"C. Knott, Amy M. Scott, Caitlin A O'Connell, T. Susanto, Erin E. Kane","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0007","url":null,"abstract":"Laboratory methods are increasingly being used in remote field camps, or during mobile field surveys, to aid in wildlife conservation. This chapter explains how field laboratories have allowed for technological advances in sample preparation and preservation, and for both low and high-tech on-site analysis. It highlights how field samples can be used for health and physiological analyses, including measuring the nutritional content of plant foods, assessing hormones, C-peptide, and ketones from urine, examining faecal parasites, and using genetic techniques to determine individual identity, relatedness, and population genetic diversity. We explain how measurements of physiology and health promise to greatly improve our understanding of the relationship between disease prevalence in wild animals and anthropogenic disturbances. The authors’ research with critically endangered wild orangutans in Indonesia provides an illustrative case study, using field laboratories for rapid analysis of orangutan health status, such as assessing indicators of energy balance from urine and parasite prevalence from faeces. In addition, the chapter shows how new information can be gained from field-collected samples by taking advantage of technological advances in laboratory methodology and equipment to determine the nutrient content of foods, measure steroid hormones, and C-peptide and reveal genetic relationships. Understanding how these variables impact wildlife health and viability provides a critical tool for species conservation and helps make long-term research sustainable, provides capacity building opportunities, and forges relationships with local partners. Continued technological advances in the near future should bring more capability into field laboratories, providing data to aid conservation that is easier to obtain and more accessible.","PeriodicalId":158957,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Technology","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129809177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mobile data collection apps","authors":"E. McLester, A. Piel","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0009","url":null,"abstract":"The expansion of the mobile consumer market in the last decade has resulted in the widespread availability of affordable, multifunctional tablets, and smartphones with a range of uses. Whether for scientific research or conservation practice, these devices provide a means of digital data collection that is an increasingly time- and cost-effective alternative to traditional methods. This chapter discusses recent advances in mobile data collection, especially with cloud storage, including the advantages and limitations of this emerging approach. It will also review current hardware and software options for conservation data collection, focusing on devices and apps with high customisability, and provide an overview of how these systems may be applied in conservation science. As a case study, it will examine the transition from paper to digital data collection at a primate conservation project at the Issa Valley, Tanzania. And finally, it will identify gaps and precautions in current applications of mobile data collection and suggest what lies ahead for digital data collection in conservation.","PeriodicalId":158957,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Technology","volume":"96 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116232877","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The future of technology in conservation","authors":"M. Mulero-Pázmány","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0013","url":null,"abstract":"This final chapter discusses how conservation technology might evolve in the near future. The first section provides a global overview of the current scope of conservation technology. The second section focuses on the current limitations of conservation technology and describes advances that may help to overcome these constraints. The chapter will then discuss technological trends such as robotics and virtual reality, which are not yet widely used in conservation but offer promise in addressing current conservation challenges. Examples of integrating different technologies—with and without human intervention—in conservation research and management are given. Finally, the barriers to integrating technology into conservation and propose solutions to overcome them are covered.","PeriodicalId":158957,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Technology","volume":"126 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128597812","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Drew T. Cronin, A. Dancer, B. Long, A. Lynam, J. Muntifering, Jonathan Palmer, R. Bergl
{"title":"Application of SMART software for conservation area management","authors":"Drew T. Cronin, A. Dancer, B. Long, A. Lynam, J. Muntifering, Jonathan Palmer, R. Bergl","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0010","url":null,"abstract":"Wildlife species worldwide are under threat from a range of anthropogenic threats, with declines primarily caused by overexploitation and habitat loss associated with an increasing human population and per capita resource use. Exploitation is driven by numerous factors, but is often the result of illegal activities, such as hunting, logging, and wildlife trade. Protected areas, designed to safeguard threatened species and their habitats, are the foundation of biodiversity conservation, and several analyses have demonstrated that effective protected areas are critical to the maintenance of biodiversity. However, other analyses show that most protected areas suffer from a lack of resources and poor management. Numerous technologies have been developed to address these challenges by facilitating adaptive management via ranger-based data collection, data analysis and visualization, and strategic planning. This chapter reviews the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) platform, with a particular emphasis on conservation law enforcement monitoring, and demonstrates both how SMART has been used to improve management of conservation areas, and how complementary systems and emerging technologies can be integrated into a single unified platform for conservation area management. In a relatively short period of time, SMART has grown to become the global standard for conservation area management. More than 800 national parks and other conservation areas are currently using SMART in more than 65 countries worldwide. SMART sites have seen improvements in patrol effectiveness, increases in populations of critically endangered species like tigers, and reductions in threats from poaching and habitat loss.","PeriodicalId":158957,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Technology","volume":"32 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122177805","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Crunchant, Chanakya Dev Nakka, Jason T. Isaacs, A. Piel
{"title":"Acoustic sensors","authors":"A. Crunchant, Chanakya Dev Nakka, Jason T. Isaacs, A. Piel","doi":"10.1201/9781420042139.ch13","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420042139.ch13","url":null,"abstract":"Animals share acoustic space to communicate vocally. The employment of passive acoustic monitoring to establish a better understanding of acoustic communities has emerged as an important tool in assessing overall diversity and habitat integrity as well as informing species conservation strategies. This chapter aims to review how traditional and more emerging bioacoustic techniques can address conservation issues. Acoustic data can be used to estimate species occupancy, population abundance, and animal density. More broadly, biodiversity can be assessed via acoustic diversity indices, using the number of acoustically conspicuous species. Finally, changes to the local soundscape provide an early warning of habitat disturbance, including habitat loss and fragmentation. Like other emerging technologies, passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) benefits from an interdisciplinary collaboration between biologists, engineers, and bioinformaticians to develop detection algorithms for specific species that reduce time-consuming manual data mining. The chapter also describes different methods to process, visualize, and analyse acoustic data, from open source to commercial software. The technological advances in bioacoustics turning heavy, non-portable, and expensive hardware and labour and time-intensive methods for analysis into new small, movable, affordable, and automated systems, make acoustic sensors increasingly popular among conservation biologists for all taxa.","PeriodicalId":158957,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Technology","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128478775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Camera trapping for conservation","authors":"F. Rovero, R. Kays","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0005","url":null,"abstract":"Camera traps use a motion sensor to capture images of passing animals, representing verifiable and non-invasive records of the presence of a given species at a specified place and time. These simple records provide fundamental data on biodiversity that have proven invaluable to conservation. Thanks to the improved (better, smaller, and less expensive) camera technology and the concurrent development of analytical approaches, camera trapping science has grown steadily in the last 15 years and advanced our knowledge of elusive and rare fauna across the planet. Here we review the use and potential of camera trapping in conservation science. We start with an introduction to the importance and challenges of studying reclusive wildlife and discuss the technical aspects of camera traps that make them so efficient and widely used for this purpose. We then review the variety of ways camera trapping has contributed to conservation, first presenting the wildlife metrics camera traps can document and then surveying how these have been applied to conservation through studies of habitat preference, distribution models, threat assessments, monitoring, and evaluations of conservation interventions. We also present case studies showing how camera trapping can effectively contribute to link ecological monitoring to conservation, including how data and images can be used to engage the public and policymakers with conservation issues, and how this work is now being scaled up through citizen science and networks of standardized data collection coupled with cyber-infrastructures for automatized analyses. We conclude by reviewing possible technological improvements of camera traps and how they would aid conservation in the future.","PeriodicalId":158957,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Technology","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114626308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Digital surveillance technologies in conservation and their social implications","authors":"Trishant Simlai, C. Sandbrook","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0012","url":null,"abstract":"In recent years, a range of new and existing monitoring technologies have been developed or redeployed for the practice of conservation. These include the use of drones, camera traps, and satellite and thermal imagery for activities such as anti-poaching and law enforcement. These technologies bring exciting new technical capabilities for conservation, but they also raise social concerns related to privacy and pervasive surveillance. Without proper consultation and dialogue with local communities, it has been suggested that the use of such technologies may lead to marginalization, interstakeholder tensions, and ultimately strain the relationship between conservation agencies, local communities, and even local authorities. In many respects surveillance is constitutive of modern society, especially in urban spaces. The social implications of surveillance have been heavily researched and discussed in that context, but the application of surveillance technologies in conservation and environmental management and its impacts remain an underexplored field of inquiry. This chapter aims to explore and understand the complexities that lie behind using surveillance technologies for conservation. It argues that these digital technologies are not a panacea for all conservation-related problems and need careful review before, during, and after use. The chapter also argues that it is important to consider who controls, benefits from, and pays for these technologies. Finally, the chapter calls for comprehensive ethical guidelines and frameworks of regulation that promote democratization of these technologies.","PeriodicalId":158957,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Technology","volume":"24 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121222459","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Environmental DNA for conservation","authors":"A. Piaggio","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0008","url":null,"abstract":"Detection and monitoring of wildlife species of concern is a costly and time-consuming challenge that is critical to the management of such species. Tools such as lures and traps can cause unnecessary stress or other health impacts to sensitive species. Development and refinement of tools that provide means to detect rare and elusive species without requiring contact with them reduce such impacts. Further, the potential of detection after the target species has moved on from a sampling site could allow for higher potential for detection of rare species. The ability to amplify DNA from environmental samples (e.g. water, soil, air, and other substrates) has provided a non-invasive method for detection of rare or elusive species while reducing negative impacts to wildlife. Like other non-invasive methods, such as cameras, there are methodological pitfalls associated with environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling to consider. Each study system will provide unique challenges to adequate eDNA sampling. Thus, pilot studies are critical for successful implementation of a larger-scale detection and monitoring study. This chapter will describe the benefits and challenges of using eDNA, detail types of eDNA sampling, and provide guidance on designing appropriate study design and sampling schemes. Empirical studies using eDNA applied to wildlife conservation efforts will be highlighted and discussed.","PeriodicalId":158957,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Technology","volume":"146 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116461428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Wich, Mike Hudson, Herizo T. Andrianandrasana, S. Longmore
{"title":"Drones for conservation","authors":"S. Wich, Mike Hudson, Herizo T. Andrianandrasana, S. Longmore","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0003","url":null,"abstract":"Conservation management benefits from having accurate and timely data on land-cover change, animal distribution and density, as well as the ability to detect poachers before they reach their target species. In addition to other methods, drones have become a data collection tool for all three of these aspects and are becoming rapidly more widespread in conservation management and research. This chapter discusses these three issues and provides a case study in which a drone was used for habitat mapping. The chapter will also go over some of the sensors and drone systems currently used in conservation. To conclude, it will discuss the current challenges with the usage of drones in conservation settings.","PeriodicalId":158957,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Technology","volume":"74 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124661496","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From the cloud to the ground: converting satellite data into conservation decisions","authors":"L. Pintea","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198850243.003.0002","url":null,"abstract":"An estimated 65% of the world’s land and more than 80% of Earth’s biodiversity are under indigenous or local community customary ownership, care, and use. Recent developments in remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), mobile, and cloud computing provide the opportunity to systematically and cost-effectively monitor land-cover and land-use changes and threats at multiple scales. It is now possible, via satellite observations, to obtain a synoptic view of ecosystems at spatial and temporal resolutions that are more detailed, locally relevant, and consistent from village to global scales. However, to make geospatial data and technologies work for conservation, we still need to understand how data turn into actionable information and conservation decisions. This chapter uses Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation as a framework to discuss insights from 18 years of using geospatial technologies with the local communities, village and district governments, and other partners to monitor chimpanzee habitats and threats and inform chimpanzee conservation strategies and actions in Tanzania. It focuses on how Earth Observation data and associated technologies enabled and benefitted from the creation of research-implementation spaces in which stakeholders were able to collaborate and interact with geospatial data and results in a diversity of ways. This enabled development of geospatial applications and solutions ‘with’ and not ‘for’ local stakeholders, resulting in expansion of new protected areas managed by village and districts governments and restoration of habitats in some degraded village forest reserves.","PeriodicalId":158957,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Technology","volume":"105 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122028146","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}