Aquatic animal telemetry: A panoramic window into the underwater world

By N. Hussey, S. Kessel, K. Aarestrup, S. Cooke, P. Cowley, A. Fisk, Rob Harcourt, K. Holland, S. Iverson, J. Kocik and 2 more. Science, 2015

1,301 citations recorded by the source corpus.

A brave new world with a wider view Researchers have long attempted to follow animals as they move through their environment. Until relatively recently, however, such efforts were limited to short distances and times in species large enough to carry large batteries and transmitters. New technologies have opened up new frontiers in animal tracking remote data collection. Hussey et al. review the unique directions such efforts have taken for marine systems, while Kays et al. review recent advances for terrestrial species. We have entered a new era of animal ecology, where animals act as both subjects and samplers of their environments. Science, this issue 10.1126/science.1255642, 10.1126/science.aaa2478 BACKGROUND Global aquatic environments are changing profoundly as a result of human actions; consequently, so too are the ways in which organisms are distributing themselves through space and time. Our ability to predict organism and community responses to these alterations will be dependent on knowledge of animal movements, interactions, and how the physiological and environmental processes underlying them shape species distributions. These patterns and processes ultimately structure aquatic ecosystems and provide the wealth of ecosystem services upon which humans depend. Until recently, the vast size, opacity, and dynamic nature of the aquatic realm have impeded our efforts to understand these ecosystems. With rapid technological advancement over the past several decades, a suite of electronic tracking devices (e.g., acoustic and satellite transmitters) that can remotely monitor animals in these challenging environments are now available. Aquatic telemetry technology is rapidly accelerating our ability to observe animal behavior and distribution and, as a consequence, is fundamentally altering our understanding of the structure and function of global aquatic ecosystems. These advances provide the toolbox to define how future global aquatic management practices must evolve. ADVANCES Aquatic telemetry has emerged through technological advances in miniaturization, battery engineering, and software and hardware development, allowing the monitoring of organisms whose habitats range from the poles to the tropics and the photic zone to the abyssal depths. This is enabling the characterization of the horizontal and vertical movements of individuals, populations, and entire communities over scales of meters to tens of thousands of kilometers and over time frames of hours to years and even over the entire lifetimes of individuals. Electronic tags can now be equipped with sensors that measure ambient physical parameters (depth, temperature, conductivity, fluorescence), providing simultaneous monitoring of animals’ environments. By linking telemetry with biologgers (e.g., jaw-motion sensors), it is possible to monitor individual feeding events. In addition, other devices on instrumented animals can communicate with one another, providing insights into predator-prey interactions and social behavior. Coupling telemetry with minute nonlethal biopsy allows understanding of how trophic dynamics, population connectivity, and gene-level basis for organismal health and condition relate to movement. These advances are revolutionizing the scope and scales of questions that can be addressed on the causes and consequences of animal distribution and movement. OUTLOOK Aquatic animal telemetry has advanced rapidly, yet new challenges present themselves in coordination of monitoring across large-spatial scales (ocean basins), data sharing, and data assimilation. The continued advancement of aquatic telemetry lies in establishing and maintaining accessible and cost-effective infrastructure and in promoting multidisciplinary tagging approaches to maximize cost benefits. A united global network and centralized database will provide the mechanism for global telemetry data and will promote a transparent environment for data sharing that will, in turn, increase global communication, scope for collaboration, intellectual advancement, and funding opportunities. An overarching global network will realize the potential of telemetry, which is essential for advancing scientific knowledge and effectively managing globally shared aquatic resources and their ecosystems in the face of mounting human pressures and environmental change. Aquatic telemetry in action. A southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) (A) and a lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) (D) fitted with acoustic tags are detected and logged by moored receivers (D) or mobile receivers attached to opportunistic platforms or carried by large animals (C). A juvenile green turtle (Chelonia mydas) (B) fitted with a satellite tag is monitored in real time via orbiting satellites. A grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) “bioprobe” (C), fitted with intercommunicating acoustic and satellite transmitters, transmits and receives data on animal interactions and ocean conditions. The distribution and interactions of aquatic organisms across space and time structure our marine, freshwater, and estuarine ecosystems. Over the past decade, technological advances in telemetry have transformed our ability to observe aquatic animal behavior and movement. These advances are now providing unprecedented ecological insights by connecting animal movements with measures of their physiology and environment. These developments are revolutionizing the scope and scale of questions that can be asked about the causes and consequences of movement and are redefining how we view and manage individuals, populations, and entire ecosystems. The next advance in aquatic telemetry will be the development of a global collaborative effort to facilitate infrastructure and data sharing and management over scales not previously possible.

Subfields: Ecology, Global and Planetary Change, Nature and Landscape Conservation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/32ed9d0d988eae4476e412400dea3a52365ff05f

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Citations in the corpus

Conservation technology: The next generation (2018, background): “GPS and other telemetry technologies (e.g., sensor tags, camera traps) are commonly used to monitor both extant and reintroduced populations in greater and greater detail (Berger-Tal & Saltz, 2014; Hussey et al., 2015; Kays, Crofoot, Jetz, & Wikelski, 2015).”
An Economical Custom-Built Drone for Assessing Whale Health (2017, background): “…drone, blow, humpback whale, microbiota, technology, conservation INTRODUCTION Conservation biology is entering a new era of innovation, with unprecedented growth across a range of techniques, from genetics and genomics to telemetry and remote sensing (Allendorf et al., 2010; Hussey et al., 2015).”
Applications of machine learning in animal behaviour studies (2017, neutral): “Recent technological advances mean that large data sets can be collected on the movement (Hussey et al., 2015; Kays, Crofoot, Jetz, &Wikelski, 2015; Tomkiewicz, Fuller, Kie, & Bates, 2010), fine-scale motion (Brown, Kays, Wikelski, Wilson, & Klimley, 2013), social interactions (Krause et al.,…”
Drones count wildlife more accurately and precisely than humans (2017, methodology): “Emerging technologies, such as camera traps (Rowcliffe & Carbone 2008) and radio telemetry (Hussey et al. 2015; Kays et al. 2015), have increasingly been used to address this challenge (Moll et al. 2007; Hebblewhite & Haydon 2010; Pimm et al. 2015), especially when wildlife populations are rapidly…”
A phylogenetically controlled meta‐analysis of biologging device effects on birds: Deleterious effects and a call for more standardized reporting of study data (2017, background): “This is of particular relevance as new and more sophisticated devices become available that are extremely attractive due to an increase in quantity/quality of data recorded and thus the questions that can be addressed (Hussey et al., 2015; Kays et al., 2015).”
Integrating research using animal‐borne telemetry with the needs of conservation management (2017, background): “The rapid ascent of animal-borne telemetry research reflects the ability of this approach to improve our understanding of fundamental ecology, enhance monitoring of the planet’s natural resources and inform conservation practices (Hussey et al. 2015; Kays et al. 2015).”
Satellite Tracking Sea Turtles: Opportunities and Challenges to Address Key Questions (2018, background): “For example, a wide range of satellite remote sensed environmental data is freely available, such as sea surface temperature, bathymetry and ocean color and these data have underpinned many studies that examine the influence of ocean conditions on the distribution of marine animals (Hussey et al., 2”
Evaluation of an acoustic telemetry transmitter designed to identify predation events (2017, background): “The field of acoustic telemetry is evolving rapidly, facilitating the study of increasingly small animals in increasingly challenging environments (Cooke et al. 2013; Hussey et al. 2015).”
Report card on ecosystem-based fisheries management in tuna regional fisheries management organizations (2018, background): “…use habitat hotspots as well as how these habitats hotspots overlap with fishing fleets, which can be used to map habitats of special concern and to inform ocean- scale spatial and dynamic management of fisheries (Dunn, Maxwell, Boustany, & Halpin, 2016; Hussey et al., 2015; Queiroz et al., 2016).”
Conducting and interpreting fish telemetry studies: considerations for researchers and resource managers (2019, background): “For sharks and some other taxa (e.g., sturgeon), tonic immobility (a temporary state of motor inhibition) can be achieved by placing fish in a supine position (Kohler and Turner 2001; Kessel and Hussey 2015).”
Research Priorities to Support Effective Manta and Devil Ray Conservation (2018, background): “Satellite Tagging Technological advances in satellite tagging (Musyl et al., 2011; Hussey et al., 2015) are providing tools to explore topics of direct relevance to mobulid rays such as fine-scale habitat use (e.”
What makes fish vulnerable to capture by hooks? A conceptual framework and a review of key determinants (2017, methodology): “With rapidly developing tracking tools of fishes (Baktoft et al., 2012; Cooke et al., 2004; Hussey et al., 2015) and humans (i.e., fishers; Gonzalez, Hidalgo, & Barbasi, 2008; Walker, Rivoirard, Gaspar, & Bez, 2014), fish behaviour can now be assessed in the wild, offering opportunities to quantify…”
The adaptive capacity of lake food webs: from individuals to ecosystems (2016, background): “…diets Pompanon et al. ( 2012 ) Movement/ habitat use Tracking technology Acoustic or archival tags Accurately track fi sh habitat use through space and time Hussey et al. ( 2015 ) Trace elements Ba, Ca, Sr Refl ects water chemistry of a particular habitat Tanentzap et al. ( 2014 ) Environmental…”
Philopatry and Regional Connectivity of the Great Hammerhead Shark, Sphyrna mokarran in the U.S. and Bahamas (2017, background): “…(archival loggers) have revolutionized our capabilities for observation (Cooke et al., 2008), providing the tools to understand the causes and consequences of species’ movement patterns and their underlying drivers, over ecologically meaningful spatial and temporal scales (Hussey et al., 2015).”