A meta-analysis of the effects of geolocator application on birds

By D. Costantini, A. Møller. 2013

108 citations recorded by the source corpus.

An increasing trend in use of tracking devices such as geolocators is based on the assumption that the information gathered from such devices provides reliable information about the migratory behavior of free-living birds. This underlying as- sumption is rarely tested, as evidenced by the absence in many studies of controls, in particular treated controls, and so far never with a reasonable statistical power. Published studies have shown reduced survival prospects or delayed breeding in some species, suggesting that there may be reason to doubt that tracking devices provide unbiased information. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis of studies applying geolocators to wild birds to determine whether geolocators affected fitness components. Ge- olocators had an overall negative effect on fitness components, in particular survival, and ecological variables. Effect size was larger for aerial foragers than for other species. Moreover the leg band attachment method was more detrimental for birds than the leg-loop backpack harness. A meta-regression model of effect size showed independent negative effects of geolocators on ae- rial foragers, smaller species, species with smaller migration distances and in studies where geolocators were attached with a ring. These results suggest that geolocator studies should be interpreted with caution, but also raise questions whether it is ethically defensible to use geolocators on aerial foragers or small species without carrying out robust pilot studies (Current Zoology 59 (6): 697-706, 2013).

Subfields: Ecology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/fa8a9cdcf4023f9160b3dde8c95ba2e0e0b08ca5

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In Ecology

1. S. Votier
2. S. Bearhop
3. Fraser Bell
4. N. Parr
5. A. Schultz
6. I. Cleasby
7. T. Bodey
8. Keith A. Hobson

In Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

1. Fraser Bell
2. N. Parr
3. A. Schultz
4. I. Cleasby
5. T. Bodey
6. S. Votier
7. S. Bearhop

Citations in the corpus

• A phylogenetically controlled meta‐analysis of biologging device effects on birds: Deleterious effects and a call for more standardized reporting of study data (2017, methodology): “…of relevant data hinders assessment of whether identified survival rates (or other key life- history traits) are biased by the attachment of biologging or other marking devices (Authier, Péron, Mante, Vidal, & Grémillet, 2013; Barron et al., 2010; Costantini & Møller, 2013; Sergio et al., 2015).”
• Light‐level geolocators reveal migratory connectivity in European populations of pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca (2016, unknown): “Since deployment of geolocators can sometimes affect the normal behaviour of birds tracked by geolocation (Costantini and MØller 2013, Scandolara et al. 2014) it is important to assess potential negative effects and, if possible, the reliability of the geolocation data.”