A colonial-nesting seabird shows no heart-rate response to drone-based population surveys
Abstract Aerial drones are increasingly being used as tools for ecological research and wildlife monitoring in hard-to-access study systems, such as in studies of colonial-nesting birds. Despite their many advantages over traditional survey methods, there remains concerns about possible disturbance...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22492-7 |
| _version_ | 1811223293157441536 |
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| author | Erica A. Geldart Andrew F. Barnas Christina A. D. Semeniuk H. Grant Gilchrist Christopher M. Harris Oliver P. Love |
| author_facet | Erica A. Geldart Andrew F. Barnas Christina A. D. Semeniuk H. Grant Gilchrist Christopher M. Harris Oliver P. Love |
| author_sort | Erica A. Geldart |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Aerial drones are increasingly being used as tools for ecological research and wildlife monitoring in hard-to-access study systems, such as in studies of colonial-nesting birds. Despite their many advantages over traditional survey methods, there remains concerns about possible disturbance effects that standard drone survey protocols may have on bird colonies. There is a particular gap in the study of their influence on physiological measures of stress. We measured heart rates of incubating female common eider ducks (Somateria mollissima) to determine whether our drone-based population survey affected them. To do so, we used heart-rate recorders placed in nests to quantify their heart rate in response to a quadcopter drone flying transects 30 m above the nesting colony. Eider heart rate did not change from baseline (measured in the absence of drone survey flights) by a drone flying at a fixed altitude and varying horizontal distances from the bird. Our findings suggest that carefully planned drone-based surveys of focal species have the potential to be carried out without causing physiological impacts among colonial-nesting eiders. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T08:30:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1587916f98e84cd28d19c905742780da |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T08:30:29Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-1587916f98e84cd28d19c905742780da2022-12-22T03:40:13ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-11-0112111010.1038/s41598-022-22492-7A colonial-nesting seabird shows no heart-rate response to drone-based population surveysErica A. Geldart0Andrew F. Barnas1Christina A. D. Semeniuk2H. Grant Gilchrist3Christopher M. Harris4Oliver P. Love5Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of WindsorGreat Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of WindsorGreat Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of WindsorNational Wildlife Research Center, Environment and Climate Change CanadaDepartment of Integrative Biology, University of WindsorDepartment of Integrative Biology, University of WindsorAbstract Aerial drones are increasingly being used as tools for ecological research and wildlife monitoring in hard-to-access study systems, such as in studies of colonial-nesting birds. Despite their many advantages over traditional survey methods, there remains concerns about possible disturbance effects that standard drone survey protocols may have on bird colonies. There is a particular gap in the study of their influence on physiological measures of stress. We measured heart rates of incubating female common eider ducks (Somateria mollissima) to determine whether our drone-based population survey affected them. To do so, we used heart-rate recorders placed in nests to quantify their heart rate in response to a quadcopter drone flying transects 30 m above the nesting colony. Eider heart rate did not change from baseline (measured in the absence of drone survey flights) by a drone flying at a fixed altitude and varying horizontal distances from the bird. Our findings suggest that carefully planned drone-based surveys of focal species have the potential to be carried out without causing physiological impacts among colonial-nesting eiders.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22492-7 |
| spellingShingle | Erica A. Geldart Andrew F. Barnas Christina A. D. Semeniuk H. Grant Gilchrist Christopher M. Harris Oliver P. Love A colonial-nesting seabird shows no heart-rate response to drone-based population surveys Scientific Reports |
| title | A colonial-nesting seabird shows no heart-rate response to drone-based population surveys |
| title_full | A colonial-nesting seabird shows no heart-rate response to drone-based population surveys |
| title_fullStr | A colonial-nesting seabird shows no heart-rate response to drone-based population surveys |
| title_full_unstemmed | A colonial-nesting seabird shows no heart-rate response to drone-based population surveys |
| title_short | A colonial-nesting seabird shows no heart-rate response to drone-based population surveys |
| title_sort | colonial nesting seabird shows no heart rate response to drone based population surveys |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22492-7 |
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