Development of a camera trap for perching dragonflies: a new tool for freshwater environmental assessment

Although dragonflies are excellent environmental indicators for monitoring terrestrial water ecosystems, automatic monitoring techniques using digital tools are limited. We designed a novel camera trapping system with an original dragonfly detector based on the hypothesis that perching dragonflies c...

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Main Authors: Akira Yoshioka, Akira Shimizu, Hiroyuki Oguma, Nao Kumada, Keita Fukasawa, Shoma Jingu, Taku Kadoya
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: PeerJ Inc. 2020-09-01
Series:PeerJ
Subjects:
Online Access:https://peerj.com/articles/9681.pdf
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author Akira Yoshioka
Akira Shimizu
Hiroyuki Oguma
Nao Kumada
Keita Fukasawa
Shoma Jingu
Taku Kadoya
author_facet Akira Yoshioka
Akira Shimizu
Hiroyuki Oguma
Nao Kumada
Keita Fukasawa
Shoma Jingu
Taku Kadoya
author_sort Akira Yoshioka
collection DOAJ
description Although dragonflies are excellent environmental indicators for monitoring terrestrial water ecosystems, automatic monitoring techniques using digital tools are limited. We designed a novel camera trapping system with an original dragonfly detector based on the hypothesis that perching dragonflies can be automatically detected using inexpensive and energy-saving photosensors built in a perch-like structure. A trial version of the camera trap was developed and evaluated in a case study targeting red dragonflies (Sympetrum spp.) in Japan. During an approximately 2-month period, the detector successfully detected Sympetrum dragonflies while using extremely low power consumption (less than 5 mW). Furthermore, a short-term field experiment using time-lapse cameras for validation at three locations indicated that the detection accuracy was sufficient for practical applications. The frequency of false positive detection ranged from 17 to 51 over an approximately 2-day period. The detection sensitivities were 0.67 and 1.0 at two locations, where a time-lapse camera confirmed that Sympetrum dragonflies perched on the trap more than once. However, the correspondence between the detection frequency by the camera trap and the abundance of Sympetrum dragonflies determined by field observations conducted in parallel was low when the dragonfly density was relatively high. Despite the potential for improvements in our camera trap and its application to the quantitative monitoring of dragonflies, the low cost and low power consumption of the detector make it a promising tool.
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spelling doaj.art-c0d673795b984f2dae57ecb88b0e60a92023-12-03T10:36:20ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592020-09-018e968110.7717/peerj.9681Development of a camera trap for perching dragonflies: a new tool for freshwater environmental assessmentAkira Yoshioka0Akira Shimizu1Hiroyuki Oguma2Nao Kumada3Keita Fukasawa4Shoma Jingu5Taku Kadoya6Fukushima branch, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Miharu, Fukushima Prefecture, JapanAmi, Ibaraki Prefecture, JapanCenter for Environmental Biology and Ecosystem Studies, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, JapanCenter for Environmental Biology and Ecosystem Studies, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, JapanCenter for Environmental Biology and Ecosystem Studies, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, JapanFaculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, JapanCenter for Environmental Biology and Ecosystem Studies, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, JapanAlthough dragonflies are excellent environmental indicators for monitoring terrestrial water ecosystems, automatic monitoring techniques using digital tools are limited. We designed a novel camera trapping system with an original dragonfly detector based on the hypothesis that perching dragonflies can be automatically detected using inexpensive and energy-saving photosensors built in a perch-like structure. A trial version of the camera trap was developed and evaluated in a case study targeting red dragonflies (Sympetrum spp.) in Japan. During an approximately 2-month period, the detector successfully detected Sympetrum dragonflies while using extremely low power consumption (less than 5 mW). Furthermore, a short-term field experiment using time-lapse cameras for validation at three locations indicated that the detection accuracy was sufficient for practical applications. The frequency of false positive detection ranged from 17 to 51 over an approximately 2-day period. The detection sensitivities were 0.67 and 1.0 at two locations, where a time-lapse camera confirmed that Sympetrum dragonflies perched on the trap more than once. However, the correspondence between the detection frequency by the camera trap and the abundance of Sympetrum dragonflies determined by field observations conducted in parallel was low when the dragonfly density was relatively high. Despite the potential for improvements in our camera trap and its application to the quantitative monitoring of dragonflies, the low cost and low power consumption of the detector make it a promising tool.https://peerj.com/articles/9681.pdfAutodetectionBiodiversityCamera trappingEcological monitoringOdonata
spellingShingle Akira Yoshioka
Akira Shimizu
Hiroyuki Oguma
Nao Kumada
Keita Fukasawa
Shoma Jingu
Taku Kadoya
Development of a camera trap for perching dragonflies: a new tool for freshwater environmental assessment
PeerJ
Autodetection
Biodiversity
Camera trapping
Ecological monitoring
Odonata
title Development of a camera trap for perching dragonflies: a new tool for freshwater environmental assessment
title_full Development of a camera trap for perching dragonflies: a new tool for freshwater environmental assessment
title_fullStr Development of a camera trap for perching dragonflies: a new tool for freshwater environmental assessment
title_full_unstemmed Development of a camera trap for perching dragonflies: a new tool for freshwater environmental assessment
title_short Development of a camera trap for perching dragonflies: a new tool for freshwater environmental assessment
title_sort development of a camera trap for perching dragonflies a new tool for freshwater environmental assessment
topic Autodetection
Biodiversity
Camera trapping
Ecological monitoring
Odonata
url https://peerj.com/articles/9681.pdf
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