science

History of wildlife tracking technology

History of wildlife tracking technology is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand History of wildlife tracking technology rather than just read about it. In short: The history of wildlife tracking technology involves the evolution of technologies that have been used to monitor, track, and locate many different types of wildlife. Many individuals have an interest in tracking wildlife, including biologists, scientific researchers, and conservationists.

Key takeaways

History of wildlife tracking technology belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
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Connect History of wildlife tracking technology to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of History of wildlife tracking technology from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The history of wildlife tracking technology involves the evolution of technologies that have been used to monitor, track, and locate many different types of wildlife. Many individuals have an interest in tracking wildlife, including biologists, scientific researchers, and conservationists. Biotelemetry is "the instrumental technique for gaining and transmitting information from a living organism and its environment to a remote observer".

1800s

Bird banding John James Audubon, a French American naturalist, ornithologist, and painter was the first person that attempted to paint and describe all the birds of America. In 1803, he conducted the first known bird banding experiment in North America and tied strings around the legs of Eastern Phoebes. He observed that the birds would return to the same nesting site every year, demonstrating philopatry. Bird banding was used in 1890 by Hans Christian C. Mortensen, a Danish biologist. Birds can be captured by hand, using mist-nets, cannon-nets, or cage traps. A band that is typically made out of aluminum, or coloured plastic is attached to the leg of the bird. Each band has a unique identification code so that when birds are later recaptured, individuals can be identified. Mist-nets became widely available in the early 1950s, which dramatically increased the recovery of marked birds.

Early 1930s

Scale clipping The first scientific paper on scale clipping was published in 1933. Sharp dissecting or microsurgical scissors are used to clip specific ventrals on snakes. A serial enumeration system is used so that individuals can be identified based on the scarring pattern.

1940s

Radar During World War II, birds that were migrating caused "phantom signals" or "radar angels" to appear on radar screens. Since then, radar has become a widely used method for studying migrating organisms. Early radar technologies, such as WSR-57 (Weather Surveillance Radar - 1957), have been replaced by the Next Generation Weather Radar program (NEXRAD) which was installed in segments during the 1990s. Also known as WSR-88D (Weather Surveillance Radar 88 Doppler), NEXRAD is a Doppler system that replaced older non-Doppler meteorological radars. NEXRAD can determine both the direction and speed of migrating individuals that are traveling both toward and away from the radar.

Isotope analysis Isotope analysis is based on the principle that most elements exist in two or more forms, known as isotopes. Isotopes have the same number of protons but differ in their number of neutrons, resulting in different masses. This variation in the relative abundance of stable isotopes results from tiny mass differences that cause the isotopes to act differently in chemical reactions and physical processes. Different environments are often characterized by predictable isotopic signatures, meaning that organism's unique isotopic signatures can be traced to unique environments containing the same isotope signatures. The fundamental design of isotope ratio mass spectrometers, a tool used for analyzing isotopes, has not changed since the 1940s. Stable-isotope analysis (SIA) is frequently used with birds since only one capture is needed to determine its breeding origin. SIA is based on the principle that birds will retain isotopic information in their tissues that are based on the isotopic landscapes they inhabited in the recent past. Isotopic information is obtained mostly from feathers, since the keratin in feathers is metabolically inert. For various bird species tested, their feathers' elemental turnover rate is positively correlated with their metabolic rate. A problem with SIA occurs if birds undergo protein catabolism during migration and their isotopic information is subsequently lost as a result of blood-cell replacement. SIA is difficult to employ on birds that switch their diets seasonally due to the difficulty of separating isotopic changes due to location change from isotopic changes due to diet change. The elements that are primarily analyzed for SIA are: carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and sulphur. Isotopic variation among plants is largely based on differences in photosynthetic pathways. The method is beneficial since it relies on capturing an individual only once. Important information can be obtained from something as simple as a birds' feather, which is relatively easily and painlessly extracted.

1950s

Acoustic telemetry

Acoustic telemetry is based on the principles of sonar, which was developed to detect submarines during World War I. The properties of acoustic systems favour their use in deep waters with high conductivity and low turbulence. The first acoustic telemetry equipment was developed for studying fish in 1956 by the U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries and the Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Corporation. Individuals that want to track marine wildlife in salt water face unique challenges. Radio waves are highly absorbed by salt water, making them a poor choice for sending messages through the ocean. Sound waves, on the other hand, are not similarly impeded by seawater. Due to the fact that sound can travel more than 4 times faster in water than in air, this allows for near real-time listening over long distances with proper acoustic telemetry equipment. Acoustic signals are the preferred communication tool for researchers who wish to track fish and wildlife in marine habitats in real time. As with radio, acoustic telemetry requires transmitters to send signals and receivers to hear them. The transmitters are electronic tags that emit a series of sound pulses into the surroundings. They can be surgically implanted or attached externally to an organism. The range of signal reception can vary from a few meters to more than a thousand meters. The signal typically transmits once every minute or two, in order to conserve battery life. Receivers are small, data-logging computers that “listen” for tagged individuals. When a signal is identified, the tag's unique ID code is saved with the date and time. The data from any single receiver provide a record of each signal to that location by a tagged individual. Researchers might deploy many receivers over large regions to understand the movement patterns of tagged individuals. Hydrophones, a type of underwater microphone, receive acoustic signals and then either store or convert them into radio signals for rapid transmission through the air to receivers on shore.

1960s

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Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with History of wildlife tracking technology

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what History of wildlife tracking technology claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to History of wildlife tracking technology before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about History of wildlife tracking technology ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of History of wildlife tracking technology

In research: History of wildlife tracking technology appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses History of wildlife tracking technology in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: History of wildlife tracking technology is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Telemetry, Tracking, Wildlife, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for History of wildlife tracking technology outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study History of wildlife tracking technology in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what History of wildlife tracking technology means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
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Frequently asked questions

What is History of wildlife tracking technology in simple terms?

Why does History of wildlife tracking technology matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study History of wildlife tracking technology?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on History of wildlife tracking technology.