A Multi-user Automated Telemetry System for the study of ecological interactions in a tropical rainforest
A grant has been awarded to Dr. Martin Wikelski at Princeton University to purchase an automated telemetry system (ATS) that allows him to track position, activity and physiological data on up to 200 rainforest animals consecutively and in real time. His study site is on Barro Colorado Island (BCI) Panama, the premier research station of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). Wikelski's tracking system is planned around specialized automated receivers that utilize electrically steerable antenna arrays. Six of these units will operate above-canopy tower-mounted antenna arrays for general coverage of the entire BCI rainforest area supplemented with 10 portable units for below-canopy deployment in specific areas for special project needs. The tower-deployed units will communicate data through radio-transmission to a central laboratory and processing center. The maintenance and expansion of the ATS equipment will be financed by modest user fees. The ATS system is currently being constructed on BCI, with first field tests projected for June 2002. The PI envisions a future expansion of the system to include state of the art monitoring techniques (digitally encoded physiological or locomotor transmissions, GPS).
The ATS will allow researchers from all over the world to pursue basic ecological, eco-physiological, applied management, and conservation questions that are currently beyond scientific reach. ATS research will start with the following exemplary projects: In basic ecology researchers will address the importance of species interactions for the maintenance of rainforest diversity. In particular, 'keystone' predators like ocelots may control population sizes of rodents, which in turn are thought to be major seed dispersers and predators for trees. ATS enables researchers to study the interactions among animals as well as between animals and seeds - a prerequisite for the understanding of these basic ecological principles. In eco-physiology, research projects will address why many tropical birds live longer than their temperate zone counterparts, using heart rate telemetry to quantify energy expenditure in the wild. Other research groups will study the neuro-endocrinology of year-round territoriality vs. commuter territoriality. Such territorial and associated aggression systems are currently largely elusive. Conservation projects include the reintroduction of Harpy Eagles and other locally extinct birds on BCI and a study of the influence of habitat fragmentation on species persistence and diversity.
Tropical biodiversity, conservation, and management of tropical rainforests are key components of modern biology. Automated telemetry allows biologists to address key ecological and conservation questions that are presently beyond reach because of methodological inadequacies. The ATS will also enable field ecologists to conduct large-scale, controlled experiments. The ATS will be constructed at one of the world's premier rainforest study sites allowing researchers to build upon, and incorporate new data into the largest existing framework of botanical, zoological and conservation knowledge of a single tropical site. Researchers and students from >30 nations will have access to ATS. Such a pioneering effort is expected to be emulated by research groups on different continents to supplement existing rainforest research networks such as the rainforest canopy network.
