Collaborative Research: EAGER-NEON: NEON Sites as a Platform for Transformative Wildlife Research

了解动物选择在哪里度过他们的时间，以及为什么他们可能选择这些地区是保护我们国家的野生动物的基础。几十年来，生态学家一直在使用无线电遥测技术和最近的全球定位系统（GPS）来研究动物的运动行为。全球定位系统技术最近取得了进展，现在可以准确和集中地跟踪许多较小的动物。 此外，国家生态观测网（氖）已开始在北美各地收集详细的环境数据。氖平台和新的GPS技术提供了一个前所未有的机会，将高度准确的动物运动数据与同样准确的环境数据相结合，以更好地了解动物如何与环境互动，并预测它们未来的行为方式。 在这个项目中，研究人员建议使用东南部狐狸松鼠（Sciurus尼日尔）作为模型，展示如何将氖和动物运动数据联系起来，通过让科学家详细了解动物如何受到环境的影响并与环境相互作用来改变野生动物研究。研究人员希望利用从该项目中吸取的经验教训，为在氖场地更广泛地实施这些技术提供指导，最终提高科学家更好地了解生物体如何与环境相互作用的能力。此外，研究人员计划分享信息和开发教育工具（例如，展示东南部狐狸松鼠运动的网站、模拟动物运动路径的视频、工具和技术的课堂演示等）通过当地的科学教育倡议在公立学校系统中使用。研究人员将在东南部的狐狸松鼠身上安装小型GPS接收器，以监测格鲁吉亚西南部和佛罗里达中部氖站点的精细时空运动。将从氖获得这些地点的环境数据。 狐狸松鼠的位置和运动将被建模为从氖获得的预测变量的函数。这些努力将提供一个将高度准确的空间数据联系起来的例子，以解决动物如何在精细尺度和广泛区域内移动和与环境互动。该项目的目标是提供：（1）概念证明，（2）评估当前氖数据收集计划与动物运动的关系，（3）建议在氖领域实施高分辨率动物运动研究。研究人员将在佛罗里达大学存档与该项目相关的数据，供公众访问和使用。

Knowing where animals choose to spend their time and why they may have chosen those areas is fundamental to conserving our nation's wildlife. For decades, ecologists have been studying animal movement behaviors using radio-telemetry and more recently global positioning systems (GPS). GPS technology has recently advanced such that many smaller animals can now be accurately and intensively tracked. Additionally, the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) has begun collecting detailed environmental data at sites throughout North America. The NEON platform and new GPS technologies offer an unprecedented opportunity to merge highly accurate animal movement data with equally accurate environmental data to better understand how animals interact with their environment and predict how they may do so into the future. In this project, researchers propose to use the southeastern fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) as a model for demonstrating how linking NEON and animal movement data can transform wildlife research by allowing scientists to obtain a detailed look into how animals are influenced by, and interact with their environment. Researchers hope to use lessons learned from this project to provide guidance for broader implementation of these technologies across NEON sites, ultimately increasing the capacity of scientists to better understand how organisms interact with their environment. Additionally, the researchers plan to share information and develop educational tools (e.g., web sites showing southeastern fox squirrel movements, videos of simulated animal movement paths, classroom presentations of tools and techniques, etc.) for use in public school systems via local science education initiatives. Investigators will affix small GPS receivers to southeastern fox squirrels to monitor fine-scaled spatiotemporal movements at NEON sites in southwestern Georgia and central Florida. Environmental data will be obtained from NEON for each of these sites. Fox squirrel locations and movements will be modeled as functions of predictor variables obtained from NEON. These efforts will provide an example of linking highly accurate spatial data to address how animals move and interact with their environment at fine scales and across broad areas. The goals of the project are to provide: (1) proof of concept, (2) assessment of the current NEON data collection schedule relative to animal movements, and (3) suggestions for implementation of high-resolution animal movement studies across NEON domains. Researchers will archive data associated with this project at the University of Florida where it will be available for public access and use.