Portable array for remote monitoring of cryptic vertebrate biodiversity

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Important components of bird and mammal biodiversity are often cryptic to direct human observation, being active only at night, being very rare (e.g., large carnivores), or being present only during short and episodic intervals (e.g., migratory birds). Moreover, many of these animals are shy toward humans and actively avoid observation. As a result, these cryptic components of biodiversity are poorly known for many regions of the world. The best route to reducing this deficiency is to deploy remote observation tools, especially acoustic monitors and visual (“camera trap”) monitors. These two types of monitors are best deployed together because the former have a broad spatial range, whereas the latter also capture non-vocalizing animals. Both types of monitors can be set up in the field and left for continuous, periodic, or activity-triggered recording before retrieval a year or more later. We request a 20-node Portable Array for Remote Monitoring (PARM), with each node consisting of 1 acoustic monitor and 3 visual monitors. PARM will be deployed in several geographical areas to answer scientific questions investigated in several NSERC Discovery Grant projects. The first deployment will focus on the year-round abundance and diversity of piscivorous birds (e.g., loons, grebes, kingfishers) on lakes in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia. The data collected in this deployment will be ground-truthed based on the extensive observations of long-time Haida Gwaii biologist Prof. Tom Reimchen - thus establishing the optimal methodology for subsequent deployments. The second deployment will aid our ongoing studies of evolutionary and ecological dynamics revealed by Vancouver Island stickleback fish living in lakes and streams. The third deployment will assess the prevalence and distribution of piscivorous birds across our study sites in Trinidad, where we are using guppy fish to understand evolutionary processes. The fourth deployment will assess the abundance and distribution of native birds in GalÁ pagos, as well as the invasive species (especially cats) that negatively impact them. Additional deployments are expected on Haida Gwaii and Vancouver Island, as well as in California and Uganda - all in support of NSERC Discovery research. The data collected by PARM will aid the research of our many students working in various geographical areas because information on the distribution of predators is critical to our ecological and evolutionary inferences about prey species (stickleback, guppies, finches). In addition to these broad benefits to many students, we will recruit a PhD student specifically to analyze the data from the remote monitors in British Columbia and Trinidad. Finally, a database of all animals recorded will be made freely available online to scientists, managers, and the public.