Portable array for remote monitoring of cryptic vertebrate biodiversity

鸟类和哺乳动物生物多样性的重要组成部分通常对人类的直接观察是神秘的，只在夜间活动，非常罕见（例如，大型食肉动物），或仅在短的和偶发的间隔期间存在（例如，候鸟）。此外，这些动物中的许多人对人类感到害羞，并积极避免观察。因此，世界许多地区对生物多样性的这些神秘组成部分知之甚少。减少这一缺陷的最佳途径是部署远程观察工具，特别是声学监测器和视觉（“相机陷阱”）监测器。这两种类型的监测器最好一起部署，因为前者具有广泛的空间范围，而后者也捕捉非发声动物。这两种类型的监视器都可以在现场设置，并在一年或更长时间后检索之前进行连续，定期或活动触发记录。我们要求一个20节点的便携式阵列远程监测（PARM），每个节点由1个声学监测器和3个视觉监测器组成。 PARM将部署在几个地理区域，以回答在几个NSERC发现赠款项目中调查的科学问题。第一次部署将重点关注全年食鱼鸟类的丰度和多样性（例如，潜鸟、、翠鸟）在不列颠哥伦比亚省的海达湖上。本次部署中收集的数据将根据海达生物学家Tom Reimchen教授的长期观察进行地面验证，从而为后续部署建立最佳方法。第二次部署将有助于我们正在进行的进化和生态动态研究揭示了温哥华岛棘鱼生活在湖泊和溪流。第三次部署将评估我们在特立尼达岛的研究地点中食鱼鸟类的流行和分布，我们正在使用孔雀鱼来了解进化过程。第四次部署将评估加拉帕戈斯本土鸟类的丰度和分布，以及对它们产生负面影响的入侵物种（尤其是猫）。预计将在海达岛和温哥华岛以及加州和乌干达进行更多的部署--所有这些都是为了支持NSERC的发现研究。 由PARM收集的数据将有助于我们的许多学生在不同的地理区域工作的研究，因为捕食者的分布信息是至关重要的，我们的生态和进化的推断猎物物种（棘鱼，孔雀鱼，雀）。除了这些广泛的好处，许多学生，我们将招募一名博士生专门分析数据，从远程监视器在不列颠哥伦比亚省和特立尼达。最后，所有记录的动物数据库将在网上免费提供给科学家，管理人员和公众。

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.