http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_west/7256546.stm
Hi-tech bird tracker breakthrough
Thursday, 21 February 2008, 15:02 GMT
New technology which can monitor how animals respond to change in
their environment has been developed on an island off the
Pembrokeshire Coast.
A system of wireless sensors and GPS tracking is giving researchers a
better understanding of the behaviour of manx shearwaters on Skomer
Nature Reserve.
Scientists at Microsoft Research say it can be adapted to study
animals and ecosystems around the world.
It could show how animals react to changes in climate or pollution
levels.
Microsoft has been working with the University of Oxford and Freie
Universitat, Berlin, on the project.
Last summer researchers installed wireless sensor networks in burrows
on the island used by the seabirds and fixed tiny GPS tracking devices
to them.
Data was gathered electronically and beamed back to the mainland,
where new software enabled researchers to view it at the click of a
computer mouse.
Robin Freeman, one of the scientists leading the project, said
previous studies were hugely labour intensive and involved researchers
physically gathering information.
He said the manx shearwater was a nocturnal species that could travel
long distances for food that traditionally made field study difficult.
"The importance of this system is its ability to monitor animals
autonomously over greater distances and more frequently and
consistently that previously possible," he added.
He said in the case of the manx shearwater it allowed scientists to
develop a better understanding of their feeding and breeding grounds
that would bolster conservation efforts.
Once they had established a pattern of behaviour then the system could
also help identify the effect changes in climate, pollution, or human
activity had on the birds and act as "an early warning system", he said.
"At Skomer we wanted to trial and pilot the technology to make sure it
did not impact on them (the birds)."
He said the team was now investigating how the technology could be
used in a range of different sensitive ecosystems around the world.
"We are talking to a number of parties about using the technology in a
number of different environments."
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