Radio tracking, one of the oldest ways to monitor wildlife, has come a long way. Today's automated systems use multiple receivers to pick up signals from radio tags, giving a constant stream of data on animal movements. But traditional data analysis methods have not kept up with these advanced systems' capabilities.
To solve this, a new method using radio fingerprinting has been developed. This technique, often used in indoor positioning, takes advantage of the many receivers in modern tracking systems to deliver precise and reliable location data. A large-scale field test showed that radio fingerprinting outperforms traditional multilateration, especially in real-world conditions where there are missed detections and equipment glitches.
This approach was tested on zebra finches, enabling precise tracking of their movements and social interactions. Researchers can now use this new workflow to improve wildlife tracking studies, ensuring greater accuracy and reliability in diverse environments, leading to a deeper understanding of animal behaviour.
Scientific output
Thyson, C., R. Fragueira, E. Sansano-Sansano, H. Yu, and M. Naguib. 2024. Fingerprint localisation for fine-scale wildlife tracking using automated radio telemetry: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.02.15.580447
Thyson, C., H. Loning, S.C. Griffith, M. Naguib. 2024. Constant companions: Wild zebra finch pairs display extreme spatial cohesion. BioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.21.586046
Presentations
C. Tyson, S. Griffith, and M. Naguib. 2023. Zebra finch pairs display extreme spatial cohesion. Netherlands Society for Behavioural Biology. Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands. November 21-23. (oral presentation)
C. Tyson, S. Griffith, and M. Naguib. 2023. Zebra finch pairs display extreme spatial cohesion. Animal Behaviour Society. Portland, Oregon, USA. July 13-16. (oral presentation)
C. Tyson, R. Fragueria, S. Kingma, and M. Naguib. 2022. Optimizing location estimates using automated radio tracking systems. European Conference on Behavioural Biology. Groningen, Netherlands. July 20-23. (poster)
Popular press
WUR Data Science / Artificial Intelligence coverage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GRehsGG6zY&list=PLpHeQy15q-08fbRHW6tnvpGr88e7Mt6YL&index=3
