Lab and field evaluation of tagging methods for the use of acoustic telemetry to observe sea urchin movement behaviour at ecologically relevant spatio-temporal scales

MacGregor, Kathleen A.; Lavoie, Marie-France; Robinson, S.; Simard, É; McKindsey, Christopher W.

doi:10.1186/s40317-022-00309-8

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 37 publications

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“…Tracking tools in telemetry such as acoustic, radio, and satellite transmitters may complement the genetic methods ( Balaguera-Reina et al 2016, Combrink et al 2017, Fukuda et al 2019, Baker et al 2022, Mascarenhas-Junior et al 2023.…”

Section: (A) (B)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Natal origin and dispersal of problem saltwater crocodiles in the Darwin Harbor, Australia

Fukuda,

Moritz,

FitzSimmons

et al. 2023

J Wildl Manag

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Management programs that successfully recovered wild saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) populations in the Northern Territory of Australia did so with an expanding commitment to maintaining public safety. One aspect of the program is the ongoing removal of resident and immigrant crocodiles within Darwin Harbor (since 1979), the main urban center. We determined the likely sources of crocodiles caught as problem animals between 2015–2017 by comparing recently developed methods for population assignment. Depending on the assignment model used, we estimated that between 30% and 50% of crocodiles in Darwin Harbor originated from the Adelaide and Mary rivers, and the Kakadu region east of Darwin, and between 20% and 30% of crocodiles originated from the Finniss, Reynolds, and Daly rivers southwest of Darwin. Saltwater crocodiles occur at particularly high densities in these catchments. The remainder came from a mixture of different sources across the Northern Territory. The most common animals captured were immature (150–180 cm) males that have traveled 100–200 km. We did not identify any relationships between the distance from the inferred origin to Darwin Harbor and the size and sex of the crocodiles, or the year of capture. The targeted removal of crocodiles from specific sites such as Darwin Harbor, near where most people live, improves public safety in the highest risk areas, without compromising abundant source populations in most areas.

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Section: (A) (B)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Natal origin and dispersal of problem saltwater crocodiles in the Darwin Harbor, Australia

Fukuda,

Moritz,

FitzSimmons

et al. 2023

J Wildl Manag

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An evaluation of acoustic telemetry as a method to study the movements of Asteroidea (Asterias rubens)

Nadalini,

Lees,

Lavoie

et al. 2024

Anim Biotelemetry

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Background Acoustic telemetry is an important tool to study the movement of aquatic animals. However, studies have focussed on particular groups of easily tagged species. The development of effective tagging methods for ecologically important benthic species, such as sea stars, remains a challenge due to autotomy and their remarkable capacity to expel any foreign material. We tested three methods to surgically attach acoustic transmitters to the common sea star Asterias rubens; two methods attached the tag to the aboral side of the central body and the third attached the transmitter to the aboral side of an arm. Laboratory experiments evaluated each method in terms of survivability, tag retention, associated injuries, and changes in feeding behaviour and physical condition. Results Laboratory results were highly variable; however, all tagging methods caused significant injury to the epidermis and deeper tissue around the attachment site over periods greater than 4 weeks. Attaching a tag by horizontally piercing the central body (method HPC) had minimal effects in the short-term (2–3 weeks) and this method was used for a pilot tagging study in the field, where 10 sea stars were tagged and placed within an existing acoustic telemetry array. Although, the interpretation of field data was challenging due to the characteristic slow movement of sea stars, movements of a similar magnitude to previous studies were identified during the 2–4 weeks after sea stars were tagged and released. However, this apparent period of tagging success was followed by a reduction in movement that, when viewed in conjunction with laboratory results, potentially indicated a deterioration in the sea stars’ physical condition. Conclusions While acoustic telemetry continues to provide novel insights into the ecology of a wide variety of marine species, species-specific effects of tagging should be evaluated before starting field studies. If the autonomous study of benthic movement is to expand beyond hard-bodied macroinvertebrates current methodological and analytical challenges must be addressed.

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Influences of environmental and individual-level covariates on movement behaviour in American lobster Homarus americanus

Konecny,

Cote,

Broome

et al. 2024

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Movements reflect important activities and life history events for animals, and therefore understanding what influences movement in organisms is increasingly important as climate change alters environmental conditions at unprecedented rates. This has relevance for predicting the effects of climate change on fitness and interpreting stock status of species such as American lobster Homarus americanus, whose catchability is behaviourally mediated. We analysed movement tracks from tagged lobsters in a natural environment over short (10 d, n = 37) and long timescales (up to 7 mo, n = 16), applying hidden Markov models to investigate the influence of individual-level and environmental covariates on movement patterns. We classified movement tracks to identify behavioural states through time and compared the distribution of states across habitats to understand how movement may relate to bottom composition. In the short-term analysis, we found evidence for 3 behavioural states: Sheltered, Exploratory, and Transit. In the long-term analysis, we found evidence of Sheltered and Exploratory states, but the Transit state was absent. Movement parameters varied across temperature, with higher velocities and more tortuous movements at higher temperatures. Our results demonstrate that lobsters spend most of their time Sheltered, with state probabilities being altered by diel period, time since release, sex, carapace length, temperature, and tide trend. Further, mobile states were typically observed in areas of low algal cover. Our results underscore the importance of environmental and individual-level factors in understanding lobster movement and suggest that such factors could obscure population depletion if not accounted for in a warming environment.

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Lab and field evaluation of tagging methods for the use of acoustic telemetry to observe sea urchin movement behaviour at ecologically relevant spatio-temporal scales

Cited by 4 publications

References 37 publications

Natal origin and dispersal of problem saltwater crocodiles in the Darwin Harbor, Australia

Natal origin and dispersal of problem saltwater crocodiles in the Darwin Harbor, Australia

An evaluation of acoustic telemetry as a method to study the movements of Asteroidea (Asterias rubens)

Influences of environmental and individual-level covariates on movement behaviour in American lobster Homarus americanus

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