Research and Innovation Centre

The secret dream of animal and behavioural ecologists seems close to come true: studying animals in their own environment, from their own perspective. 

Global Positioning System (GPS) devices applied to terrestrial, avian and marine taxa allow to accurately and continuously track these species while they move, migrate, disperse, return, select and use resources, compete, reproduce, die. As technology improves and costs drop, a constantly increasing diversity of species and research contexts will profit of these advancements. In this Theme issue, we review the current technology, including the drawbacks and the potential solutions and conditions of use of GPS and other remote data-logging systems in animal ecology studies. We present the ‘state of the art’ of analytical methods applied to animal location data and introduce original syntheses for the proficient use of correlated data in movement and habitat models. We discuss how better datasets can help scientists in their search of a mechanistic understanding of key traditional concepts and new frameworks of animal ecology, such as resource selection, optimal foraging, home range, movement, and fitness. Only integration of analytical and technical advancements, within solid theoretical frameworks, allow to tackle the intimate complexity of ecosystems, and their sensitivity to a changing planet.

Download the issue until 31st July 2010