Semester of Graduation
Summer 2024
Degree
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Renewable Natural Resources
Document Type
Thesis
Abstract
Understanding the spatiotemporal ecology of birds is essential to inform conservation and management decisions that could help maintain bird populations and reverse current population trends. Advancements in automated radio telemetry systems (ARTS) may improve our ability to monitor animal movements continuously and simultaneously but require further testing and development to maximize their benefits for wildlife research. My goals were (1) to investigate the use of automated telemetry to track fine-scale songbird movements in a forested environment, and (2) to use automated telemetry to quantify home range size, spatial overlap between home ranges, and extraterritorial forays for male and female golden-cheeked warblers (Setophaga chrysoparia, hereafter warbler). For (1), I placed automated receiver units (or nodes) at 100-m spacing across my study site to automatically detect very high-frequency (VHF) tags. I established a Received Signal Strength (RSS)-to-distance relationship and used trilateration with data from ≥3 nodes to determine tag locations. I found extensive calibration tests provided location estimates with a median accuracy ranging from 31–39 m but a location loss (i.e., number of tag locations that could not be estimated) that ranged from 17–95%. I used automated telemetry data from tagged warblers and data collected from spot-mapping warblers to address (2). Males and females differed little in home range size (i.e., the entire area an individual traverses to obtain food and mates) and territory size (i.e., the area defended by an individual). Males conducted more extraterritorial forays than females; however, the number of forays per day, duration of each foray, and maximum distance of each foray were similar between the sexes. The territory sizes I estimated via spot-mapping were similar to previous studies and smaller than the home ranges I estimated via automated telemetry. My results showed that RSS-based localization using automated telemetry is a reliable method for tracking fine-scale songbird movements within forests, where obstructions can reduce RSS values. In addition, my study demonstrated that node designs are promising for studying the spatiotemporal ecology of small (g) birds, especially females that are more difficult to track with traditional methods (e.g., spot-mapping).
Date
7-15-2024
Recommended Citation
Gamble, Michael, "Application of Automated Radio Telemetry to Explore Space Use of Golden-cheeked Warblers (Setophaga chrysoparia)" (2024). LSU Master's Theses. 6011.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/6011
Committee Chair
Long, Ashley
DOI
https://doi.org/10.31390/gradschool_theses.6011