Abstract
The recent development of lightweight GPS collars has enabled medium-to-small sized animals to be tracked via GPS telemetry. Evaluation of the performance and accuracy of GPS collars is largely confined to devices designed for large animals for deployment in natural environments. This study aimed to assess the performance of lightweight GPS collars within a suburban environment, which may be different from natural environments in a way that is relevant to satellite signal acquisition. We assessed the effects of vegetation complexity, sky availability (percentage of clear sky not obstructed by natural or artificial features of the environment), proximity to buildings, and satellite geometry on fix success rate (FSR) and location error (LE) for lightweight GPS collars within a suburban environment. Sky availability had the largest affect on FSR, while LE was influenced by sky availability, vegetation complexity, and HDOP (Horizontal Dilution of Precision). Despite the complexity and modified nature of suburban areas, values for FSR ( = 90.6%) and LE ( = 30.1 m) obtained within the suburban environment are comparable to those from previous evaluations of GPS collars designed for larger animals and within less built-up environments. Due to fine-scale patchiness of habitat within urban environments, it is recommended that resource selection methods that are not reliant on buffer sizes be utilised for selection studies.
Highlights
The development of Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies in the mid-1990s has enabled the use of GPS telemetry to investigate habitat and resource selection, space use, and movement patterns of wildlife [1,2]
There were no significant differences in the accuracy (LE) of the three Sirtrack lightweight GPS collars when simultaneously deployed at the survey mark (F2,288 = 1.2, p = 0.27), with the location error (LE) ranging between,1.0 m and 106.3 m
Sky availability had the largest effect on fix success rate (FSR), while LE was affected by sky availability, vegetation complexity within different suburban habitats, and HDOP
Summary
The development of Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies in the mid-1990s has enabled the use of GPS telemetry to investigate habitat and resource selection, space use, and movement patterns of wildlife [1,2]. GPS telemetry overcomes many of the disadvantages of traditional VHF (Very High Frequency) radio-tracking, as more accurate locations can be continuously collected regardless of season, time of day, weather conditions, and terrain without the need for fieldworkers. LE can result in misclassification of habitats and/or resources in selection studies, leading to poor management decisions regarding species and/or habitat management [5,6,7]. These two types of error are influenced by numerous environmental and technological factors that can affect signal transmission from satellites to receivers [8]
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