Using the VEMCO Positioning System (VPS) to explore fine-scale movements of aquatic species: applications, analytical approaches and future directions

Abstract

Recent advancements in telemetry have redefined our ability to quantify the fine-scale movements of aquatic animals and derive a mechanistic understanding of movement behaviours. The VEMCO Positioning System (VPS) is a fine-scale commercial positioning system used to generate highly accurate semi-continuous animal tracks. To date, VPS has been used to study 86 species, spanning 25 taxonomic orders. It has provided fine-scale movement data for critical life stages, from tracking day-old turtle hatchlings on their first foray into the sea to adult fish returning to natal rivers to spawn. These high-resolution tracking data have improved our understanding of the movements of species across environmental gradients within rivers, estuaries and oceans, including species of conservation concern and commercial value. Existing VPS applications range from quantifying spatio-temporal aspects of animal space use and key aspects of ecology, such as rate of movement and resource use, to higher-order processes such as interactions among individuals and species. Analytical approaches have seen a move towards techniques that incorporate error frameworks such as autocorrelated kernel density estimators for home range calculations. VPS technology has the potential to bridge gaps in our fundamental understanding of fine-scale ecological and physiological processes for single and multi-species studies under natural conditions. Through a systematic review of the VPS literature, we focus on 4 principle topics: the diversity of species studied, current ecological and ecophysiological applications and data analysis techniques, and we highlight future frontiers of exploration.