Tracking individual animals can reveal the mechanisms of species loss

Scott W Yanco; Christian Rutz; Briana Abrahms; Nathan W Cooper; Peter P Marra; Thomas Mueller; Brian C Weeks; Martin Wikelski; Ruth Y Oliver

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2024.09.008

Tracking individual animals can reveal the mechanisms of species loss

Trends Ecol Evol. 2024 Oct 24:S0169-5347(24)00247-7. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2024.09.008. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Scott W Yanco¹, Christian Rutz², Briana Abrahms³, Nathan W Cooper⁴, Peter P Marra⁵, Thomas Mueller⁶, Brian C Weeks⁷, Martin Wikelski⁸, Ruth Y Oliver⁹

Affiliations

¹ School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.
³ Center for Ecosystem Sentinels, Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁴ Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Washington, DC, USA.
⁵ The Earth Commons Institute; Department of Biology, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.
⁶ Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Senckenberganlage 25, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Department of Biological Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
⁷ School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
⁸ Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany; Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
⁹ Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.

PMID: 39505577
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2024.09.008

Abstract

As biodiversity loss continues, targeted conservation interventions are increasingly necessary. Stemming species loss requires mechanistic understanding of the processes governing population dynamics. However, this information is unavailable for most animals because it requires data that are difficult to collect using traditional methods. Advances in animal tracking technology have generated an avalanche of high-resolution observations for a growing list of species around the globe. To date, most research using these data has focused on questions about animal behavior, with less emphasis on population processes. Here, we argue that tracking data are uniquely poised to bring powerful new insights to the urgent, global problem of halting species extinctions by revealing when, where, how, and why populations are changing.

Keywords: animal tracking; biodiversity loss; movement ecology; populations.

Publication types

Review