title: Unmanned Aircraft Systems complement biologging in spatial ecology studies.
abstract: The knowledge about the spatial ecology and distribution of organisms is important for both basic and applied science. Biologging is one of the most popular methods for obtaining information about spatial distribution of animals, but requires capturing the animals and is often limited by costs and data retrieval. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have proven their efficacy for wildlife surveillance and habitat monitoring, but their potential contribution to the prediction of animal distribution patterns and abundance has not been thoroughly evaluated. In this study, we assess the usefulness of UAS overflights to (1) get data to model the distribution of free-ranging cattle for a comparison with results obtained from biologged (GPS-GSM collared) cattle and (2) predict species densities for a comparison with actual density in a protected area. UAS and biologging derived data models provided similar distribution patterns. Predictions from the UAS model overestimated cattle densities, which may be associated with higher aggregated distributions of this species. Overall, while the particular researcher interests and species characteristics will influence the method of choice for each study, we demonstrate here that UAS constitute a noninvasive methodology able to provide accurate spatial data useful for ecological research, wildlife management and rangeland planning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Ecology Doñana Biological Station CSIC Avda. Américo Vespucio s/n 41092 Seville Spain.
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mulero-Pázmány
authors.affiliation: Sabio IREC National Wildlife Research Institute (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM) IREC. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos Ronda de Toledo 12 13071 Ciudad Real Spain.
authors.forename: Jose Ángel
authors.initials: JÁ
authors.lastname: Barasona
authors.affiliation: Sabio IREC National Wildlife Research Institute (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM) IREC. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos Ronda de Toledo 12 13071 Ciudad Real Spain.
authors.forename: Pelayo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Acevedo
authors.affiliation: Sabio IREC National Wildlife Research Institute (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM) IREC. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos Ronda de Toledo 12 13071 Ciudad Real Spain.
authors.forename: Joaquín
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vicente
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Ecology Doñana Biological Station CSIC Avda. Américo Vespucio s/n 41092 Seville Spain.
authors.forename: Juan José
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Negro
keywords: Abundance modeling; GPS‐GSM collars; Remote Piloted Aircraft Systems; Unmanned Aircraft Systems; animal monitoring; biologging; cattle; drones; spatial distribution