Accurate abundance estimation of cliff-breeding Bounty Island shags using drone-based 2D and 3D photogrammetry

Accurate abundance estimation of cliff-breeding Bounty Island shags using drone-based 2D and 3D photogrammetry

Blog Article

Effective seabird management strategies rely Knife Sharpeners on accurate population estimates, with previous methods typically employing ground counts of a target species.However, difficult and often inaccessible breeding habitats are now able to be explored due to recent technological advancements in Unoccupied Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).This study tested a novel approach by combining high-resolution orthomosaics and 3D models to provide population estimates of the remote cliff-breeding Bounty Island shag ( Leucocarbo ranfurlyi ) on the sub-Antarctic Bounty Islands in November 2022.

Our results report 573 breeding pairs, estimating a total population of approximately 1733 birds, breeding on 13 of the 14 main islands.Given the topographical constraints of surveying the islands by boat, the most comparable assessment in 1978 shows a similar count of breeding pairs, proposing the Quilts Bounty Island shag population is stable.However, long-term monitoring and additional research surrounding foraging strategies is crucial for developing conservation efforts for one of the rarest and spatially restricted shag species in the world.

Our study demonstrates a reproducible method for estimating elusive wildlife populations that can be used across species with wider applications.