It certainly can. But how much of telemetry research - where animals carry devices that track their movement, behavior and physiology - is directly tied to improving management and conservation? A new study in Journal of Applied Ecology suggests that the growing and current conservation crises demand that we take a more pragmatic approach to evaluate the data required to make informed management decisions and how telemetry can best support applied conservation.
Undoubtedly, telemetry research captivates and engages the public and the wider scientific community. This research has yielded astonishing information about the amazing habits and behaviors of many difficult to observe species. Yet despite the revolution in telemetry technology and research, little of this information is directly used to support conservation and management actions, in large part, because of the disconnect between researchers and practitioners. But more can be done to connect telemetry to conservation by focusing attention on two critical questions which aim to directly connect telemetry-derived data to applied conservation decision-making: (i) Would my choice of action change if I had more data? (ii) Is the expected gain worth the money and time required to collect more data? To learn more, click here.
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