Habitat use of migratory birds: movement ecology meets remote sensing

Kurzfassung

"Migratory species carry a special ecological role in that they connect biodiversity and ecosystem function across distant regions of our planet. Understanding and monitoring movement patterns and requirements of migratory species is of particular importance to fulfill monitoring and conservation obligations under international conventions and initiatives such as the UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. Within the EO-MOVE project, we model small-scale resource usage of Greater white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons) at stop-over sites during their spring migration from central Europe to northern Russia. Habitat use of the greater white-fronted geese is known to be sensitive to land-use intensity, phenology and and landscape configuration, which calls for the exploitation of remote sensing technologies. To this end, we collected locational data on several adult geese by means of neckband GPS transmitters and identified stop-over sites based on their movement behavior. Subsequently, the stop-over sites were characterized regarding their land-use characteristics and landscape context by means of optical and SAR time series data from the Sentinel 1 and 2 satellite missions. Here we present the first results on modeling animal-environment relationships and discuss the potential for site selection prediction, an important prerequisite for spatially or temporally targeted conservation Schemes"