Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2020, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (4): 409-417.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2019.0165

Special Issue: 生态学研究的技术和方法

• Reviews • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Advances in techniques and methods of wildlife monitoring

XIAO Wen-Hong1,ZHOU Qing-Song1,ZHU Chao-Dong1,WU Dong-Hui3,XIAO Zhi-Shu1,2,*()   

  1. 1Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
    2University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    3Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China
  • Received:2019-06-27 Accepted:2019-10-14 Online:2020-04-20 Published:2020-03-26
  • Contact: XIAO Zhi-Shu
  • Supported by:
    National Key R&D Program of China(2016YFC0500105);National Natural Science Foundation of China(31700469);Operating Fund for the Biodiversity Monitoring and Research Network of the Chinese Academy of Sciences;Project for the Conservation and Restoration of the Henan Nantaihang Mountain Ecosystem, Composed of Mountains, Rivers, Forest, Farmland, Lakes, and Grassland (Jiyuan project);Central Forestry Reform and Development Fund for the Year of 2019

Abstract:

Wildlife as one major group in ecosystem research and conservation management, play a critical role in regulating the structure and function of ecosystems and maintaining the health and balance of ecosystems. Scientific monitoring data are the basis for wildlife research, protection and management decisions. However, the wildlife diversity, their relationship and related mechanisms with the environment and ecosystem balance have been paid insufficient attention due to the limitations of traditional monitoring technologies. With the development and application of automatical and information technologies, wildlife monitoring technology has achieved great breakthroughs and changes. In this paper, we described four new technologies widely used for wildlife monitoring recently, including camera-trapping technology, Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking technology, DNA-barcode technology and next-generation sequencing technology. We introduced the basic concepts and principles, then summarized the advantages and major application progress of these four key technologies as well as the problems existing in the application. Finally, we discussed the trend of the wildlife monitoring technologies.

Key words: wildlife monitoring, camera trap, GPS tracking, DNA barcodes, next-generation sequencing