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Unoccupied aerial vehicles as a tool to map lizard operative temperature in tropical environments

Higgins, Emma A.; Boyd, Doreen S.; Brown, Tom W.; Owen, Sarah C.; van der Heijden, Geertje M. F.; Algar, Adam C.

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Authors

Emma A. Higgins

DOREEN BOYD doreen.boyd@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Earth Observation

Tom W. Brown

Sarah C. Owen

Adam C. Algar



Abstract

To understand how ectotherms will respond to warming temperatures, we require information on thermal habitat quality at spatial resolutions and extents relevant to the organism. Measuring thermal habitat quality is either limited to small spatial extents, such as with ground‐based 3D operative temperature (T e ) replicas, representing the temperature of the animal at equilibrium with its environment, or is based on microclimate derived from physical models that use land cover variables and downscale coarse climate data. We draw on aspects of both these approaches and test the ability of unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV) data (optical RGB) to predict fine‐scale heterogeneity in sub‐canopy lizard (Anolis bicaorum) T e in tropical forest using random forest models. Anolis bicaorum is an endemic, critically endangered, species, facing significant threats of habitat loss and degradation, and work was conducted as part of a larger project. Our findings indicate that a model incorporating solely air temperature, measured at the centre of the 20 × 20 m plot, and ground‐based leaf area index (LAI) measurements, measured at directly above the 3D replica, predicted T e well. However, a model with air temperature and UAV‐derived canopy metrics performed slightly better with the added advantage of enabling the mapping of T e with continuous spatial extent at high spatial resolutions, across the whole of the UAV orthomosaic, allowing us to capture and map T e across the whole of the survey plot, rather than purely at 3D replica locations. Our work provides a feasible workflow to map sub‐canopy lizard T e in tropical environments at spatial scales relevant to the organism, and across continuous areas. This can be applied to other species and can represent species within the same community that have evolved a similar thermal niche. Such methods will be imperative in risk modelling of such species to anthropogenic land cover and climate change.

Citation

Higgins, E. A., Boyd, D. S., Brown, T. W., Owen, S. C., van der Heijden, G. M. F., & Algar, A. C. (2024). Unoccupied aerial vehicles as a tool to map lizard operative temperature in tropical environments. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, https://doi.org/10.1002/rse2.393

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 19, 2024
Online Publication Date Apr 25, 2024
Publication Date Apr 25, 2024
Deposit Date Apr 27, 2024
Publicly Available Date Apr 30, 2024
Journal Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation
Electronic ISSN 2056-3485
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/rse2.393
Keywords forest canopy, UAVs, climate change, ectotherms, random forest, thermal suitability
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/34111161
Publisher URL https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rse2.393
Additional Information Received: 2023-07-18; Accepted: 2024-03-19; Published: 2024-04-25

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