British Ecological Society Annual Meeting 2023: Unoccupied Aerial Vehicles as a Tool to Map Lizard Operative Temperature in Tropical Environments

Emma Higgins, Doreen S. Boyd, Tom Brown, Sarah C. Owen, Geertje Van der Heijden, Adam C. Algar

Research output: Contribution to conferenceOther

Abstract

To understand how ectotherms will respond to warming temperatures, we first require information on thermal habitat quality at spatial scales relevant to the organism. Measuring thermal habitat quality is either limited by spatial extent, such as with ground-based 3D operative temperature (Te) replicas, 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 to predict fine-scale heterogeneity in sub-canopy lizard (Anolis bicaorum) Te in tropical forest using random forest models. Our findings provide a feasible workflow to map sub-canopy lizard Te in tropical environments at spatial scales relevant to the organism, and across continuous areas, which will be imperative in risk modelling of such species to anthropogenic land cover and climate change.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusUnpublished - 2023
EventBritish Ecological Society Annual Meeting 2023 - ICC Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
Duration: 12 Dec 202315 Dec 2023

Conference

ConferenceBritish Ecological Society Annual Meeting 2023
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityBelfast
Period12/12/2315/12/23

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