Jarrod C. Hodgson

• The University of Adelaide

In many animal species, individuals re-use the breeding site they used in the previous breeding season. Consequently, they accrue benefits including reduced time searching for a territory, and enhanced predator avoidance. Many seabirds display high levels of nest-site fidelity. We sought to determine whether nest-site fidelity occurs in Red-tailed...

Understanding causes of population change is critical for conservation. Quantifying these causes can be difficult, especially for hard to sample animals like marine vertebrates (e.g. pinnipeds). One solution is to investigate spatiotemporal differences in a species' body condition by measuring body size and mass. Collecting traditional morphologica...

Native ecosystems face challenges of past and ongoing human actions, including vegetation clearance and climate change arising from greenhouse gas emissions. Reforestation is an important tool for sequestering carbon, so we sought to determine how replanted native trees responded to weather, soil conditions and planting characteristics. We measured...

The responses of birds to overflying remotely piloted aircraft (or drones) are poorly understood. While direct observations of behaviour can provide an understanding of wildlife response, this approach is unable to quantify the potential physiological responses of individuals. To do this, a dummy bird egg containing a microphone was substituted int...

Knowing how many individuals are in a wildlife population allows informed management decisions to be made. Ecologists are increasingly using technologies, such as remotely piloted aircraft (RPA; commonly known as “drones,” unmanned aerial systems or unmanned aerial vehicles), for wildlife monitoring applications. Although RPA are widely touted as a...

Ecologists are increasingly using technology to improve the quality of data collected on wildlife, particularly for assessing the environmental impacts of human activities. Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS; commonly known as ‘drones’) are widely touted as a cost-effective way to collect high quality wildlife population data, however, the val...

Invasive species threaten endangered species worldwide and substantial effort is focused on their control. Eradication projects require critical resource allocation decisions, as they affect both the likelihood of success and the overall cost. However, these complex decisions must often be made within data-poor environments. Here we develop a mathe...

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), colloquially referred to as 'drones', for biological field research is increasing [1-3]. Small, civilian UAVs are providing a viable, economical tool for ecology researchers and environmental managers. UAVs are particularly useful for wildlife observation and monitoring as they can produce systematic data...

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) represent a new frontier in environmental research. Their use has the potential to revolutionise the field if they prove capable of improving data quality or the ease with which data are collected beyond traditional methods. We apply UAV technology to wildlife monitoring in tropical and polar environments and demonst...

Leg-loop harnesses for the attachment of telemetry devices have been used for over two decades in terrestrial bird research. Recently, the technique has been extended to waterbird applications. An equation exists for predicting the dimensions of correctly fitting leg-loop harnesses in terrestrial bird research. This equation appears robust to the v...