Squirrels in Space: Using Radio Telemetry to Explore the Space Use and Movement of Sciurid Rodents

Biotelemetry is used by researchers to track the interactions of animals with each other and the environment. While advancing technology has led to the development of numerous biotelemetry tools, radio telemetry remains the most common method for tracking small animals. Moreover, telemetry tracking of animal movement is an important skill for entry-level positions in wildlife biology. Thus, hands-on experience using radio telemetry provides students with an advantage as they pursue careers in wildlife biology, as well as an opportunity to build science process skills. We present a lesson in which students use radio telemetry to track animals; collect, analyze and interpret spatial data; and consider its applications to local wildlife management and conservation. Students submit their data to a national database collecting observations from multiple institutions as part of Squirrel-Net (http://squirrel-net.org). The aggregated data allows students to generate and test hypotheses across a broader variety of species and habitats than would be possible at any single institution. The lesson is designed for adaptation to diverse educational contexts, from a single two-hour laboratory period (basic skills acquisition) to a semesterlong student-driven research project (open inquiry Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience, or CURE). Although this activity and the national database focus on spatial data for squirrels, which are diurnal, charismatic, easily identified, and present on most college campuses, the same methods and materials can be modified for any animal capable of carrying a radio transmitter and being safely tracked by students. Citation: Duggan JM, Varner J, Lanier HC, Flaherty EA, Dizney L, Yahnke CJ, Connors PK, Erb LP, Hanson JD. 2020. Squirrels in space: Using radio telemetry to explore the space use and movement of sciurid rodents. CourseSource. https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2020.25 Editor: Luanna Prevost, University of South Florida Received: 11/2/2019; Accepted: 6/18/2020; Published: 9/14/2020 Copyright: © 2020 Duggan, Varner, Lanier, Flaherty, Dizney, Yahnke, Connors, Erb, and Hanson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Conflict of Interest and Funding Statement: JMD received support from a California State University, Monterey Bay Faculty Support Grant. JMD, JV, and PKC were supported by the 2019 CourseSource Writing Studio. JV and PKC have been supported by the Colorado Mesa University Faculty Professional Development Fund. Support for EAF was provided by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch Project 1019737. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under a collaborative grant (Nos. 2013483, 2013281, 2013308, and 2013320). None of the authors has a financial, personal, or professional conflict of interest related to this work. Supporting Materials: Supporting File S1. Squirrels in space – Lecture slides on space use and movement; S2. Squirrels in space – List of resources for identifying focal species and field sites; S3. Squirrels in space – List of resources for purchasing equipment; S4. Squirrels in space – Example IACUC Protocol; S5. Squirrels in space – Lecture slides on tracking basics; S6. Squirrels in space – Worksheet for assessing preparation for equipment use; S7. Squirrels in space – Master datasheet and upload instructions; S8. Squirrels in space – Data collection instructions; S9. Squirrels in space – Example questions for summative assessment; S10. Squirrels in space – Instructions for creating simple maps; S11. Squirrels in space – R code for spatial analysis *Correspondence to: 100 Campus Center, Seaside, CA, 93955. Email: jduggan@csumb.edu. CourseSource | www.coursesource.org 2020 | Volume 07 1 Lesson