高山峡谷地区无线电遥测与GPS空间定位的比较:野外放归大熊猫的跟踪定位

以佩戴具有无线电发射功能的GPS颈圈（Lotek GPS₄400M）的放归大熊猫"祥祥"作为目标动物,2006年4月至2007年2月,采用无线电遥测技术（RT）和GPS跟踪技术在卧龙自然保护区的"五一棚"区域,每日监测大熊猫在野外环境下的生存状况、移动规律和觅食行为。为了比较RT和GPS在高山峡谷地区空间定位的可行性和有效性,我们引入空间定位率、地形特征、空间定位差、巢域大小和日移动距离等指标来分析RT和GPS之间的定位差异。结果表明:RT的空间定位效率明显高于GPS的自动定位（P<0.001）,分别是54.1%（绘图法）和45.2%（≧2D）;不同月份RT和GPS的空间定位率之间具有显著性差异（P<0.05）,这与大熊猫不同月份的海拔活动范围和觅食行为特性密切相关。RT位点的地形指数中坡度高于GPS,坡向和海拔高度较GPS定位点低,两种无线电遥测方法 （两点直接计算法和绘图法）之间没有显著性差异（P>0.05）;同一天位点之间的距离（空间定位差）平均450～660 m左右;RT与GPS所估测的大熊猫巢域大小,除5月、9月和12月RT低于GPS外,其余月份为前者高于后者,但无显著性差异（P>0.05）;日移动距离除12月份RT小于GPS外,其余月份都呈现出RT大于GPS的格局,统计检验结果两者之间差异显著（P<0.05）;两种无线电遥测方法所测指数之间都无明显差异（P>0.05）。这说明RT遥测和GPS定位都可以应用于高山峡谷地区野生动物的生态学研究,而且GPS无线电颈圈在亚高山和高山森林中具有可行性和有效性。

Comparison of spatial positioning between radio telemetry (RT) and GPS in temperate mountain forests: A case study on tracking the reintroduction of captive giant pandas

This study was conducted on the first reintroduced giant panda（"Xiangxiang"） that was monitored using a jointly equipped global positioning system（GPS） and radio telemetry（RT） collar（Lotek GPS₄400M） at Wuyipeng Panda Observation Station in Wolong Nature Reserve,China.We diurnally monitored the health status,movement patterns and foraging behaviors of the giant panda in an area of natural habitat from April 2006 to February 2007.We calculated the index of spatial positioning efficiency（SPE）,recorded topographic indices,and estimated spatial positioning differences（SPD）,home range size and daily travel distance.Differences between results from the different two tracking methods were compared to show their feasibility and validity in this temperate mountain forest region.The results are as follows: SPEs of RT-acquired data significantly exceeded those of GPS-acquired data（P < 0.001）.The RT-acquired SPEs were 54.1%（plotting method） and 45.2%（≧ 2D）,respectively.SPEs of RT and GPS-acquired data were significantly dif ferent across different months（P < 0.05）,which may relate to different altitudes and animal foraging patterns across different months.Slope of RT-acquired data was higher than GPS-acquired data,and aspect and altitude of RT-acquired data lower than GPS-acquired data.No significant difference was found between the two radio telemetry methods（triangle method and plotting method）（P > 0.05）.The distances between points（SPD） acquired from the two different methods on the same day averaged 450-660 m.The home ranges derived from RT-acquired data exceeded that of GPS-acquired data, with the exception of the months of May,Sept.and Dec.,for which there was no significant difference between RT and GPS methods（P > 0.05）.Daily movement distances were significantly greater for RT-acquired data than GPS-acquired data（P < 0.05）,with the exception of December 2006.All indices derived from two different radio telemetry methods were not significantly different（P > 0.05）.We conclude that both the radio telemetry（RT） and GPS monitoring methods are feasible in our study area and the joint RT/GPS collars provide valid data in temperate mountain forests,especially for monitoring habitat use.