The tail wags the frog: harmonic radar transponders affect movement behavior in Litoria lesueri

Abstract

[Extract] Locating and following animals using tracking devices is a method commonly used on many taxa, from mammals (Chamberlain and Leopold, 2000; Daniels et al., 2001; Long, 2001) to insects (Roland et al., 1996; Carreck et al., 1999; Kutsch, 1999; Capaldi et al., 2000). Animals are tracked to study aspects of their home range (Li et al., 2000; Rodrigues and Monterio, 2000), movement patterns (Matthews and Pope, 1999; Rodrigues and Monterio, 2000), daily and seasonal activities (Lamoureux and Madison, 1999; Chamberlain and Leopold, 2000; Li et al., 2000), and population dynamics (Turchin, 1991; Roland et al., 1996). Until recently radio-tracking was the most commonly used method of remote tracking. Over time radio-tags have become smaller and more lightweight but they are still not suitable for very small animals.