October 25, 2006
Radio-Tagging Badgers
Studying animal populations is usually the domain of statisticians and wildlife researchers, but a group of computer scientists have received funding for a three-year project to tag badgers, monitor them, and study their populations. All to test out a new technology called MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems). MEMS tech also incorporates RFID tags, which are then monitored by a sensor network. [via Science Daily]
Radio frequency technology has been used to tag and study "home ranges" of animal population since approximately the 1960s. (A home range, as drawn on a map, is essentially the boundaries of an area where a single animal or a group limits their movement to, over a period of time. Home range monitoring is also an early application of GIS - Geographical Information Systems.) This particular project uses advanced technology and a different methodology for data collection. In other animal applications, RFID has also helped cattle ranchers recover rustled cattle.
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