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Observations of movement dynamics of flying insects using high resolution lidar

Kirkeby, Carsten ; Wellenreuther, Maren LU and Brydegaard, Mikkel LU (2016) In Scientific Reports 6.
Abstract

Insects are fundamental to ecosystem functioning and biodiversity, yet the study of insect movement, dispersal and activity patterns remains a challenge. Here we present results from a novel high resolution laser-radar (lidar) system for quantifying flying insect abundance recorded during one summer night in Sweden. We compare lidar recordings with data from a light trap deployed alongside the lidar. A total of 22808 insect were recorded, and the relative temporal quantities measured matched the quantities recorded with the light trap within a radius of 5 m. Lidar records showed that small insects (wing size <2.5 mm 2 in cross-section) moved across the field and clustered near the light trap around 22:00 local time, while larger... (More)

Insects are fundamental to ecosystem functioning and biodiversity, yet the study of insect movement, dispersal and activity patterns remains a challenge. Here we present results from a novel high resolution laser-radar (lidar) system for quantifying flying insect abundance recorded during one summer night in Sweden. We compare lidar recordings with data from a light trap deployed alongside the lidar. A total of 22808 insect were recorded, and the relative temporal quantities measured matched the quantities recorded with the light trap within a radius of 5 m. Lidar records showed that small insects (wing size <2.5 mm 2 in cross-section) moved across the field and clustered near the light trap around 22:00 local time, while larger insects (wing size >2.5 mm 2 in cross-section) were most abundant near the lidar beam before 22:00 and then moved towards the light trap between 22:00 and 23:30. We could distinguish three insect clusters based on morphology and found that two contained insects predominantly recorded above the field in the evening, whereas the third was formed by insects near the forest at around 21:30. Together our results demonstrate the capability of lidar for distinguishing different types of insect during flight and quantifying their movements.

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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Scientific Reports
volume
6
article number
29083
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:27375089
  • wos:000379012700001
  • scopus:84977262542
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/srep29083
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
27c1be5e-f232-4d1d-b05c-39e05e15ab26
date added to LUP
2017-01-16 13:20:13
date last changed
2024-04-05 13:13:00
@article{27c1be5e-f232-4d1d-b05c-39e05e15ab26,
  abstract     = {{<p>Insects are fundamental to ecosystem functioning and biodiversity, yet the study of insect movement, dispersal and activity patterns remains a challenge. Here we present results from a novel high resolution laser-radar (lidar) system for quantifying flying insect abundance recorded during one summer night in Sweden. We compare lidar recordings with data from a light trap deployed alongside the lidar. A total of 22808 insect were recorded, and the relative temporal quantities measured matched the quantities recorded with the light trap within a radius of 5 m. Lidar records showed that small insects (wing size &lt;2.5 mm 2 in cross-section) moved across the field and clustered near the light trap around 22:00 local time, while larger insects (wing size &gt;2.5 mm 2 in cross-section) were most abundant near the lidar beam before 22:00 and then moved towards the light trap between 22:00 and 23:30. We could distinguish three insect clusters based on morphology and found that two contained insects predominantly recorded above the field in the evening, whereas the third was formed by insects near the forest at around 21:30. Together our results demonstrate the capability of lidar for distinguishing different types of insect during flight and quantifying their movements.</p>}},
  author       = {{Kirkeby, Carsten and Wellenreuther, Maren and Brydegaard, Mikkel}},
  issn         = {{2045-2322}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Scientific Reports}},
  title        = {{Observations of movement dynamics of flying insects using high resolution lidar}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep29083}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/srep29083}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}