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Australian Mammalogy Australian Mammalogy Society
Journal of the Australian Mammal Society
RESEARCH ARTICLE

GPS collars are more efficient when collecting high-frequency data

H. W. McGregor A B C , S. M. Legge A , M. E. Jones B and C. N. Johnson B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Australian Wildlife Conservancy, Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary, PMB 925, Derby, WA 6728, Australia.

B School of Zoology, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: hugh.mcgregor@australianwildlife.org

Australian Mammalogy 38(2) 237-240 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM15034
Submitted: 7 September 2015  Accepted: 2 December 2015   Published: 15 January 2016

Abstract

Selecting an appropriate fix schedule has a pivotal role when using GPS collars. On the basis of deployments of GPS collars on 35 cats, we report on an often overlooked consideration: that GPS units are more efficient collecting data at high frequencies (15 min between fixes in this study) than low frequencies (>2 h between fixes).

Additional keywords: study design, telemetry collars.


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