A new paper providing a framework for standardisation of bio-logging data and led by Ana Sequeira and involving many MegaMove members has recently been published and made the cover of the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution!
This work is the result of a large collaborative effort involving more than 40 contributors and including key members of the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN), Animal Tracking Network (ATN), Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), and the International Biologging Society (IBLS). The work had its roots at the Marine Megafauna Task Team (MMTT) workshop that took place at the OceansOBS’19 conference in Hawaii in 2019, which was attended by a large number of researchers and also key manufacturers of biologging devices. Together we created a framework that allows data flow from manufacturers through to repositories. Key to this framework are the researchers contributing with biologging datasets and therefore specific attention was paid to ensuring integration of all the necessary information for accuracy-of-use, rightful attribution and data preservation security.
This research provides a valuable addition to the movement ecology literature, and is crucial to the developments of the MegaMove project, especially in current times when data derived from bio-logging devices is increasing at unprecedented rates.