Abstract
Acoustic telemetry allows collection of data on the movement and survival of fish and other aquatic organisms. The passive form of this technology uses transmitters (tags) and fixed receivers to record when an organism is present at a given location. Understanding and interpretation of these data depends on knowledge of the detection range and detection probability of the receivers. This study examines factors affecting performance of tags and receivers designed for the Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System (JSATS) at a location in the Sacramento River in CA, USA. A group of tags (n = 13) of two power output levels, each transmitting a unique code at five second intervals, were manually moved past a set of two fixed receivers in upstream and downstream directions along transects of different distances from the receivers at two different speeds. The factors that significantly affected detection probability were tag orientation and tag movement direction. Tag orientation had the largest effect on detection probability, with higher detection rates when the tag’s piezoelectric transducer was directed towards the receiver. Detection probability (proportion of transmissions detected) was 30–50% out to 160 m. Detection efficiency (proportion of tags regarded as present) was 99–100% when tags passed within 25 m and 84–96% within 135 m of a receiver. These results have implications for the design and interpretation of acoustic tracking studies and the orientation of transmitters when implanted into fish.
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Raw data available upon request to primary author. Or will be provided to journal to enable direct link to files. Custom scripts to process and analyze data were made in Matlab. Code is available upon request to primary author. Or will be provided to journal to enable direct link to files.
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Acknowledgements
This work was funded in part by an interagency agreement between National Marine Fisheries Service and the United States Bureau of Reclamation (R18PG00009). Heidi Fish and Matt Knoff provided logistical and field support. Thanks to Edward J. Dick and Eric Danner for reviewing this manuscript. This manuscript was improved by comments of two anynomous reviews. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
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Provided by DOC NOAA NMFS SWFSC Santa Cruz and through an interagency agreement between National Marine Fisheries Service and the United States Bureau of Reclamation (R18PG00009).
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The sole author, Arnold J. Ammann, collected data in the field, processed data, analyzed data and wrote the manuscript.
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Ammann, A.J. Factors affecting detection probability and range of transmitters and receivers designed for the Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System. Environ Biol Fish 103, 625–634 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-020-00987-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-020-00987-4