In recent years, we have heard more and more about the use of drones in various disciplines and for the many different functions that these modern instruments can perform.
Today, environmental research is no longer shying away, and a great deal of research is being carried out using these still much-discussed instruments.
The importance of biodiversity
From the great environmental researchers to the most militant environmentalists, there is complete agreement on the importance that biodiversity can have
(or rather, that it definitely HAS)
on the health of all ecosystems, whether terrestrial or marine.
The great importance that 'we naturalists' have always attached to biodiversity has, over the years, led to various environmental monitoring activities to try and better understand the health of ecosystems,
but also to try and prevent a catastrophic total loss of animal and plant species.
However, all these studies have not always been easy!
In fact, in the early days of environmental research, researchers could only rely on more manual techniques which were often far too costly in terms
of both time and financial resources.
In short, in the early days, it was the researchers themselves who had to explore treetops, streams and the highest peaks of mountains in order to collect the few samples necessary for what was often only a partial study.
The researcher's effort was in no way proportional to the number of samples he was able to collect!
When drones came to man's rescue
Fortunately, research has made great strides over the years.
And now environmental researchers can breathe a sigh of relief!
No more big traverses and all those hated but necessary athletic movements when taking a sample from a twisted tree or frozen ground in the middle of winter.
What has changed?
Drones have come to man's rescue!
Thanks to their ability to fly at high altitudes manoeuvre nimbly through spaces inaccessible to humans,
drones have become indispensable for collecting samples in areas that were previously completely inaccessible.
An obvious example of the importance of these drones is the canopy, areas that are completely inaccessible to humans, but all too important for assessing the biodiversity of an ecosystem.
In fact, it is estimated that up to 90 per cent of rainforest biodiversity is found in the canopy.
In short, environmental research before drones missed out on far too much of the rainforest, don't you think?
But let us elaborate
We have said that the use of drones has also helped environmental research to look at a whole part of the environment that had not been considered before.
Well, certainly very useful, no doubt!
But perhaps the great revolution in the use of drones is the ability to assess eDNA collectionall the genetic information (DNA to be precise) of an environmental nature ('e' stands for 'environmental').
So eDNA (environmental DNA) is the set of all the fragments of genetic material that living things release into the environment when they move.
Let me explain!
Take a wolf as an example.
It moves through the environment, going from one area of its ecosystem to another in search of food and a place to sleep.
But as it moves, it always tends to leave a trace; be it excrement, be it hairs that have been lost by accident or because they got stuck somewhere, be it saliva or any other trace that a living body can leave by accident.
And this is true of every living thing living thing on the face of the earth!
Well, any trace left by the wolf (or whoever) is exactly the environmental DNA that scientists are so keen to find.
And the more creatures there are in that particular study area, the more environmental DNA there is to study.
In short, it is also thanks to the study of this environmental DNA that we can say that in one particular forest there is the wolf, the rabbit, the woodpecker and the tree frog, while in another area there isn't the wolf, the rabbit, the woodpecker and the tree frog.
Nature is full of constant wonders and discoveries
fortunately, I might add!
And for us lovers of this very balanced planet,
keeping our eyes and ears open to the many new things
it has to offer can only please us!
That's why I'm leaving you with a door that's always open for you to walk through whenever and wherever you want to keep up to date with environmental news.
Why drones are our allies
Kai Andersch, CEO of Wilderness International, an international association whose main goal is the conservation and restoration of natural habitats, believes that the use of drones for eDNA assessment is fundamental,
both because it improves the ability to monitor existing protected areas,
and because these tools can be a truly useful way to revolutionise the way new areas are identified for protection.
All the drones used so far are extremely fast and very accurate in their assessments, and these characteristics are a great help to all researchers who need to collect a large amount of data in a short period of time.
Not to mention how minimally invasive to fauna and flora, especially when compared to traditional techniques without the use of drones!
In the past, not only did researchers have to make enormous physical efforts to collect a minimum number of samples for analysis,
but they were also usually disturbing the habits and behaviour of the various species present in the study area.
Drones, on the other hand, fly over the study areas without disturbing the animals and plants and therefore without damaging the natural environment.
DJI drones for the rainforest
But let's take a look at some of these environmental projects that are evaluating eDNA and using drones!
An important example is certainly the project resulting from the collaboration between DJI, the Environmental Robotics Lab at ETH Zurich and Wilderness International,
which aims to study the biodiversity of rainforests.
Launched in March 2024, the project uses drones to collect environmental samples in areas of the rainforest that were previously completely inaccessible, such as the highest canopy.
The DJI drone used has a robotic arm that allows it to collect samples quickly.
The drone is also completely non-invasive, as it has the ability to scan the branches of the 'sample tree' in such a way that it only approaches and rests on those branches that can support it.
In short, it won't even break a small, defenceless twig!
Not bad, eh?!
The subsequent laboratory analysis of the samples collected by the DJI drone provides the researchers with a wealth of extremely important data on local biodiversity, data that would have been impossible to obtain without the use of the drone!
And more drones for other natural ecosystems
The use of drones is not limited to rainforest monitoring, and DJI drones are not the only ones being used!
In fact, there are several environmental projects around the world that are basing their entire sampling activities on the use of these instruments.
An important example is the Network Rail project in the UK, which is using drones to monitor changes in ecosystems along railway lines to identify potential threats to wildlife.
Last but not least, there is the project carried out a few years ago at the Zurich Zoo, in the Masoala rainforest.
Here, the project uses drones to test eDNA collection in a controlled environment.
Drones, with their great ability to collect data quickly and non-invasively,
can be a very important tool for assessing and discovering hard-to-reach areas and the different species that live there, which are not always known!
If the use of these tools continues to prove so effective, in the future we may be able to obtain very useful information for the conservation and protection of the natural environment.
Researchers may be able to produce very accurate maps of species distributions and ecosystem dynamics,
which will facilitate all those environmental policy decisions that affect the natural environment.
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