A new space project aimed at getting to know Earth’s animals and ecosystems better is getting ready for go in 2025. The ICARUS (International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space) system involves tiny sensors that can be attached to creatures and objects or landscape features.
Location and movements in real time
These sensors record and transmit data to scientists in real time via satellites, meaning costly and time-consuming observational field projects to far-flung habitats can be made more efficient – or even redundant. “The transmitters will be able to tell scientists much of what they previously found out only after hours of observation,” the ICARUS website boasts.
The development of the system will establish what is being called an “internet of animals,” a term coined by Martin Wikelski, an academic in migratory animal behaviours and the pioneer behind ICARUS. That “internet” will entail a global matrix of sensors taking readings from wildlife and eventually the environment.
“For the first time it will be possible to determine the location and movements of an animal in real time and on a large scale with thousands of animals,” ICARUS says. This capacity could provide unprecedented insight into animal behaviours that have eluded explanation, such as the ways birds and whales migrate.
How organisms interact with environment
What’s more, the system will begin to unravel more about how different organisms interact with their ecosystems, from herbivores, predators, and parasites to so-called “transport vehicles” – animals that affect the environment and its species by carrying seeds, spawn and even insects away with them in their plumage, fur or guts.
One such example is the Ghanaian fruit bat, whose poop is said to be responsible for seeding up to 96% of the African rainforest.
Health and environmental reading also available
As the project moves forward, it will collect not only location and movement data, but stats about the physical condition of an animal, such as body temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate, blood sugars, and oxygen levels. Mini-cameras will offer even more info, for example revealing an animal’s dietary habits and the number of its young. This will be correlated with situational telemetric readings and weather data, measuring ambient temperature, air pressure, wind speeds, or airflow rate.
By understanding more about the planet’s species and the environmental keys they hold, without the need for lengthy and expensive research trips, ICARUS claims that scientists will be able to accelerate and deepen our understanding of animal populations and ecosystems worldwide. Such knowledge could contribute to the preservation of biodiversity and prevent the losses of species that are predicted as climate change marches forth.
