NASA Monitors Endangered Species with Advanced Satellites

By directing some attention from space to Earth, NASA aids ecologists in safeguarding endangered species such as tigers and elephants using its advanced satellites.

Currently, habitat loss poses the greatest threat to global species. As human populations surge, we transform more wilderness and consume increasing resources, making large species like tigers and elephants particularly susceptible to extinction.

Once prevalent throughout Asia, tigers (Panthera tigris) have seen a dramatic loss of 93% of their habitat over the past 150 years. Current estimates suggest fewer than 4,000 tigers remain in the wild.

NASA’s Satellite Data Offers Hope by Revealing Potential Habitats for Crucial Predators

However, data from NASA’s satellites offer hope, revealing potential habitats that these crucial predators are not currently utilizing.

“There’s more space available for tigers than experts previously believed,” said Eric Sanderson, a conservation ecologist at the New York Botanical Garden, in a conversation with Emily DeMarco at NASA.

In fact, this NASA data, which includes infrared and spectroradiometer imaging for near real-time vegetation monitoring, along with geographic mapping and historical fieldwork, enabled Sanderson and his team to identify suitable habitats for tiger migration or reintroduction.

“We identify substantial potential for restoring tigers to current habitats pinpointed in this study,” explain Sanderson and his team. “With adequate prey and if tigers can locate these areas, their occupied habitat could expand by 50 percent.”

NASA researchers used advanced techniques to map the changing habitats of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in southern Bhutan. Essential to forest ecosystems, elephants face increasing habitat loss, intensifying their conflicts with humans.

The team combined data on habitat suitability and movement resistance to identify the best corridors between elephant-protected areas, which could mitigate human-elephant conflicts.

Conserving Wildlife with Satellite Strategies

NASA is also developing satellite-based strategies to protect vast US public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. These efforts focus on safeguarding species like the endangered Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), the at-risk greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), and the bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis).

Historically, conservation scientists relied on slow, costly, and logistically complex groundwork for limited habitat and movement data. NASA’s satellites provide extensive information almost in real time, allowing wildlife biologists to respond to threats more quickly and effectively than ever before.

“Satellites capture extensive areas of Earth’s surface on a daily to weekly basis,” notes NASA biogeographer Keith Gaddis. “This helps scientists monitor habitats that are logistically challenging and time-consuming to survey from the ground, which is crucial for wide-ranging animals like tigers.”

Read the original article on: Science Alert

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