Objective
I propose to make the first detailed measurements of the mechanics and energetic cost of locomotor activity including hunting of five large terrestrial carnivore species and their five predominant prey on the southern African savannah. We will refine and use our own innovative design of dynamically responsive tracking collar with high accuracy GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and solar charged batteries to capture round the clock activity, manoeuvring and agility. We will use a geopointing camera gimble on aircraft and UAV to track collared animals and record locomotion of adjacent uncollared animals to obtain high resolution aerial video of hunting. Hunts will be overlaid on a terrain and vegetation map generated using full waveform LiDAR laser scanning and aerial photography to understand the impact of vegetation type, density and surface profile (camber and incline) on locomotion and hunt outcome. We will make detailed measurements of musculoskeletal anatomy and muscle physiology to determine tradeoffs between power and economy for each group and the extent to which hunt performance and outcome can be simply attributed to musculoskeletal physiology and fatigue in the different species.
The technological innovation and integration, its application to wild animals and the massive potential for its application in field biology is all ground breaking. This would be the first investigation of hunting dynamics where every hunt, day and night of a predator is captured and analysed along with prey dynamics (in a subset) to understand what environmental factors influence outcome. It will be the first study to evaluate the extreme dynamics of highly motivated non-domestic species, their anatomy and muscle physiology and the locomotor determinants of successful and unsuccessful hunts. These data and the detailed tracking data will enable studies of terrain utilisation, intra- and inter-species conflict and the impact of vegetation change on species success and survival.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors optical sensors
- engineering and technology mechanical engineering vehicle engineering aerospace engineering aircraft
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology
- natural sciences physical sciences optics laser physics
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
ERC-2012-ADG_20120314
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Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Host institution
NW1 OTU London
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.