Assessing Bat Roosts Using the LiDAR System at Wind Cave Nature Reserve in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo

Conventionally, bat roost counts and roost size estimation are potentially a disruptive, repetitive method and are time consuming. Introduction of the Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scanning system, an optical remote sensing technology, for scientific purposes have open many research possibilit...

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Main Authors:	Nursyafiqah, Shazali, Teong, Han Chew, Mohd Shahir, Shamsir, Roberta Chaya, Tawie Tingga, Mohd Ridwan, Abd Rahman, Faisal Ali, Anwarali Khan
Format:	Article
Published:	Museum and Institute of Zoology PAS 2017
Subjects:	GE Environmental Sciences
Online Access:	http://ir.unimas.my/16535/ http://ir.unimas.my/16535/ http://ir.unimas.my/16535/

id	unimas-16535
recordtype	eprints
spelling	unimas-165352017-06-15T03:29:28Z http://ir.unimas.my/16535/ Assessing Bat Roosts Using the LiDAR System at Wind Cave Nature Reserve in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo Nursyafiqah, Shazali Teong, Han Chew Mohd Shahir, Shamsir Roberta Chaya, Tawie Tingga Mohd Ridwan, Abd Rahman Faisal Ali, Anwarali Khan GE Environmental Sciences Conventionally, bat roost counts and roost size estimation are potentially a disruptive, repetitive method and are time consuming. Introduction of the Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scanning system, an optical remote sensing technology, for scientific purposes have open many research possibilities especially on cave wildlife surveys. Scanned images at high resolution provide new effective biological tools for assessing bat roosts inside caves on walls or ceiling in total darkness. LiDAR system was applied to census bats that roost in Wind Cave Nature Reserve, Sarawak, Malaysia, based on laser return intensity values from the images. Bats that roost in large clusters, specifically Penthetor lucasi were determined through automated counting using connected components labelling, a graph theory algorithm mostly used in image analysis applications. Roost surface area of bats species was calculated based on point clouds extracted and using simple trigonometry. Wind Cave was successfully modelled into three dimensional (3D) cave images with bats roosting inside the cave. The roost sites of bats in the cave were represented in coloured point clouds that represent the species. Through LiDAR images, bats in Wind Cave consisted of about 979 individuals of P. lucasi and 1,907 individuals of insectivorous bats from nine species representing four families. There is a positive correlation between group size and roost area. For every additional bat, roost area is expected to increase by an average of 1.75 m2. Our result suggested that terrestrial LiDAR technology is capable of assessing bat roosts in their natural habitat to determine their roost size and number of individuals that roost in the cave. Terrestrial LiDAR application is most complementary when integrated with field surveys to produce more reliable outcomes which open up possibilities of effective conservation action plans. Museum and Institute of Zoology PAS 2017 Article PeerReviewed Nursyafiqah, Shazali and Teong, Han Chew and Mohd Shahir, Shamsir and Roberta Chaya, Tawie Tingga and Mohd Ridwan, Abd Rahman and Faisal Ali, Anwarali Khan (2017) Assessing Bat Roosts Using the LiDAR System at Wind Cave Nature Reserve in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Acta Chiropterologica, 19 (1). pp. 199-210. ISSN 1508-1109 http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.3161/15081109ACC2017.19.1.016# https://doi.org/10.3161/15081109ACC2017.19.1.016
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
building	UNIMAS Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
topic	GE Environmental Sciences
spellingShingle	GE Environmental Sciences Nursyafiqah, Shazali Teong, Han Chew Mohd Shahir, Shamsir Roberta Chaya, Tawie Tingga Mohd Ridwan, Abd Rahman Faisal Ali, Anwarali Khan Assessing Bat Roosts Using the LiDAR System at Wind Cave Nature Reserve in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo
description	Conventionally, bat roost counts and roost size estimation are potentially a disruptive, repetitive method and are time consuming. Introduction of the Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scanning system, an optical remote sensing technology, for scientific purposes have open many research possibilities especially on cave wildlife surveys. Scanned images at high resolution provide new effective biological tools for assessing bat roosts inside caves on walls or ceiling in total darkness. LiDAR system was applied to census bats that roost in Wind Cave Nature Reserve, Sarawak, Malaysia, based on laser return intensity values from the images. Bats that roost in large clusters, specifically Penthetor lucasi were determined through automated counting using connected components labelling, a graph theory algorithm mostly used in image analysis applications. Roost surface area of bats species was calculated based on point clouds extracted and using simple trigonometry. Wind Cave was successfully modelled into three dimensional (3D) cave images with bats roosting inside the cave. The roost sites of bats in the cave were represented in coloured point clouds that represent the species. Through LiDAR images, bats in Wind Cave consisted of about 979 individuals of P. lucasi and 1,907 individuals of insectivorous bats from nine species representing four families. There is a positive correlation between group size and roost area. For every additional bat, roost area is expected to increase by an average of 1.75 m2. Our result suggested that terrestrial LiDAR technology is capable of assessing bat roosts in their natural habitat to determine their roost size and number of individuals that roost in the cave. Terrestrial LiDAR application is most complementary when integrated with field surveys to produce more reliable outcomes which open up possibilities of effective conservation action plans.
format	Article
author	Nursyafiqah, Shazali Teong, Han Chew Mohd Shahir, Shamsir Roberta Chaya, Tawie Tingga Mohd Ridwan, Abd Rahman Faisal Ali, Anwarali Khan
author_facet	Nursyafiqah, Shazali Teong, Han Chew Mohd Shahir, Shamsir Roberta Chaya, Tawie Tingga Mohd Ridwan, Abd Rahman Faisal Ali, Anwarali Khan
author_sort	Nursyafiqah, Shazali
title	Assessing Bat Roosts Using the LiDAR System at Wind Cave Nature Reserve in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo
title_short	Assessing Bat Roosts Using the LiDAR System at Wind Cave Nature Reserve in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo
title_full	Assessing Bat Roosts Using the LiDAR System at Wind Cave Nature Reserve in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo
title_fullStr	Assessing Bat Roosts Using the LiDAR System at Wind Cave Nature Reserve in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo
title_full_unstemmed	Assessing Bat Roosts Using the LiDAR System at Wind Cave Nature Reserve in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo
title_sort	assessing bat roosts using the lidar system at wind cave nature reserve in sarawak, malaysian borneo
publisher	Museum and Institute of Zoology PAS
publishDate	2017
url	http://ir.unimas.my/16535/ http://ir.unimas.my/16535/ http://ir.unimas.my/16535/
first_indexed	2018-09-06T16:29:43Z
last_indexed	2018-09-06T16:29:43Z
_version_	1610876330387177472

Assessing Bat Roosts Using the LiDAR System at Wind Cave Nature Reserve in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo

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