Steps to build a DIY low-cost fixed-wing drone for biodiversity conservation

Writing – review & editing: Geison P. Mesquita, Jose´ Domingo Rodrı´guez-Teijeiro, Margarita Mulero-Pa´zma´ny. References 1. Lo´ pez JJ, Mulero-Pa´zma´ ny M. Drones for Conservation in Protected Areas: Present and Future. Drones. 2019; 3:1–23. 2. Paneque-Ga´lvez J, McCall MK, Napoletano BM, Wich SA, Koh LP. Small drones for community-based forest monitoring: An assessment of their feasibility and potential in tropical areas. Forests. 2014; 5:1481–1507. 3. Bustamante LAE. Forest Monitoring with Drones: Application Strategies for Protected Riverine Forest Ecosystems in the Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil [dissertation]. Thesis. TH KO¨ LN (University of Applied Sciences), Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtrop- ics; 2015. 4. Mulero-Pa´ zma´ ny M, Stolper R, Van Essen LD, Negro JJ, Sassen T. Remotely piloted aircraft systems as a rhinoceros anti-poaching tool in Africa. PLoS ONE. 2014; 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0083873 PMID: 24416177 5. Getzin S, Wiegand K, Scho¨ ning I. Assessing biodiversity in forests using very high-resolution images and unmanned aerial vehicles. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. 2012; 3:397–404. 6. Zhang J, Hu J, Lian J, Fan Z, Ouyang X, Ye W. Seeing the forest from drones: Testing the potential of lightweight drones as a tool for long-term forest monitoring. Biological Conservation. 2016; 198:60–69. 7. Linchant J, Lisein J, Semeki J, Lejeune P, Vermeulen C. Are unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) the

future of wildlife monitoring? A review of accomplishments and challenges. Mammal Review. 2015; 45:239–252. 8. Chabot D, Craik SR, Bird DM. Population Census of a Large Common Tern Colony with a Small Unmanned Aircraft. PLOS ONE. 2015; 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0122588 PMID: 25874997 9. Koh LP, Wich SA. Dawn of drone ecology: low-cost autonomous aerial vehicles for conservation. Tropi- cal Conservation Science. 2012; 5:121–132. 10. Seymour AC, Dale J, Hammill M, Halpin PN, Johnston DW. Automated detection and enumeration of marine wildlife using unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and thermal imagery. Scientific Reports. 2017; 7:45127. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep45127 PMID: 28338047 11. Conway W. Can technology aid species preservation?. In Wilson EO, editors. Biodiversity. Washing- ton: National Academic Press; 1988. p. 263–268. 12. Berger-Tal O, Lahoz-Monfort JJ. Conservation technology: The next generation. Conservation Letters. 2018; 11(6):1–6. 13. Hughey LF, Hein AM, Strandburg-Peshkin A, Jensen FH. Challenges and solutions for studying collec- tive animal behaviour in the wild. Philosophical Transactions of Royal Society B. 2018; 373. https://doi. org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0005 PMID: 29581390 14. Gallardo-Salazar JL, Pompa-Garcı´a M, Aguirre-Salado CA, Lo´ pez-Serrano PM, Mele´ ndez-Soto A. Drones: technology with a promising future in forest management. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Fore- stales. 2020; 11(61). 15. Watts AC, Perry J. Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Low-Altitude Aerial Surveys. Journal of Wild-

life Management. 2010; 74:1614–1619. 16. Sardà-Palomera F, Bota G, Viñolo C, Pallare´ s O, Sazatornil V, Brotons L, et al. Fine-scale bird monitor- ing from light unmanned aircraft systems. Ibis. 2012; 154:177–183. 17. Mulero-Pa´ zma´ ny M, Negro JJ, Ferrer M. A low-cost way for assessing bird risk hazards in power lines: Fixed-wing small unmanned aircraft systems. Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems. 2014; 2:5–15. 18. Dvořa´k P, Mu¨llerova´ J, Bartalosˇ T, Brůna J. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for alien plant species detection and monitoring. ISPRS—International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. 2015;83–90. 19. Lehmann JRK, Prinz T, Ziller SR, Thiele J, Heringer G, Meira-Neto JAA, et al. Open-Source Processing and Analysis of Aerial Imagery Acquired with a Low-Cost Unmanned Aerial System to Support Invasive Plant Management. Frontiers in Environmental Science. 2017; 5:1–16. 20. Sadraey MH. Design of Unmanned Aerial Systems. West Sussex: John Wiley; 2020. 623 p. 21. Christie KS, Gilbert SL, Brown CL, Hatfield M, Hanson L. Unmanned aircraft systems in wildlife research: Current and future applications of a transformative technology. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environmental. 2016; 14:241–251. PLOS ONE Building a DIY low-cost fixed-wing drone for biodiversity conservation PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255559 August 13, 2021 16 / 17