At the request of Ulaan Taigan National Park, Round River’s Mongolia summer program will be piloting new research using a drone.

Taimen—the largest salmonid on Earth—are likely being overfished in the Darhad Valley, but no data currently exists on their population trajectories. Round River plans to count taimen or their spawning beds (redds) in shallow, clear rivers, using methods similar to those employed in remote regions of Alaska. The goal is to begin establishing a series of survey routes that can be used to monitor the population over time.

Similarly, we intend to use the drone to more accurately estimate densities of the culturally significant and endangered Vansemberuu plant. Currently, we are only able to monitor 20-meter-wide transects on foot. The drone will allow us to survey much larger areas for this highly visible species, providing a more complete count of mature plants and helping us better understand whether poaching is impacting populations.

Over the years, we have also monitored the population of a local cormorant colony to assess whether this contentious species is increasing in the Darhad. At present, we swim to an island to count nests and juveniles, but we expect the drone will enable us to conduct these surveys from the air with less disturbance to the birds.

Future plans may include using the drone to monitor high-elevation springs or salt licks for ibex, argali sheep, and other large mammals within the park. We hope this new technology will open up innovative survey techniques to better understand critical conservation issues in Ulaan Taiga National Park.