Cane-toad Monitoring in Kakadu National Park Using Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper considers the problem of monitoring cane toads in Kakadu National Park using a large scale wireless sensor network deployment. Cane toads were mistakenly introduced in Australia in 1935. Their uncanny ability to survive in diverse climates and lack of natural predators in the Australian ecosystem have promoted unhindered growth of cane toads for the last 68 years. This application is of tremendous importance to Australia because cane toads are endangering native species and the ecosystem. We comment on how wireless sensor network technology can address long-term research challenges for cane-toad monitoring, and propose a novel framework for planning sensor deployment to meet application, economic and networking objectives.