Abstract
Robots have primarily been developed for warfare, yet they also serve peaceful purposes. Their use in Ecology is in its infancy, but they may soon become essential tools in a broad variety of eco-logical sub-disciplines. Autonomous robots, in particular drones sent to previously inaccessi-ble areas, have revolutionized data acquisition, not only for abiotic parameters, but also for re-cording the behavior of undisturbed animals and collecting biological material. Robots will also play an essential role in population Ecology, as they will allow for automatic census of indi-viduals through image processing, or via detec-tion of animals marked electronically. These new technologies will enable automated experimen-tation for increasingly large sample sizes, both in the laboratory and in the field. Finally, inter-active robots and cyborgs are becoming major players in modern studies of animal behavior. Such rapid progress nonetheless raises ethical, environmental, and security issues.