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Response to Zöller et al.'s critique on “Potential short‐term earthquake forecasting by farm‐animal monitoring”
Author(s) -
Wikelski Martin,
Mueller Uschi,
Scocco Paola,
Catorci Andrea,
Desinov Lev V.,
Belyaev Mikhail Y.,
Keim Daniel,
Pohlmeier Winfried,
Fechteler Gerhard,
Mai Paul Martin
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
ethology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.739
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1439-0310
pISSN - 0179-1613
DOI - 10.1111/eth.13122
Subject(s) - ethology , earthquake prediction , term (time) , animal behavior , geography , ecology , geology , seismology , biology , zoology , physics , quantum mechanics
Zöller et al. (Ethology, 2020) criticize our original publication (Wikelski et al., Ethology, 126(9), 2020, 931) for obvious reasons: we only observed the behavior of one group of farm animals before, during and after one earthquake series in one area of the world. It is clear that no earthquake predictions are possible, and should not be attempted, from this data set. However, what we show is that there is important information within this animal collective pertaining to potential future local forecasting of earthquakes when combined with traditional data sources. We maintain that combining Zöller et al.'s (2020) modeling tools with the adequate use of our data can stimulate novel ways of earthquake forecasting. Future studies should combine both approaches.