Recent advances in bio-logging science: Technologies and methods for understanding animal behaviour and physiology and their environments (original) (raw)
Related papers
The golden age of bio-logging: how animal-borne sensors are advancing the frontiers of ecology
Great leaps forward in scientific understanding are often spurred by innovations in technology. The explosion of miniature sensors that are driving the boom in consumer electronics, such as smart phones, gaming platforms, and wearable fitness devices, are now becoming available to ecologists for remotely monitoring the activities of wild animals. While half a century ago researchers were attaching balloons to the backs of seals to measure their movement, today ecologists have access to an arsenal of sensors that can continuously measure most aspects of an animal’s state (e.g., location, behavior, caloric expenditure, interactions with other animals) and external environment (e.g., temperature, salinity, depth). This technology is advancing our ability to study animal ecology by allowing researchers to (1) answer questions about the physiology, behavior, and ecology of wild animals in situ that would have previously been limited to tests on model organisms in highly controlled settings, (2) study cryptic or wide-ranging animals that have previously evaded investigation, and (3) develop and test entirely new theories. Here we explore how ecologists are using these tools to answer new questions about the physiological performance, energetics, foraging, migration, habitat selection, and sociality of wild animals, as well as collect data on the environments in which they live.
Bio-logging: recording the ecophysiology and behaviour of animals moving freely in their environment
2012
Ecological sciences deal with the way organisms interact with one another and their environment. Using sensors to measure various physical and biological characteristics has been a common activity since long ago. However the advent of more accurate technologies and increasing computing capacities demand a better combination of information collected by sensors on multiple spatial, temporal and biological scales.
Frontiers Ecology and Evolution, 2020
Many details of the behavior, life history and eco-physiology of animals, even among intensively-studied species, remain unknown. Direct observation is a laborious process only amenable for accessible and non-cryptic species, whereas traditional radio telemetry does not directly provide information on the diversity and complexity of animal physiology and behavior. Further, both methods are laborious and/or expensive, and may lead to biased data when physiology and/or behaviors are altered by marking or tracking (Boyer-Ontl and Pruetz, 2014; Nowak et al., 2014; Welch et al., 2018; see also Le Grand et al.). Ultimately, these methods provide only a fragmentary overview of animal behavior patterns during periods when individuals can be readily detected and surveyed while leaving activities during other times obscured. However, the ongoing miniaturization, sensor development, and increased affordability of data logging and advanced telemetric devices offers the potential for continuous and intensive data collection, thereby potentially allowing researchers to more rigorously investigate both physiology and behavior of animals that are difficult to study using traditional observational methods. Owing to these new technologies, we are at the cusp of a truly revolutionary opportunity to address important and longstanding knowledge gaps in animal eco-physiology. To that end, the special section entitled Ecology and Behaviour of Free-Ranging Animals Studied by Advanced Data-Logging and Tracking Techniques includes 22 papers that report on and quantify otherwise hidden aspects of the biology of a variety of mammals, birds, and even invertebrates, across diverse environments including land, water, and air. The highlighted studies focus on fields ranging from basic animal behavior and ecology to eco-physiology; several papers adopt an integrative approach, providing a rather comprehensive understanding of individual time budgets and their implications. Ultimately and collectively, these contributions serve as testament to the drastic improvement in the level of ecological inference that can be derived from research studies involving the use of data-logging and tracking devices that are currently available.
An activity-data-logger for monitoring free-ranging animals
Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 1996
A small (16 cm X 15 cm X 21 cm) solar powered activity-data-logger (ADL) has been developed as a suitable instrument for recording the presence and movements of free-ranging animals. Locomotor activity is recorded by a passive infrared detector (PID). At fixed intervals the signals picked up by the PID are condensed automatically and stored in the ADL. This database can be transferred for further use onto a lap-top or PC. The ADL can store information for up to 80 days and thereafter this information has to be tranferred in order to use the ADL further. A solar-generated accumulator serves as the power supply.
2020
Background: Animals respond to environmental variation by changing their movement in a multifaceted way. Recent advancements in biologging increasingly allow for detailed measurements of the multifaceted nature of movement, from descriptors of animal movement trajectories (e.g., using GPS) to descriptors of body part movements (e.g., using tri-axial accelerometers). Because this multivariate richness of movement data complicates inference on the environmental contribution to animal movement, studies generally use simplified movement descriptors in statistical analyses. However, doing so limits the inference on the environmental contribution to movement, as this requires that the multivariate richness of movement data can be fully considered in an analysis. Methods: We propose a data-driven analytic framework to quantify the environmental contribution to animal movement that can accommodate the multifaceted nature of animal movement. Instead of fitting the response of a simplified mo...
Bio-logging science: Logging and relaying physical and biological data using animal-attached tags
Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2007
Bio-logging can be defined as the theory and practice of logging and relaying of physical and biological data using animal-attached tags. Biologging technologies have become available relatively recently (i.e. within the last couple of decades) and continue to advance rapidly. Animal-attached tags are being applied to an increasingly wide range of study animals. In the marine environment, where it is almost impossible to directly observe individual animals over extended periods, the attachment of archival dataloggers and/or data relay devices is crucial to monitoring animal behaviour beneath the water surface or in the open ocean. An understanding of such behaviour is in turn imperative for the assessment and understanding of the role of these animals within the wider biophysical systems in which they operate, and for an appreciation of their sensitivity to environmental change. The papers in this volume were contributed following presentation at the Second International Conference on Bio-logging Science that took place at the University of St Andrews, UK during 13-16 June 2005. This symposium followed the inaugural meeting held at the Japanese Institute of Polar Research in Tokyo in March 2003, which brought together approximately 150 scientists and engineers from around the world (Naito et al., 2004). At that time it was decided to continue this meeting regularly, and, in the spirit of the first meeting, it was believed that attendance from researchers working on a diversity of taxa (fish, amphibians, birds and mammals) would help promote the exchange of ideas and new developments that otherwise can be lost at more specific meetings. Although these meetings are not exclusive to marine taxa, the majority of presentations have concerned marine animals. For the past 15 years, the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) has been at the
Biologging technologies: new tools for conservation. Introduction
Endangered Species Research, 2010
Biologging technology allows researchers to take measurements from free-ranging animals as they move undisturbed through their environment. Recent advances in biologging technology, including electronic tag miniaturization and improved animal movement models, have revolutionized our understanding of the ecology of top predators and have permitted observations well beyond the reach of standard measurement techniques. Engineering has provided the biologging community with ever more sophisticated tags, and advances in the application of statistical methods to interpret these data have yielded powerful new tools for understanding animal behavior. The technology has also reached sufficient sophistication and reliability such that the data collected is often equivalent to industry standards for environmental sampling, which has led to profound advancements in the marine realm, where the sheer vastness, in 3 dimensions, limits our ability to observe. Biologging data is now being increasingly applied to marine management and conservation policy. In this introduction, we highlight a few of the research themes presented at the Third International Conference on Biologging Science, and comment on the future challenges of biologging science.