Abstract
The latest technologies associated with implantable physiological monitoring devices can record multiple channels of data (including: heart rates and rhythms, activity, temperature, impedance and posture), and coupled with powerful software applications, have provided novel insights into the physiology of animals in the wild. This perspective details past challenges and lessons learned from the uses and developments of implanted biologgers designed for human clinical application in our research on free-ranging American black bears (Ursus americanus). In addition, we reference other research by colleagues and collaborators who have leveraged these devices in their work, including: brown bears (Ursus arctos), grey wolves (Canis lupus), moose (Alces alces), maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus) and southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina). We also discuss the potentials for applications of such devices across a range of other species. To date, the devices described have been used in fifteen different wild species, with publications pending in many instances. We have focused our physiological research on the analyses of heart rates and rhythms and thus special attention will be paid to this topic. We then discuss some major expected step changes such as improvements in sensing algorithms, data storage, and the incorporation of next-generation short-range wireless telemetry. The latter provides new avenues for data transfer, and when combined with cloud-based computing, it not only provides means for big data storage but also the ability to readily leverage high-performance computing platforms using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. These advances will dramatically increase both data quantity and quality and will facilitate the development of automated recognition of extreme physiological events or key behaviours of interest in a broad array of environments, thus further aiding wildlife monitoring and management.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Measuring physiology in free-living animals (Part I)’.
Highlights
Biologgers and tracking devices have been used for the past six decades and have provided the principal means of studying the interactions of many freeranging animals with their environments, including both aquatic and terrestrial species [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15]
In terms of opportunities for improvement, we have focused on modifications to the software programming of the biologgers and other nonimplantable components of the system
GEN 2 features with the following software modifications: Avg heart rate (HR) every 2 min activity at 15 min intervals ECGs for the 10 extremes for tachycardias and asystoles programmed autodetection parameters: sensitivity 0.035 mV; blank after sense 150 ms records daytime HR, night-time HR, activity and episodes with ECGs wireless transmission on 2 h intervals to telemetry stations placed at winter dens to increase the quantity of ECG data captured during winter hibernation. (Note the product is designed for a single daily transmission and this reduced device longevity from 3 years to approx. 2 years.) human clinical device platform: Reveal LINQTM; Medtronic Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA [65]
Summary
Biologgers and tracking devices have been used for the past six decades and have provided the principal means of studying the interactions of many freeranging animals with their environments, including both aquatic and terrestrial species [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15]. Bears were among the first animals to be radio-collared, in part because their size enabled them to carry large battery packs unencumbered [16]. An interest in bear hibernation prompted an early use of physiological biologgers, pioneered in the early 1970s using custom-designed devices [17]
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