Abstract
Recent technological innovations have led to the development of miniature, accelerometer-containing electronic loggers which can be attached to free-living animals. Accelerometers provide information on both body posture and dynamism which can be used as descriptors to define behaviour. We deployed tri-axial accelerometer loggers on 12 free-ranging Eurasian beavers Castor fiber in the county of Telemark, Norway, and on four captive beavers (two Eurasian beavers and two North American beavers C. canadensis) to corroborate acceleration signals with observed behaviours. By using random forests for classifying behavioural patterns of beavers from accelerometry data, we were able to distinguish seven behaviours; standing, walking, swimming, feeding, grooming, diving and sleeping. We show how to apply the use of acceleration to determine behaviour, and emphasise the ease with which this non-invasive method can be implemented. Furthermore, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this, and the implementation of accelerometry on animals, illustrating limitations, suggestions and solutions. Ultimately, this approach may also serve as a template facilitating studies on other animals with similar locomotor modes and deliver new insights into hitherto unknown aspects of behavioural ecology.
Highlights
Understanding animal behaviour is fundamental to biology, and an important precondition for other fields of research [1]
We suggest that our study should provide researchers with a starting point for constructing behaviour, time, or even energy budgets and provide an important cornerstone to understanding animal behavioural ecology
Accelerometry is a powerful tool for remotely studying animal ecology and by using this approach on beavers, we were able to categorize a set of seven different behaviours
Summary
Understanding animal behaviour is fundamental to biology, and an important precondition for other fields of research [1]. The behaviours that animals adopt have profound consequences for lifetime reproductive success [2, 3], reason enough to study them and their consequences. Ethologists have used different approaches to document animal behaviour, of which direct observation and radio-tracking are probably the most common [4]. These methods have limitations, with regard to shy or elusive species, or those that live in inaccessible habitats. Scientists have recognized the potential of accelerometers in PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0136751. Scientists have recognized the potential of accelerometers in PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0136751 August 28, 2015
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