Accelerometer informed time-energy budgets reveal the importance of temperature to the activity of a wild, arid zone canid

Abstract

BackgroundMovement is the major contributor to active energy expenditure in most vertebrates and it is regularly characterised by body acceleration that can be captured by animal-attached accelerometers (ACC). Overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA) is a metric derived from ACC data, which can be used as a proxy for energy expenditure over fine time scales. MethodsHere, we used ACC and GPS data collected from free-ranging dingoes in central Australia to investigate their activity-specific energetics, and activity patterns through time and space. We classified dingo activity into stationary, walking, and running behaviours, and estimated daily energy expenditure via activity-specific time-energy budgets. We tested whether dingoes behaviourally thermoregulate by modelling ODBA as a function of ambient temperature (Ta) during the day and night. We used traditional distance measurements (GPS) as well as fine-scale activity (ODBA) data to assess their daily movement patterns.ResultsWe retrieved ACC and GPS data from seven dingoes. Their mass-specific daily energy expenditure was significantly lower in summer (288 kJ kg-1 day-1) than winter (495 kJ kg-1 day-1; p = 0.03). Overall, dingoes were much less active during summer where 91% of their day was spent stationary in contrast to just 46% during winter. There was a sharp decrease in ODBA with increasing ambient temperature during the day (R2 = 0.59), whereas ODBA increased with increasing Ta at night (R2 = 0.39). Distance and ODBA were positively correlated (R = 0.65) and produced similar crepuscular patterns of activity.ConclusionOur results indicated solar radiation and ambient temperature drove the behaviour of dingoes. Seasonal differences of daily energy expenditure (DEE) in free-ranging eutherian mammals have been found in several species, though this was the first time it has been observed in a wild canid. The negative relationship between dingo activity (ODBA) and Ta during the day implies that high heat gain from solar radiation is a factor limiting diurnal dingo activity in an arid environment.

Resting disparity in quoll semelparity: examining the sex-linked behaviours of wild roaming northern quolls (Dasyurus hallucatus) during breeding season

“…The average speed was then applied to the duration of the bout to get a predicted distance travelled. DBA has been shown to correlate with distance travelled in dingoes and with speed in humans [25,33]. This process resulted in 24 374 and 48 344 estimated locomotor bouts for females and males, respectively.…”

“…locomotion/stationary-inactive/stationary-active) [23]. These devices have shown increasing success in determining fine-scale behaviours in domestic cats and dingoes [21,24,25]. Thus, differences between fine-scale behavioural repertoires and activity budgets of male and female northern quolls might be linked with this species’ breeding strategy.…”

Using accelerometers to infer behaviour of cryptic species in the wild

“…Indeed, validation through field verification on free-ranging individuals is crucial to ensure robust behavioural inference . The combination of accelerometers with GPS monitoring opens the door to spatially explicit modelling of behaviour (Wang et al 2015;Rast et al 2020;Tatler et al 2021), for example, to better understand the impact of landscape modifications on wild populations. Similarly, combining accelerometers with acoustic sensors could aid identification of discrete behaviours such as chewing, vocalization or grooming (Wijers et al 2018(Wijers et al , 2021Studd et al 2019a), for example, to better document the responses of wildlife to human disturbance or predation risk (Lynch et al 2015).…”

The non-lethal effects of climate change and infectious disease on individuals and populations

“…Previous work combining behavioral observations, respirometry, and hormone assays illustrate how energy demands may be quantified through integrative studies (Scantlebury et al, 2007;Shankar et al, 2019;Tomlinson et al, 2014). Continuing advancements in biologging (Jetz et al, 2022;Tatler et al, 2021;Word et al, 2022b) offer new and promising tools for quantifying energy demands in wild populations confronted with climate change and infectious disease.…”