How Often Should Dead-Reckoned Animal Movement Paths be Corrected for Drift?

Gunner, Richard; Holton, Mark D.; Scantlebury, Mike D; Hopkins, Phil; Shepard, Emily L. C.; Fell, Adam; Garde, Baptiste; Quintana, Flavio; Gómez‐Laich, Agustina; Yoda, Ken; Yamamoto, Takashi; English, Holly M.; Ferreira, Sam M.; Govender, Danny; Viljoen, Pauli; Bruns, Angela; Schalkwyk, O. Louis van; Cole, Nik C.; Tatayah, Vikash; Börger, Luca; Redcliffe, James; Bell, Stephen H; Marks, Nikki J.; Bennett, Nigel C.; Tonini, Mariano Hernan; Williams, Hannah J.; Duarte, Carlos M.; Bertelsen, Mads F.; Tambling, Craig J.; Wilson, Rory P.

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-587959/v1

Cited by 3 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…3). Vectorial Dynamic Body Acceleration was calculated as a proxy of speed [9,10,12] and Framework 4 software ( [12], cf. [9]) was used to integrate hourly GPS fixes with the DD data.…”

Section: Dead-reckoningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[5][6][7][8][9]). Such resolution allows inferences to be made about the relationship between the behaviour and location, particularly if the process is GPS-enhanced [6,10]. However, while this technique has been demonstrated in humans [11] and illustrated in animals [12], there have been relatively few attempts to quantify the movements of free-ranging terrestrial animals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, while this technique has been demonstrated in humans [11] and illustrated in animals [12], there have been relatively few attempts to quantify the movements of free-ranging terrestrial animals. Such analyses should, however, help highlight the limitations of GPS systems used alone, particularly as regards infrequent fixes and linear interpolation between them [10], as well as provide a new standard in how we can define animal interaction with various landscape features, including how animals allocate behaviour to space.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dead-reckoning elucidates fine-scale habitat use by European badgers Meles meles

et al. 2022

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Background Recent developments in both hardware and software of animal-borne data loggers now enable large amounts of data to be collected on both animal movement and behaviour. In particular, the combined use of tri-axial accelerometers, tri-axial magnetometers and GPS loggers enables animal tracks to be elucidated using a procedure of ‘dead-reckoning’. Although this approach was first suggested 30 years ago by Wilson et al. (1991), surprisingly few measurements have been made in free-ranging terrestrial animals. The current study examines movements, interactions with habitat features, and home-ranges calculated from just GPS data and also from dead-reckoned data in a model terrestrial mammal, the European badger (Meles meles). Methods Research was undertaken in farmland in Northern Ireland. Two badgers (one male, one female) were live-trapped and fitted with a GPS logger, a tri-axial accelerometer, and a tri-axial magnetometer. Thereafter, the badgers’ movement paths over 2 weeks were elucidated using just GPS data and GPS-enabled dead-reckoned data, respectively. Results Badgers travelled further using data from dead-reckoned calculations than using the data from only GPS data. Whilst once-hourly GPS data could only be represented by straight-line movements between sequential points, the sub-second resolution dead-reckoned tracks were more tortuous. Although there were no differences in Minimum Convex Polygon determinations between GPS- and dead-reckoned data, Kernel Utilisation Distribution determinations of home-range size were larger using the former method. This was because dead-reckoned data more accurately described the particular parts of landscape constituting most-visited core areas, effectively narrowing the calculation of habitat use. Finally, the dead-reckoned data showed badgers spent more time near to field margins and hedges than simple GPS data would suggest. Conclusion Significant differences emerge when analyses of habitat use and movements are compared between calculations made using just GPS data or GPS-enabled dead-reckoned data. In particular, use of dead-reckoned data showed that animals moved 2.2 times farther, had better-defined use of the habitat (revealing clear core areas), and made more use of certain habitats (field margins, hedges). Use of dead-reckoning to provide detailed accounts of animal movement and highlight the minutiae of interactions with the environment should be considered an important technique in the ecologist’s toolkit.

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“…3). Vectorial Dynamic Body Acceleration was calculated as a proxy of speed [9,10,12] and Framework 4 software ( [12], cf. [9]) was used to integrate hourly GPS fixes with the DD data.…”

Section: Dead-reckoningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dead-reckoning elucidates fine-scale habitat use by European badgers Meles meles

et al. 2022

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“…Since penguin walking behaviour can be easily distinguished from other behaviours by acceleration data [30], the information obtained from the tri-axial acceleration sensors was used to determine how long it took for each animal to walk from the nest to the sea and vice versa. GPS locations of stationary objects are subject to greater error [31] so we considered the start of trajectories from the nest only when birds had moved greater than 5 m from the site and were clearly engaged in transit between the nest and the sea.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long walk home: Magellanic penguins have strategies that lead them to areas where they can navigate most efficiently

et al. 2022

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Understanding how animals move in dense environments where vision is compromised is a major challenge. We used GPS and dead-reckoning to examine the movement of Magellanic penguins commuting through vegetation that precluded long-distance vision. Birds leaving the nest followed the shortest, quickest route to the sea (the ‘ideal path’, or ' I-path ') but return tracks depended where the birds left the water. Penguins arriving at the beach departure spot mirrored the departure. Most of those landing at a distance from the departure spot travelled slowly, obliquely to the coast at a more acute angle than a beeline trajectory to the nest. On crossing their I-path , these birds then followed this route quickly to their nests. This movement strategy saves birds distance, time and energy compared to a route along the beach and the into the colony on the I-track and saves time and energy compared to a beeline trajectory which necessitates slow travel in unfamiliar areas. This suggests that some animals adopt tactics that take them to an area where their navigational capacities are enhanced for efficient travel in challenging environments.

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“…15/01/2021, 16/01/2021, 22/01/2021, 29/01/2021, 68 days' worth of data were retained for this exercise. Daily flight distance was calculated by summing Haversine distances between adjacent fixes [23] within each day. For the alternative calculation of flight distance using behavioural data, we only used flight bouts of at least 6 s duration to reduce potential noise from occasional wing flapping while on land or water.…”

Section: Evaluating Daily Distance Travelledmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasingly detailed insights in animal behaviours using continuous on-board processing of accelerometer data

Klaassen²,

Deng³

et al. 2022

Mov Ecol

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Background: Studies of animal behaviour, ecology and physiology are continuously benefitting from progressing biologging techniques, including the collection of accelerometer data to infer animal behaviours and energy expenditure. In one of the most recent technological advances in this space, on-board processing of raw accelerometer data into animal behaviours proves highly energy-, weight- and cost-efficient allowing for continuous behavioural data collection in addition to regular positional data in a wide range of animal tracking studies. Methods: We implemented this latest development in collecting continuous behaviour records from 6 Pacific Black Ducks Anas superciliosa to evaluate some of this novel technique’s potential advantages over tracking studies lacking behavioural data or recording accelerometer data intermittently only. We (i) compared the discrepancy of time-activity budgets between continuous records and behaviours sampled with different intervals, (ii) compared total daily distance flown using hourly GPS fixes with and without additional behavioural data and (iii) explored how behaviour records can provide additional insights for animal home range studies. Results: Using a total of 690 days of behaviour records across six individual ducks distinguishing eight different behaviours, we illustrated the improvement that is obtained in time-activity budget accuracy if continuous rather than interval-sampled accelerometer data is used. Notably, for rare behaviours such as flying and running, error ratios > 1 were common when sampling intervals exceeded 10 min. Using 72 days of hourly GPS fixes in combination with continuous behaviour records over the same period in one individual duck, we showed behaviour-based daily distance estimation is significantly higher (up to 540%) than the distance calculated from hourly sampled GPS fixes. Also, with the same 72 days of data for one individual duck, we showed how this individual used specific sites within its entire home range to satisfy specific needs (e.g. roosting and foraging). Conclusion: We showed that by using trackers allowing for continuous recording of animal behaviour, substantial improvements in the estimation of time-activity budgets and daily traveling distances can be made. With integrating behaviour into home-range estimation we also highlight that this novel tracking technique may not only improve estimations but also open new avenues in animal behaviour research, importantly improving our knowledge of an animal’s state while it is roaming the landscape.

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How Often Should Dead-Reckoned Animal Movement Paths be Corrected for Drift?

Cited by 3 publications

References 67 publications

Dead-reckoning elucidates fine-scale habitat use by European badgers Meles meles

Dead-reckoning elucidates fine-scale habitat use by European badgers Meles meles

Long walk home: Magellanic penguins have strategies that lead them to areas where they can navigate most efficiently

Increasingly detailed insights in animal behaviours using continuous on-board processing of accelerometer data

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