Journal article 865 views 155 downloads
Animal lifestyle affects acceptable mass limits for attached tags
,
Kayleigh Rose ,
Richard Gunner,
Richard Gunner,
Mark Holton ,
Nikki J. Marks,
Nigel C. Bennett,
Stephen H. Bell,
Joshua P. Twining,
Jamie Hesketh,
Carlos M. Duarte,
Neil Bezodis ,
Milos Jezek,
Michael Painter,
Vaclav Silovsky,
Margaret C. Crofoot,
Roi Harel,
John P. Y. Arnould,
Blake M. Allan,
Desley A. Whisson,
Abdulaziz Alagaili,
D. Michael Scantlebury
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Volume: 288, Issue: 1961
Swansea University Authors:
Rory Wilson , Kayleigh Rose , Richard Gunner, Mark Holton , Neil Bezodis
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DOI (Published version): 10.1098/rspb.2021.2005
Abstract
Animal-attached devices have transformed our understanding of vertebrate ecology. To minimize any associated harm, researchers have long advocated that tag masses should not exceed 3% of carrier body mass. However, this ignores tag forces resulting from animal movement. Using data from collar-attach...
| Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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| ISSN: | 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
| Published: |
The Royal Society
2021
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa58306 |
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| Abstract: |
Animal-attached devices have transformed our understanding of vertebrate ecology. To minimize any associated harm, researchers have long advocated that tag masses should not exceed 3% of carrier body mass. However, this ignores tag forces resulting from animal movement. Using data from collar-attached accelerometers on 10 diverse free-ranging terrestrial species from koalas to cheetahs, we detail a tag-based acceleration method to clarify acceptable tag mass limits. We quantify animal athleticism in terms of fractions of animal movement time devoted to different collar-recorded accelerations and convert those accelerations to forces (acceleration x tag mass) to allow derivation of any defined force limits for specified fractions of any animal’s active time. Specifying that tags should exert forces <3% of the gravitational force exerted on the animal's body for 95% of the time led to corrected tag masses that should constitute between 1.6% and 2.98% of carrier mass, depending on athleticism. Strikingly, in four carnivore species encompassing two orders of magnitude in mass (ca. 2-200 kg), forces exerted by ‘3%’ tags were equivalent to 4-19% of carrier body mass during moving, with a maximum of 54% in a hunting cheetah. This fundamentally changes how acceptable tag mass limits should be determined by ethics bodies, irrespective of force and time limits specified. |
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| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Issue: |
1961 |