Sensor:
Acceleration

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Acceleration
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acceleration
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Subject: animal movement × Subject: bio-logging ×

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 22
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    Data package
    Data from: Turbulence causes kinematic and behavioural adjustments in a flapping flier
    (2024-02-20) Lempidakis, Emmanouil; Ross, Andrew N.; Quetting, Michael; Krishnan, Krishnamoorthy; Garde, Baptiste; Wikelski, Martin; Shepard, Emily L.C.
    Turbulence is a widespread phenomenon in the natural world, but its influence on flapping fliers remains little studied. We assessed how freestream turbulence affected the kinematics, flight effort, and track properties of homing pigeons (Columba livia), using the fine-scale variations in flight height as a proxy for turbulence levels. Birds showed a small increase in their wingbeat amplitude with increasing turbulence (similar to laboratory studies), but this was accompanied by a reduction in mean wingbeat frequency, such that their flapping wing speed remained the same. Mean kinematic responses to turbulence may therefore enable birds to increase their stability without a reduction in propulsive efficiency. Nonetheless, the most marked response to turbulence was an increase in the variability of wingbeat frequency and amplitude. These stroke-to-stroke changes in kinematics provide instantaneous compensation for turbulence. They will also increase flight costs. Yet pigeons only made small adjustments to their flight altitude, likely resulting in little change in exposure to strong convective turbulence. Responses to turbulence were therefore distinct from responses to wind, with the costs of high turbulence being levied through an increase in the variability of their kinematics and airspeed. This highlights the value of investigating the variability in flight parameters in free-living animals.
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    Data from: The price of being late: short- and long-term consequences of a delayed migration timing [naturally-timed birds]
    (2023-07-28) Bontekoe, Iris D.; Fiedler, Wolfgang; Wikelski, Martin; Flack, Andrea
    Choosing the right migration timing is critical for migrants because conditions encountered en route influence movement costs, survival, and, in social migrants, the availability of social information. Depending on lifetime stages, individuals may migrate at different times due to diverging constraints, affecting the composition of migration groups. To examine the consequences of a delayed migration timing, we artificially delayed the migration of juvenile white storks (Ciconia ciconia) and thereby altered their physical and social environment. Using nearly continuous 1 Hz GPS trajectories, we examined their migration behaviour, ranging from sub-second level performance to global long-distance movement, in relation to two control groups. We found that delayed storks experienced suboptimal soaring conditions, but better wind support and thereby achieved higher flight speeds than control storks. Delayed storks had a lower mortality rate than the control storks and wintered closer to the breeding area. In fact, none of the delayed storks reached the traditional African wintering areas. Thus, our results show that juvenile storks can survive migrating at the ‘wrong’ time. However, this had long-term consequences on migration decisions. We suggest that, when timing their migration, storks balance not just energy and time, but also the availability of social information.
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    Data package
    Data from: Study "NC Wood Stork Tracking"
    (2023-12-23) Schweitzer, Sara; Bryan, A. Lawrence, Jr.; Brzorad, John; Kays, Roland
    We tracked two wood storks (Mycteria americana) from a breeding site in North Carolina, documenting their migrations to southern Florida. This is one of the northernmost breeding grounds for the species. Dice was tracked with a GPS/GSM/ACC tag from e-obs GmbH, and Mr Lay was tracked with a GSM-GPS tag from Microwave Telemetry Inc. Duplicates and location outliers were flagged in Movebank by manually flagging visible outliers and then using filters. First, the duplicate filter was used to flag multiple records records with matching tag ID and timestamp, with a preference to retain "eobs:status" values in the following order: A, B, C, D, blank. Second, the speed filter was run using maximum plausible speed of 50 m/s and maximum location error 100 m, using the "longest consistent track" method.
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    Data package
    Data from: Fitness, behavioral, and energetic trade-offs of different migratory strategies in a partially migratory species
    (2023-08-03) Soriano-Redondo, Andrea; Franco, Aldina M.A.; Acácio, Marta; Payo-Payo, Ana; Martins, Bruno Herlander; Moreira, Francisco; Catry, Inês
    Alternative migratory strategies can coexist within animal populations and species. Anthropogenic impacts can shift the fitness balance between these strategies leading to changes in migratory behaviors. Yet some of the mechanisms that drive such changes remain poorly understood. Here we investigate the phenotypic differences, and the energetic, behavioral, and fitness trade-offs associated with four different movement strategies (long- and short-distance migration, and regional and local residency) in a population of white storks (Ciconia ciconia) that has shifted its migratory behavior over the last decades, from fully long-distance migration towards year-round residency. To do this, we tracked 75 adult storks fitted with GPS/GSM loggers with triaxial acceleration sensors over 5 years, and estimated individual displacement, behavior, and overall dynamic body acceleration, a proxy for activity-related energy expenditure. Additionally, we monitored nesting colonies to assess individual survival and breeding success. We found that long-distance migrants travelled thousands of kilometers more throughout the year, spent more energy, and >10% less time resting compared to short-distance migrants and residents. Long-distance migrants also spent on average more energy per unit of time while foraging, and less energy per unit of time while soaring. Migratory individuals also occupied their nests later than resident ones, later occupation led to later laying date and reduced number of fledglings. However, we did not find significant differences in survival probability. Finally, we found phenotypic differences in the migratory probability, as smaller-sized individuals were more likely to migrate, and they might be incurring in higher energetic and fitness costs than larger ones. Our results shed light into the shifting migratory strategies in a partially migratory population and highlight the nuances of anthropogenic impacts on species behavior, fitness, and evolutionary dynamics.
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    Data from: Early life and acquired experiences interact in shaping migratory and flight behaviors
    (2023-11-21) Efrat, Ron; Hatzofe, Ohad; Mueller, Thomas; Sapir, Nir; Berger-Tal, Oded
    Two types of experience affect animals' behavioral proficiencies and accordingly their fitness: early-life experience–an animal’s environment during its early development, and acquired experience–the repeated practice of a specific task. Yet, how these two experience types and their interactions affect different proficiencies is still an open question. Here, we study the interactions between these two types of experience during migration, a critical and challenging period. We do so by comparing migratory proficiencies between birds with different early-life experiences, and explain these differences by testing fine-scale flight mechanisms. We used data collected by GPS transmitters during autumn migrations of 65 individuals to study the flight proficiencies of two groups of Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus), a long-distance, soaring raptor. The two groups differed greatly in their early-life experience, one group being captive-bred and the other wild-hatched. Both groups improved their migratory performance with acquired experience, exhibiting shorter migration times, longer daily progress, and improved flight skills, specifically more efficient soaring-gliding behavior. The observed improvements were mostly apparent for captive-bred vultures which were the least efficient during their first migration but were able to catch up in their migratory performance already in the second migration. Thus, we show how the strong negative effects of early-life experience were offset by acquired experience. Our findings uncover how the interaction between early-life and acquired experiences may shape animals' proficiencies and shed new light on the ontogeny of animal migration, suggesting possible effects of sensitive periods of learning on the acquisition of migratory skills.
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    Data package
    Data from: The price of being late: short- and long-term consequences of a delayed migration timing [delayed birds]
    (2023-07-28) Bontekoe, Iris D.; Hilgartner, Roland; Altheimer, Sylvia; Flack, Andrea
    Choosing the right migration timing is critical for migrants because conditions encountered en route influence movement costs, survival, and, in social migrants, the availability of social information. Depending on lifetime stages, individuals may migrate at different times due to diverging constraints, affecting the composition of migration groups. To examine the consequences of a delayed migration timing, we artificially delayed the migration of juvenile white storks (Ciconia ciconia) and thereby altered their physical and social environment. Using nearly continuous 1 Hz GPS trajectories, we examined their migration behaviour, ranging from sub-second level performance to global long-distance movement, in relation to two control groups. We found that delayed storks experienced suboptimal soaring conditions, but better wind support and thereby achieved higher flight speeds than control storks. Delayed storks had a lower mortality rate than the control storks and wintered closer to the breeding area. In fact, none of the delayed storks reached the traditional African wintering areas. Thus, our results show that juvenile storks can survive migrating at the ‘wrong’ time. However, this had long-term consequences on migration decisions. We suggest that, when timing their migration, storks balance not just energy and time, but also the availability of social information.
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    Data package
    Data from: The price of being late: short- and long-term consequences of a delayed migration timing [control birds]
    (2023-07-28) Bontekoe, Iris D.; Flack, Andrea; Fiedler, Wolfgang
    Choosing the right migration timing is critical for migrants because conditions encountered en route influence movement costs, survival, and, in social migrants, the availability of social information. Depending on lifetime stages, individuals may migrate at different times due to diverging constraints, affecting the composition of migration groups. To examine the consequences of a delayed migration timing, we artificially delayed the migration of juvenile white storks (Ciconia ciconia) and thereby altered their physical and social environment. Using nearly continuous 1 Hz GPS trajectories, we examined their migration behaviour, ranging from sub-second level performance to global long-distance movement, in relation to two control groups. We found that delayed storks experienced suboptimal soaring conditions, but better wind support and thereby achieved higher flight speeds than control storks. Delayed storks had a lower mortality rate than the control storks and wintered closer to the breeding area. In fact, none of the delayed storks reached the traditional African wintering areas. Thus, our results show that juvenile storks can survive migrating at the ‘wrong’ time. However, this had long-term consequences on migration decisions. We suggest that, when timing their migration, storks balance not just energy and time, but also the availability of social information.
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    Data package
    Data from: Timing is critical: consequences of asynchronous migration for the performance and destination of a long-distance migrant
    (2023-07-25) Acácio, Marta; Catry, Inês; Soriano-Redondo, Andrea; Silva, João Paulo; Atkinson, Philip W.; Franco, Aldina M.A.
    Background: Migration phenology is shifting for many long-distance migrants due to global climate change, however the timing and duration of migration may influence the environmental conditions individuals encounter, with potential fitness consequences. Species with asynchronous migrations, i.e., with variability in migration timing, provide an excellent opportunity to investigate how of the conditions individuals experience during migration can vary and affect the migratory performance, route, and destination of migrants. Methods: Here, we use GPS tracking and accelerometer data to examine if timing of autumn migration influences the migratory performance (duration, distance, route straightness, energy expenditure) and migration destinations of a long-distance, asynchronous, migrant, the white stork (Ciconia ciconia). We also compare the weather conditions (wind speed, wind direction, and boundary layer height) encountered on migration and examine the influence of wind direction on storks’ flight directions. Results: From 2016 to 2020, we tracked 172 white storks and obtained 75 complete migrations from the breeding grounds in Europe to the sub-Saharan wintering areas. Autumn migration season spanned over a 3-month period (July–October) and arrival destinations covered a broad area of the Sahel, 2450 km apart, from Senegal to Niger. We found that timing of migration influenced both the performance and conditions individuals experienced: later storks spent fewer days on migration, adopted shorter and more direct routes in the Sahara Desert and consumed more energy when flying, as they were exposed to less supportive weather conditions. In the Desert, storks’ flight directions were significantly influenced by wind direction, with later individuals facing stronger easterly winds (i.e., winds blowing to the west), hence being more likely to end their migration in western areas of the Sahel region. Contrastingly, early storks encountered more supportive weather conditions, spent less energy on migration and were exposed to westerly winds, thus being more likely to end migration in eastern Sahel. Conclusions: Our results show that the timing of migration influences the environmental conditions individuals face, the energetic costs of migration, and the wintering destinations, where birds may be exposed to different environmental conditions and distinct threats. These findings highlight that on-going changes in migration phenology, due to environmental change, may have critical fitness consequences for long-distance soaring migrants.
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    Data from: Longer days enable higher diurnal activity for migratory birds [greater white-fronted geese]
    (2021-03-24) Kölzsch, Andrea; Müskens, Gerhard J.D.M.; Moonen, Sander; Kruckenberg, Helmut; Glazov, Peter; Wikelski, Martin
    (1) Seasonal geophysical cycles strongly influence the activity of life on Earth because they affect environmental conditions like temperature, precipitation, and daylength. An increase in daylight availability during summer is especially enhanced when animals migrate along a latitudinal gradient. Yet, the question of how daylength (i.e. daylight availability) influences the activity patterns of long‐distance, latitudinal migrants is still unclear. (2) Here, we ask whether migration provides benefits to long‐distance migrants by enabling them to increase their diurnal movement activities due to an increase in daylight availability. To answer this question, we tested whether four vastly different species of long‐distance migratory birds--two arctic migrants and two mid‐latitude migrants--can capitalise on day length changes by adjusting their daily activity. (3) We quantified the relationship between daily activity (measured using accelerometer data) and day length, and estimated each species' daily activity patterns. In addition, we evaluated the role of day length as an ultimate driver of bird migration. (4) All four species exhibited longer activity periods during days with more daylight hours, showing a strong positive relationship between total daily activity and day length. The slope of this relationship varied between the different species, with activity increasing 1.5‐fold on average when migrating from wintering to breeding grounds. Underlying mechanisms of these relationships reveal two distinct patterns of daily activity. Flying foragers showed increasing activity patterns, i.e. their daytime activities rose uniformly up to solar noon and decreased until dusk, thereby exhibiting a season‐specific activity slope. In contrast, ground foragers showed a constant activity pattern, whereby they immediately increased their activity to a certain level and maintained this level throughout the day. (5) Our study reveals that long days allow birds to prolong their activity and increase their total daily activity. These findings highlight that daylight availability could be an additional ultimate cause of bird migration and act as a selective agent for the evolution of migration.
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    Data from: Less is more: on-board lossy compression of accelerometer data increases biologging capacity
    (2020-01-17) Nuijten, Rascha J.M.; Gerrits, Theo; de Vries, Peter P.; Müskens, Gerhard J.D.M.; Nolet, Bart A.
    1. GPS‐tracking devices have been used in combination with a wide range of additional sensors to study animal behaviour, physiology and interaction with their environment. Tri‐axial accelerometers allow researchers to remotely infer the behaviour of individuals, at all places and times. Collection of accelerometer data is relatively cheap in terms of energy usage, but the amount or raw data collected generally requires much storage space and is particularly demanding in terms of energy needed for data transmission. 2. Here we propose compressing the raw ACC data into summary statistics within the tracking device (before transmission) to reduce data size, as a means to overcome limitations in storage and energy capacity. 3. We explored this type of lossy data compression in the accelerometer data of tagged Bewick's swans (Cygnus columbianus bewickii) collected in spring 2017. By using software settings in which bouts of 2 s of both raw ACC data and summary statistics were collected in parallel but with different bout intervals to keep total data size comparable, we created the opportunity for a direct comparison of time budgets derived by the two data collection methods. 4. We found that the data compression in our case yielded a 6 time reduction in data size per bout, and concurrent, similar decreases in storage and energy use of the device. We show that with the same accuracy of the behavioural classification, the freed memory and energy of the device can be used to increase the monitoring effort, resulting in a more detailed representation of the individuals’ time budget. Rare and/or short behaviours such as daily roost flights, were picked up significantly more when collecting summary statistics instead of raw ACC data (but note differences in sampling rate). Such level of detail can be of essential importance, for instance to make a reliable estimate of the energy budgets of individuals. 5. In conclusion, we argue that this type of lossy data compression can be a well‐considered choice in study situations where limitations in energy and storage space of the device pose a problem. Ultimately these developments can allow for long‐term and nearly continuous remote‐monitoring of the behaviour of free‐ranging animals.