Animal lifestyle affects acceptable mass limits for attached tags

Author:

Wilson Rory P.1ORCID,Rose Kayleigh A.1ORCID,Gunner Richard1ORCID,Holton Mark D.2,Marks Nikki J.3,Bennett Nigel C.4ORCID,Bell Stephen H.3,Twining Joshua P.3ORCID,Hesketh Jamie1,Duarte Carlos M.5,Bezodis Neil6,Jezek Milos7,Painter Michael7,Silovsky Vaclav7,Crofoot Margaret C.8,Harel Roi89,Arnould John P. Y.10ORCID,Allan Blake M.10,Whisson Desley A.10,Alagaili Abdulaziz11,Scantlebury D. Michael3ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, D-78315 Radolfzell, Germany

2. College of Science, Swansea University, Fabian Way, Swansea SA1 8EN, UK

3. School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast BT9 5DL, UK

4. Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa

5. Red Sea Research Centre, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955, Saudi Arabia

6. Applied Sports, Technology, Exercise and Medicine (A-STEM) Research Centre, College of Engineering, Swansea University, Bay Campus, Swansea SA1 8EN, UK

7. Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague 165 00, Czech Republic

8. Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Bücklestraβe 5, Konstanz D-78467, Germany

9. Germany and Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78457, Germany

10. School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Melbourne Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VC 3125, Victoria, Australia

11. KSU Mammals Research Chair, Zoology Department, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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 × 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 that are less than 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 the force and time limits specified.

Funder

Department for Economy Global Challenges Research Fund

CAASE project funded by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) under the KAUST Sensor Initiative

The Royal Society

National Science Foundation

Natural Environment Research Council

Vice Deanship of Research Chairs at the King Saud University, Saudi Arabia

Packard Foundation Fellowship

Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) Northern Ireland (currently the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs) through various studentships (DMS, NJM).

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in the framework of the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship endowed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Department for the Economy studentship to JPT

Royal Society/Wolfson Lab refurbishment scheme

Advanced research supporting the forestry and wood-processing sector's adaptation to global change and the 4th industrial revolution

Publisher

The Royal Society

Subject

General Agricultural and Biological Sciences,General Environmental Science,General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine

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