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Berry P, Dammhahn M, Hauptfleisch M, Hering R, Jansen J, Kraus A, Blaum N. African dryland antelope trade-off behaviours in response to heat extremes. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11455. [PMID: 38855312 PMCID: PMC11157150 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2024] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Climate change is predicted to narrow the prescriptive zone of dryland species, potentially leading to behavioural modifications with fitness consequences. This study explores the behavioural responses of three widespread African antelope species-springbok, kudu and eland-to extreme heat in a dryland savanna. We classified the behaviour of 29 individuals during the hot, dry season on the basis of accelerometer data using supervised machine learning and analysed the impact of afternoon heat on behaviour-specific time allocation and overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA), a proxy for energy expenditure, along with compensatory changes over the 24-hour cycle. Extreme afternoon heat reduced feeding time in all three antelope species, increased ruminating and resting time, while only minimally affecting walking time. With rising heat, all three species reduced ODBA on feeding, while eland reduced and kudu increased ODBA on walking. Diel responses in behaviour differed between species, but were generally characterised by daytime reductions in feeding and increases in ruminating or resting on hot days compared to cool days. While antelope compensated for heat-driven behavioural change over the 24-hour cycle in some cases, significant differences persisted in others, including reduced feeding and increased rumination and resting. The impact of heat on antelope behaviour reveals trade-offs between feeding and thermoregulation, as well as between feeding and rumination, the latter suggesting a strategy to enhance nutrient uptake through increased digestive efficiency, while the walking response suggests narrow constraints between cost and necessity. Our findings suggest that heat influences both behaviour-specific time allocation and energy expenditure. Altered diel behaviour patterns and incomplete compensation over the 24-hour cycle point to fitness consequences. The need to prioritise thermoregulation over feeding is likely to narrow the prescriptive zone of these dryland antelope.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Berry
- Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation, Institute of Biochemistry and BiologyUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
| | - Melanie Dammhahn
- Behavioural Biology, Institute for Neuro‐ and Behavioural Biology (INVB)University of MünsterMünsterGermany
| | - Morgan Hauptfleisch
- Research DirectorateNamibia Nature FoundationWindhoekNamibia
- Unit for Environmental Sciences and ManagementNorth West UniversityPotchefstroomNort West ProvinceSouth Africa
- Biodiversity Research CentreNamibia University of Science and TechnologyWindhoekNamibia
| | - Robert Hering
- Ecology/Macroecology, Institute of Biochemsitry and BiologyUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
| | - Jakob Jansen
- Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation, Institute of Biochemistry and BiologyUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
| | - Anna Kraus
- Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation, Institute of Biochemistry and BiologyUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
| | - Niels Blaum
- Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation, Institute of Biochemistry and BiologyUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
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2
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Cunningham SA, Schafer TLJ, Wikle CK, VonBank JA, Ballard BM, Cao L, Bearhop S, Fox AD, Hilton GM, Walsh AJ, Griffin LR, Weegman MD. Time-varying effects of local weather on behavior and probability of breeding deferral in two Arctic-nesting goose populations. Oecologia 2023; 201:369-383. [PMID: 36576527 PMCID: PMC9944342 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-022-05300-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2022] [Accepted: 12/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Arctic-nesting geese face energetic challenges during spring migration, including ecological barriers and weather conditions (e.g., precipitation and temperature), which in long-lived species can lead to a trade-off to defer reproduction in favor of greater survival. We used GPS location and acceleration data collected from 35 greater white-fronted geese of the North American midcontinent and Greenland populations at spring migration stopovers, and novel applications of Bayesian dynamic linear models to test daily effects of minimum temperature and precipitation on energy expenditure (i.e., overall dynamic body acceleration, ODBA) and proportion of time spent feeding (PTF), then examined the daily and additive importance of ODBA and PTF on probability of breeding deferral using stochastic antecedent models. We expected distinct responses in behavior and probability of breeding deferral between and within populations due to differences in stopover area availability. Time-varying coefficients of weather conditions were variable between ODBA and PTF, and often did not show consistent patterns among birds, indicating plasticity in how individuals respond to conditions. An increase in antecedent ODBA was associated with a slightly increased probability of deferral in midcontinent geese but not Greenland geese. Probability of deferral decreased with increased PTF in both populations. We did not detect any differentially important time periods. These results suggest either that movements and behavior throughout spring migration do not explain breeding deferral or that ecological linkages between bird decisions during spring and subsequent breeding deferral were different between populations and across migration but occurred at different time scales than those we examined.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie A Cunningham
- School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA.
- Department of Environmental Biology, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA.
| | - Toryn L J Schafer
- Department of Statistics, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA
- Department of Statistics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA
| | | | - Jay A VonBank
- Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX, 78363, USA
| | - Bart M Ballard
- Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX, 78363, USA
| | - Lei Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Stuart Bearhop
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Penryn, TR10 9EZ, UK
| | - Anthony D Fox
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, C.F. Møllers Allé 4-8, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Geoff M Hilton
- Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge, GL2 7BT, Gloucester, UK
| | - Alyn J Walsh
- National Parks and Wildlife Service, Wexford Wildfowl Reserve, North Slob, Wexford, Ireland
| | - Larry R Griffin
- Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge, GL2 7BT, Gloucester, UK
- ECO-LG Limited, Crooks House, Mabie, DG2 8EY, Dumfries, UK
| | - Mitch D Weegman
- School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5E2, Canada
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The role of individual variability on the predictive performance of machine learning applied to large bio-logging datasets. Sci Rep 2022; 12:19737. [PMID: 36396680 PMCID: PMC9672113 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22258-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Animal-borne tagging (bio-logging) generates large and complex datasets. In particular, accelerometer tags, which provide information on behaviour and energy expenditure of wild animals, produce high-resolution multi-dimensional data, and can be challenging to analyse. We tested the performance of commonly used artificial intelligence tools on datasets of increasing volume and dimensionality. By collecting bio-logging data across several sampling seasons, datasets are inherently characterized by inter-individual variability. Such information should be considered when predicting behaviour. We integrated both unsupervised and supervised machine learning approaches to predict behaviours in two penguin species. The classified behaviours obtained from the unsupervised approach Expectation Maximisation were used to train the supervised approach Random Forest. We assessed agreement between the approaches, the performance of Random Forest on unknown data and the implications for the calculation of energy expenditure. Consideration of behavioural variability resulted in high agreement (> 80%) in behavioural classifications and minimal differences in energy expenditure estimates. However, some outliers with < 70% of agreement, highlighted how behaviours characterized by signal similarity are confused. We advise the broad bio-logging community, approaching these large datasets, to be cautious when upscaling predictions, as this might lead to less accurate estimates of behaviour and energy expenditure.
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Overton C, Casazza M, Bretz J, McDuie F, Matchett E, Mackell D, Lorenz A, Mott A, Herzog M, Ackerman J. Machine learned daily life history classification using low frequency tracking data and automated modelling pipelines: application to North American waterfowl. MOVEMENT ECOLOGY 2022; 10:23. [PMID: 35578372 PMCID: PMC9109391 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-022-00324-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Identifying animal behaviors, life history states, and movement patterns is a prerequisite for many animal behavior analyses and effective management of wildlife and habitats. Most approaches classify short-term movement patterns with high frequency location or accelerometry data. However, patterns reflecting life history across longer time scales can have greater relevance to species biology or management needs, especially when available in near real-time. Given limitations in collecting and using such data to accurately classify complex behaviors in the long-term, we used hourly GPS data from 5 waterfowl species to produce daily activity classifications with machine-learned models using "automated modelling pipelines". METHODS Automated pipelines are computer-generated code that complete many tasks including feature engineering, multi-framework model development, training, validation, and hyperparameter tuning to produce daily classifications from eight activity patterns reflecting waterfowl life history or movement states. We developed several input features for modeling grouped into three broad categories, hereafter "feature sets": GPS locations, habitat information, and movement history. Each feature set used different data sources or data collected across different time intervals to develop the "features" (independent variables) used in models. RESULTS Automated modelling pipelines rapidly developed easily reproducible data preprocessing and analysis steps, identification and optimization of the best performing model and provided outputs for interpreting feature importance. Unequal expression of life history states caused unbalanced classes, so we evaluated feature set importance using a weighted F1-score to balance model recall and precision among individual classes. Although the best model using the least restrictive feature set (only 24 hourly relocations in a day) produced effective classifications (weighted F1 = 0.887), models using all feature sets performed substantially better (weighted F1 = 0.95), particularly for rarer but demographically more impactful life history states (i.e., nesting). CONCLUSIONS Automated pipelines generated models producing highly accurate classifications of complex daily activity patterns using relatively low frequency GPS and incorporating more classes than previous GPS studies. Near real-time classification is possible which is ideal for time-sensitive needs such as identifying reproduction. Including habitat and longer sequences of spatial information produced more accurate classifications but incurred slight delays in processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cory Overton
- Western Ecological Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Dixon Field Station, Dixon, CA, USA.
| | - Michael Casazza
- Western Ecological Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Dixon Field Station, Dixon, CA, USA
| | - Joseph Bretz
- Cloud Hosting Solutions, U.S. Geological Survey, Bozeman, MT, USA
| | - Fiona McDuie
- Western Ecological Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Dixon Field Station, Dixon, CA, USA
- Moss Landing Laboratories, San Jose State University Research Foundation, San Jose, CA, USA
| | - Elliott Matchett
- Western Ecological Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Dixon Field Station, Dixon, CA, USA
| | - Desmond Mackell
- Western Ecological Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Dixon Field Station, Dixon, CA, USA
| | - Austen Lorenz
- Western Ecological Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Dixon Field Station, Dixon, CA, USA
| | - Andrea Mott
- Western Ecological Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Dixon Field Station, Dixon, CA, USA
| | - Mark Herzog
- Western Ecological Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Dixon Field Station, Dixon, CA, USA
| | - Josh Ackerman
- Western Ecological Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Dixon Field Station, Dixon, CA, USA
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Wolverines (Gulo gulo) in a changing landscape and warming climate: A decadal synthesis of global conservation ecology research. Glob Ecol Conserv 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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Brewster LR, Ibrahim AK, DeGroot BC, Ostendorf TJ, Zhuang H, Chérubin LM, Ajemian MJ. Classifying Goliath Grouper ( Epinephelus itajara) Behaviors from a Novel, Multi-Sensor Tag. SENSORS 2021; 21:s21196392. [PMID: 34640710 PMCID: PMC8512029 DOI: 10.3390/s21196392] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2021] [Revised: 09/17/2021] [Accepted: 09/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Inertial measurement unit sensors (IMU; i.e., accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer combinations) are frequently fitted to animals to better understand their activity patterns and energy expenditure. Capable of recording hundreds of data points a second, these sensors can quickly produce large datasets that require methods to automate behavioral classification. Here, we describe behaviors derived from a custom-built multi-sensor bio-logging tag attached to Atlantic Goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara) within a simulated ecosystem. We then compared the performance of two commonly applied machine learning approaches (random forest and support vector machine) to a deep learning approach (convolutional neural network, or CNN) for classifying IMU data from this tag. CNNs are frequently used to recognize activities from IMU data obtained from humans but are less commonly considered for other animals. Thirteen behavioral classes were identified during ethogram development, nine of which were classified. For the conventional machine learning approaches, 187 summary statistics were extracted from the data, including time and frequency domain features. The CNN was fed absolute values obtained from fast Fourier transformations of the raw tri-axial accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer channels, with a frequency resolution of 512 data points. Five metrics were used to assess classifier performance; the deep learning approach performed better across all metrics (Sensitivity = 0.962; Specificity = 0.996; F1-score = 0.962; Matthew’s Correlation Coefficient = 0.959; Cohen’s Kappa = 0.833) than both conventional machine learning approaches. Generally, the random forest performed better than the support vector machine. In some instances, a conventional learning approach yielded a higher performance metric for particular classes (e.g., the random forest had a F1-score of 0.971 for backward swimming compared to 0.955 for the CNN). Deep learning approaches could potentially improve behavioral classification from IMU data, beyond that obtained from conventional machine learning methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauran R. Brewster
- Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce, FL 34946, USA; (A.K.I.); (B.C.D.); (T.J.O.); (L.M.C.); (M.J.A.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-772-242-2638
| | - Ali K. Ibrahim
- Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce, FL 34946, USA; (A.K.I.); (B.C.D.); (T.J.O.); (L.M.C.); (M.J.A.)
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA;
| | - Breanna C. DeGroot
- Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce, FL 34946, USA; (A.K.I.); (B.C.D.); (T.J.O.); (L.M.C.); (M.J.A.)
| | - Thomas J. Ostendorf
- Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce, FL 34946, USA; (A.K.I.); (B.C.D.); (T.J.O.); (L.M.C.); (M.J.A.)
| | - Hanqi Zhuang
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA;
| | - Laurent M. Chérubin
- Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce, FL 34946, USA; (A.K.I.); (B.C.D.); (T.J.O.); (L.M.C.); (M.J.A.)
| | - Matthew J. Ajemian
- Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce, FL 34946, USA; (A.K.I.); (B.C.D.); (T.J.O.); (L.M.C.); (M.J.A.)
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Trade-off between predation risk and behavioural thermoregulation drives resting behaviour in a cold-adapted mesocarnivore. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.02.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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Studd EK, Derbyshire RE, Menzies AK, Simms JF, Humphries MM, Murray DL, Boutin S. The Purr‐fect Catch: Using accelerometers and audio recorders to document kill rates and hunting behaviour of a small prey specialist. Methods Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.13605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Emily K. Studd
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Alberta Edmonton AB Canada
- Department of Natural Resource Sciences McGill University Sainte‐Anne‐de‐Bellevue QC Canada
| | | | - Allyson K. Menzies
- Department of Natural Resource Sciences McGill University Sainte‐Anne‐de‐Bellevue QC Canada
| | | | - Murray M. Humphries
- Department of Natural Resource Sciences McGill University Sainte‐Anne‐de‐Bellevue QC Canada
| | | | - Stan Boutin
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Alberta Edmonton AB Canada
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