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Cited by 797Physiological and biochemical adaptationsAvian ecology and behaviorWildlife Ecology and Conservation

Moving towards acceleration for estimates of activity‐specific metabolic rate in free‐living animals: the case of the cormorant

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WILSON, RORY P., WHITE, CRAIG R., QUINTANA, FLAVIO, HALSEY, LEWIS G., LIEBSCH, NIKOLAI, MARTIN, GRAHAM R., BUTLER, PATRICK J.·2006·Journal of Animal Ecology
DOI 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01127.x
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Abstract

Summary: Time and energy are key currencies in animal ecology, and judicious management of these is a primary focus for natural selection. At present, however, there are only two main methods for estimation of rate of energy expenditure in the field, heart rate and doubly labelled water, both of which have been used with success; but both also have their limitations. The deployment of data loggers that measure acceleration is emerging as a powerful tool for quantifying the behaviour of free‐living animals. Given that animal movement requires the use of energy, the accelerometry technique potentially has application in the quantification of rate of energy expenditure during activity. In the present study, we test the hypothesis that acceleration can serve as a proxy for rate of energy expenditure in free‐living animals. We measured rate of energy expenditure as rates of O 2 consumption () and CO 2 production () in great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) at rest and during pedestrian exercise. and were then related to overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA) measured with an externally attached three‐axis accelerometer. Both and were significantly positively associated with ODBA in great cormorants. This suggests that accelerometric measurements of ODBA can be used to estimate and and, with some additional assumptions regarding metabolic substrate use and the energy equivalence of O 2 and CO 2, that ODBA can be used to estimate the activity specific rate of energy expenditure of free‐living cormorants. To verify that the approach identifies expected trends in from situations with variable power requirements, we measured ODBA in free‐living imperial cormorants (Phalacrocorax atriceps) during foraging trips. We compared ODBA during return and outward foraging flights, when birds are expected to be laden and not laden with captured fish, respectively. We also examined changes in ODBA during the descent phase of diving, when power requirements are predicted to decrease with depth due to changes in buoyancy associated with compression of plumage and respiratory air. In free‐living imperial cormorants, ODBA, and hence estimated , was higher during the return flight of a foraging bout, and decreased with depth during the descent phase of a dive, supporting the use of accelerometry for the determination of activity‐specific rate of energy expenditure.

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  • Prior to deployment, all loggers were spherically rotated to pass through all combinations of pitch and roll to record reference values to calibrate accelerometer data for inherent sensor variability.

    “Prior to deployment, we spherically rotated all loggers to pass through all combinations of pitch and roll to record reference values to calibrate accelerometer data to account for inherent sensor variability (i.e., due to manufacturing) [64].”

    From Seasonal activity levels of a farm-island population of striated caracaras (Phalcoboenus australis) in the Falkland Islands (2020) · cites this paper as [64]

    The laboratory methods and Fieldwork passages (pages unavailable) describe rotating loggers through all combinations of pitch and roll to calibrate accelerometer output, and the Fieldwork data-processing passage says those calibrations were used to convert readings from millivolts to g. The paper does not say that the purpose was to account for inherent sensor variability due to manufacturing. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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2 of the 73 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Butler, P.J. & Bishop, C.M. (2000) Flight. Sturkie's Avian Physiology, 5th edn (ed. G.C. Whittow), pp. 391-435. Aca- demic Press, San Diego, CA.

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Authors
WILSON, R. P., WHITE, C. R., QUINTANA, F., HALSEY, L. G., LIEBSCH, N., MARTIN, G. R., & BUTLER, P. J.
Affiliations
  • Swansea University (GB)
  • University of Birmingham (GB)
  • Wildlife Conservation Society (US)
Corresponding author
WILSON, RORY P.
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Animal Ecology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2006-06-29
Volume
75
Issue
5
Pages
1081-1090
ISSN
  • 0021-8790 (ISSN-L)
  • 1365-2656
DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01127.x
OpenAlex
W1513626006
Cited by
797
References
73
Citations by year
2026: 33 · 2025: 48 · 2024: 53 · 2023: 47 · 2022: 100 · 2021: 61 · 2020: 48 · 2019: 50 · 2018: 39 · 2017: 49 · 2016: 47 · 2015: 47 · 2014: 41 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 27
FWCI
11.90
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Journal of Animal Ecology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion)
  • CONICET Digital (CONICET) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
Funders
  • Wildlife Conservation Society
  • Natural Environment Research Council (NER/A/S/2003/00542)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Physiological and biochemical adaptations
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Avian ecology and behavior
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Keywords
energy expenditure, accelerometry, overall dynamic body acceleration, Phalacrocorax carbo, Imperial Cormorant, oxygen consumption, CO2 emissions, foraging flight, buoyancy, wild birds, data logger
MeSH terms
Acceleration, Animals, Birds, Carbon Dioxide, Electronics, Energy Metabolism, Female, Male, Models, Biological, Movement, Oxygen Consumption

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