The Use of Acceleration to Code for Animal Behaviours; A Case Study in Free-Ranging Eurasian Beavers Castor fiber.

ABSTRACT: Recent technological innovations have led to the development of miniature, accelerometer-containing electronic loggers which can be attached to free-living animals. Accelerometers provide information on both body posture and dynamism which can be used as descriptors to define behaviour. We deployed tri-axial accelerometer loggers on 12 free-ranging Eurasian beavers Castor fiber in the county of Telemark, Norway, and on four captive beavers (two Eurasian beavers and two North American beavers C. canadensis) to corroborate acceleration signals with observed behaviours. By using random forests for classifying behavioural patterns of beavers from accelerometry data, we were able to distinguish seven behaviours; standing, walking, swimming, feeding, grooming, diving and sleeping. We show how to

SUBMITTER: Graf PM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4552556 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature