Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
Biol Lett. 2012 Dec 19;9(1):20120919. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0919. Print 2013 Feb 23.
Animal ecology is shaped by energy costs, yet it is difficult to measure fine-scale energy expenditure in the wild. Because metabolism is often closely correlated with mechanical work, accelerometers have the potential to provide detailed information on energy expenditure of wild animals over fine temporal scales. Nonetheless, accelerometry needs to be validated on wild animals, especially across different locomotory modes. We merged data collected on 20 thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia) from miniature accelerometers with measurements of daily energy expenditure over 24 h using doubly labelled water. Across three different locomotory modes (swimming, flying and movement on land), dynamic body acceleration was a good predictor of daily energy expenditure as measured independently by doubly labelled water (R(2) = 0.73). The most parsimonious model suggested that different equations were needed to predict energy expenditure from accelerometry for flying than for surface swimming or activity on land (R(2) = 0.81). Our results demonstrate that accelerometers can provide an accurate integrated measure of energy expenditure in wild animals using many different locomotory modes.
动物生态学受能量成本的影响，但在野外很难测量精细尺度的能量消耗。由于新陈代谢通常与机械功密切相关，因此加速度计有可能为野生动物在精细时间尺度上的能量消耗提供详细信息。尽管如此，加速度计仍需要在野生动物身上进行验证，特别是在不同的运动模式下。我们将从微型加速度计收集的 20 只厚嘴海鸦（Uria lomvia）的数据与使用双标记水测量的 24 小时内每日能量消耗数据进行了合并。在三种不同的运动模式（游泳、飞行和在陆地上移动）中，动态体加速度是双标记水独立测量的每日能量消耗的良好预测指标（R²=0.73）。最简约的模型表明，对于飞行和表面游泳或陆地活动，需要使用不同的方程来从加速度计预测能量消耗（R²=0.81）。我们的研究结果表明，加速度计可以为使用许多不同运动模式的野生动物提供准确的能量消耗综合测量。
