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An external telemetry system for recording resting heart rate variability and heart rate in free-ranging large wild mammals

Twiss, Sean D.; Brannan, Naomi; Shuert, Courtney R.; Bishop, Amanda M.; Pomeroy, Patrick. P.; Moss, Simon

An external telemetry system for recording resting heart rate variability and heart rate in free-ranging large wild mammals Thumbnail


Authors

Naomi Brannan

Courtney R. Shuert

Amanda M. Bishop

Patrick. P. Pomeroy

Simon Moss



Abstract

Measures of heart rate variability (and heart rate more generally) are providing powerful insights into the physiological drivers of behaviour. Resting heart rate variability (HRV) can be used as an indicator of individual differences in temperament and reactivity to physical and psychological stress. There is increasing interest in deriving such measures from free ranging wild animals, where individuals are exposed to the natural and anthropogenic stressors of life. We describe a robust, externally mounted heart rate monitor for use in wild mammals, deployed here on wild breeding adult female grey seals (Halichoerus grypus), that delivers millisecond precise measures of inter beat intervals (IBIs), allowing computation of resting HRV parameters. Based on Firstbeat™ heart rate belts, our system allows for remote, continuous recording of IBI data from over 30 individuals simultaneously at ranges of up to 200m. We assessed the accuracy of the IBI data provided by the Firstbeat™ system using concurrent IBI data derived from in-field electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings. Bland-Altmann analyses demonstrated high correspondence between the two sets of IBI data, with a mean difference of 0.87±0.16ms. We used generalized additive mixed-effects models to examine the impact of the default Firstbeat™ software artefact correction procedure upon the generation of anomalous data (flats and stairs). Artefact correction and individual activity were major causes of flats and stairs. We used simulations and models to assess the impact of these errors on estimates of resting HRV and to inform criteria for subsampling relatively error free IBI traces. These analyses allowed us to establish stringent filtering procedures to remove traces with excessive numbers of artefacts, including flats and stairs. Even with strict criteria for removing potentially erroneous data, the abundance of data yielded by the Firstbeat™ system provides the potential to extract robust estimates of resting HRV. We discuss the advantages and limitations of our system for applications beyond the study system described here.

Citation

Twiss, S. D., Brannan, N., Shuert, C. R., Bishop, A. M., Pomeroy, P. P., & Moss, S. (2021). An external telemetry system for recording resting heart rate variability and heart rate in free-ranging large wild mammals. PLoS ONE, 16(6), Article e0252013. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252013

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 9, 2021
Online Publication Date Jun 4, 2021
Publication Date 2021
Deposit Date Jun 10, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal PLoS ONE
Publisher Public Library of Science
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 16
Issue 6
Article Number e0252013
DOI https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252013

Files

Published Journal Article (3 Mb)
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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
© 2021 Twiss et al. This is an open
access article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original
author and source are credited.
Data Availability Statement: All





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