SEASONAL CHANGES AND ACTIVITY-DEPENDENT VARIATION IN HEART RATE OF ROE DEER

Three free-living female European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.) were fitted with a telemetry implant to measure heart-rate. Observations of behavior of undisturbed deer were made during daylight from 12 February to 12 September 1996 in the Hestehave Forest (185 ha), Kalø, Denmark. Behaviors were...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of mammalogy 2004-04, Vol.85 (2), p.245-253
Main Authors: Theil, Peter K., Coutant, Albert E., Olesen, Carsten Riis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal behavior
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Autocorrelation
Autoecology
behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Capreolus capreolus
Climate change
Cosine function
Deer
energy
Energy metabolism
FEATURE ARTICLES
Foraging
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Heart
Heart rate
heart rate variability
Mammalia
Metabolism
roe deer
season
Standard deviation
telemetry
Vertebrata
Wildlife management
wind effect
Wind velocity
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Summary:Three free-living female European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.) were fitted with a telemetry implant to measure heart-rate. Observations of behavior of undisturbed deer were made during daylight from 12 February to 12 September 1996 in the Hestehave Forest (185 ha), Kalø, Denmark. Behaviors were classified in 14 different categories. Heart rate (HR, in beats/min) in 10-s intervals was characterized by the mean HR, short-term, long-term, and overall HR variation within an observation period as well as the autocorrelation of mean HR and short-term variability. A statistical model described 90.1% of the observed variation in HR and included 4 parameters: category of behavior, Julian date, deer age, and wind speed. From 11 April to 4 August, HR is described by a tandem cosine curve with a peak on 6 May. In contrast, HR variability (short-term, long-term, and overall variability) was constant throughout the year. HR increased by 0.36 beats/min each time wind speed increased by 1 m/s, and HR variability was also positively affected by the wind speed. HR and HR variability was highest for locomotive behaviors, medium for standing behaviors, and lowest for bedded behaviors. Autocorrelation of mean HR and short-term variability was not significantly affected by any of the observed variables. Using mean HR and HR variability, it was possible statistically to distinguish 10 categories of behavior ranging from bedded with closed eyes (60.5 beats/min) to fleeing (254.8 beats/min).
ISSN:0022-2372
1545-1542
DOI:10.1644/1545-1542%282004%29085%3C0245%3ASCAAVI%3E2.0.CO%3B2