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<p>Understanding how biologging devices affect small vertebrates is crucial for balancing research needs with animal welfare, particularly in conservation-sensitive taxa such as amphibians. Despite their ecological importance and global declines, amphibians remain largely excluded from biologging studies, limiting the data available for effective management. Here, we experimentally evaluated the behavioural and spatial effects of externally attached tracking devices in three anuran species (<i>Bombina variegata</i>, <i>Bufotes viridis</i>, and <i>Bufo bufo</i>), under both aquatic and terrestrial conditions. Individuals were monitored with and without devices across multiple days to test for short-term impacts on behaviour and potential habituation. We analysed movement metrics using heatmaps, PCA, and mixed models, while locomotor behaviours were classified from tri-axial accelerometer data using both unsupervised (K-means) and supervised (Random Forest) approaches. Across species, device presence produced limited and largely idiosyncratic behavioural changes, with responses varying primarily among individuals. We did not detect systematic alterations in locomotor performance or space use attributable to device attachment. Random Forest classification achieved &gt; 96% accuracy, and species-specific VeDBA thresholds derived from clustering further confirmed the reliability of accelerometer-based behavioural inference. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of biologging in small- to medium-sized amphibians and provide a validated workflow for integrating behavioural classification with spatial analyses. While individual variability highlights the importance of considering animal-specific responses, overall device effects were minimal in the short term. This framework broadens opportunities to apply biologging to amphibians, offering a pathway to obtain movement ecology data essential for evidence-based conservation planning.</p>

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To track or not to track? Evaluation of the influence of tracking devices on toads

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月21日

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  • Priscilla Nesi,
  • Diletta Toscani,
  • Matteo Guidotti,
  • Alessia Scaccia,
  • Daniele Macale,
  • Carlo Catoni,
  • Federico De Pascalis,
  • Leonardo Vignoli

摘要

Understanding how biologging devices affect small vertebrates is crucial for balancing research needs with animal welfare, particularly in conservation-sensitive taxa such as amphibians. Despite their ecological importance and global declines, amphibians remain largely excluded from biologging studies, limiting the data available for effective management. Here, we experimentally evaluated the behavioural and spatial effects of externally attached tracking devices in three anuran species (Bombina variegata, Bufotes viridis, and Bufo bufo), under both aquatic and terrestrial conditions. Individuals were monitored with and without devices across multiple days to test for short-term impacts on behaviour and potential habituation. We analysed movement metrics using heatmaps, PCA, and mixed models, while locomotor behaviours were classified from tri-axial accelerometer data using both unsupervised (K-means) and supervised (Random Forest) approaches. Across species, device presence produced limited and largely idiosyncratic behavioural changes, with responses varying primarily among individuals. We did not detect systematic alterations in locomotor performance or space use attributable to device attachment. Random Forest classification achieved > 96% accuracy, and species-specific VeDBA thresholds derived from clustering further confirmed the reliability of accelerometer-based behavioural inference. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of biologging in small- to medium-sized amphibians and provide a validated workflow for integrating behavioural classification with spatial analyses. While individual variability highlights the importance of considering animal-specific responses, overall device effects were minimal in the short term. This framework broadens opportunities to apply biologging to amphibians, offering a pathway to obtain movement ecology data essential for evidence-based conservation planning.