A system for automatic recording of social behavior in a free-living wild house mouse population

Abstract

A system for automatic recording of social behavior in a free-living wild house mouse population König et al. König et al. Anim Biotelemetry (2015) AbstractBackground: Our research focuses on mechanisms that promote and stabilize social behavior, fitness consequences of cooperation, and how interactions with conspecifics structure groups and populations. To this end, we studied wild house mice (Mus musculus domesticus) in the laboratory, in semi-natural enclosures and in the field. In 2002, we initiated a project on a free-living population of house mice in a barn near Zurich, Switzerland, where mice were equipped with RFID transponders and were provided with 40 nest boxes for resting and breeding. The population typically comprised between 250 and 400 mice. Methods:To analyze social group membership, social interactions and social preferences of the mice in our study population over their lifespan, we installed a continuous transponder reading system (AniLoc, FBI Science GmbH, Germany). Mice accessed nest boxes through tunnels equipped with two antennas each. When a mouse implanted with an RFID transponder passed the electromagnetic field of an antenna, its identity was transmitted and registered in real time with AniLoc. Additionally, body weights of mice were automatically registered at eight drinking facilities (Intelliscale, FBI Science GmbH, Germany). Here, a mouse sits on a freely movable platform that connects to a scale registering body weight when drinking, and an antenna around the head of the water bottle registers the drinking individual's RFID transponder. Results:The system enabled continuous remote monitoring of the behavior of a free-living, open population of house mice, when using nest boxes and when drinking. Since such safe places are an important resource for survival and reproduction, time of day, duration and frequency of meetings with conspecifics reveal information about the function of their interactions. Trigger efficiency of antennas was 98.2 %. Mice entered and left the nest boxes with an average speed of 0.03 m/s, which is within the antennas' detection capacity (detection speed of 1 m/s or 3.6 km/h). The antenna devices documented not only social structuring of our study population but also spatial genetic structuring. The observation that mice lived in rather closed social groups and tended to share nest boxes with relatives highlights the importance of kin selection for the evolution and maintenance of social behavior. Conclusions:We suggest that such automatic recording of activity, spatial distribution and social interactions is helpful not only in field studies, for a variety of species, but also in captivity or laboratory studies, to answer basic questions in behavioral ecology, population ecology, population genetics, conservation biology, disease ecology, or animal welfare.

Quantifying individual influence in leading-following behavior of Bechstein’s bats

“…Our methodological contribution can be also adopted for other species where leading-following behavior plays a role and only recordings of individual positions are available. This includes, for example, automatic RFID-tag recordings at feeding stations (Farine and Whitehead, 2015) and other resources where dierent group members meet, such as burrows in rodents (König et al, 2015). As we demonstrate, such recordings can be systematically analyzed by comparing (statistically) the distributions of L/F time dierences, to infer genuine L/F events.…”

Contact patterns reveal a stable dynamic community structure with fission-fusion dynamics in wild house mice

“…The house mouse study allowed a longitudinal observation of a free-ranging population of individually marked house mice (König and Lindholm, 2012;König et al, 2015;Geiger et al, 2018;Ferrari et al, 2019). The experiment was set up in 2002 in a barn of approximately 72m 2 near Zürich, Switzerland, where a free-living population of Mus musculus domesticus resides until today.…”

“…The set-up mimics natural conditions of house mice in middle Europe, providing shelter, food and the possibility for migration. As basis for our study we use automated observations in the form of directional movement information drawn from RFID-antennas (König et al, 2015) at the entrance of artificial nest boxes used by the mice for resting and as safe places to rear litters. In a first part, we assess the composition of the studied population and characterize dyadic contact patterns.…”

An automated barcode tracking system for behavioural studies in birds

“…These tags provide a unique identity when in range of a radio frequency identification antenna. PIT tags are lightweight, inexpensive and require no battery power, enabling large‐scale deployment over long periods of time, and they can be used in both laboratory (Boogert, Farine, & Spencer, ; Farine, Spencer, & Boogert, ; Griffith, Holleley, Mariette, Pryke, & Svedin, ; Weissbrod et al., ) and field conditions (Adelman, Moyers, Farine, & Hawley, ; Aplin et al., ; Bonter & Bridge, ; Broderick & Godley, ; Farine, Aplin, Garroway, Mann, & Sheldon, ; König et al., ; Mariette et al., ; Steinmeyer, Mueller, & Kempenaers, ). Although many individuals can be tagged, the antennas can only detect one individual at a time and only at fixed focal locations, such as nest boxes (Santema, Schlicht, Schlicht, & Kempenaers, ; Schlicht, Valcu, & Kempenaers, ), feeders (Firth, Sheldon, & Farine, ), or puzzle‐boxes (Aplin et al., ), which limits resolution for assessing interactions among individuals.…”