The use of miniaturised Bluetooth Low Energy proximity loggers to study contacts among small rodents in agricultural settings.
Small rodents can cause problems on farms such as infrastructure damage, crop losses or pathogen transfer. The latter threatens humans and livestock alike. Frequent contacts between wild rodents and livestock favour pathogen transfer and it is therefore important to understand the movement patterns...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2025-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0312553 |
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| author | Florian Huels Bram Vanden Broecke Vincent Sluydts Lucinda Kirkpatrick Ivan Herrera Olivares Hendrik Ennen Dries Vermeiren Herwig Leirs Jens Jacob |
| author_facet | Florian Huels Bram Vanden Broecke Vincent Sluydts Lucinda Kirkpatrick Ivan Herrera Olivares Hendrik Ennen Dries Vermeiren Herwig Leirs Jens Jacob |
| author_sort | Florian Huels |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Small rodents can cause problems on farms such as infrastructure damage, crop losses or pathogen transfer. The latter threatens humans and livestock alike. Frequent contacts between wild rodents and livestock favour pathogen transfer and it is therefore important to understand the movement patterns of small mammals in order to develop strategies to prevent damage and health issues. Miniaturised proximity loggers are a newly developed tool for monitoring spatial behaviour of small mammals. The strength of the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signal can be used as an indicator of close contacts between wild rodents and livestock feeding sites, which is relevant for identifying possible transmission routes. This method study focussed on the use of the technology in an agricultural setting as well as dry runs for testing and calibrating this technology in farming environments used for animal husbandry. Results show that the battery life of the loggers was mainly influenced by the pre-set scan interval. Short scan intervals resulted in reduced battery lifespan and should be maximised according to the activity patterns of the target species. Habitat affects BLE signal strength resulting in higher signal strength indoors than outdoors. The height of the location of the loggers positively affected signal strength in livestock stables. Signal reception generally decreased with increasing distance and differed among loggers making calibration necessary. Within habitat specific distances, BLE proximity logging systems can identify contacts among small mammals and between animals and particular structures of interest. These results support the use of BLE based systems in animal husbandry environments and contribute to a body of evidence of validated techniques. In addition, such approaches can provide valuable insights into possible pathogen transmission routes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e085c00ce30c4f1787e86fc614965904 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-e085c00ce30c4f1787e86fc6149659042025-08-20T03:46:20ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01201e031255310.1371/journal.pone.0312553The use of miniaturised Bluetooth Low Energy proximity loggers to study contacts among small rodents in agricultural settings.Florian HuelsBram Vanden BroeckeVincent SluydtsLucinda KirkpatrickIvan Herrera OlivaresHendrik EnnenDries VermeirenHerwig LeirsJens JacobSmall rodents can cause problems on farms such as infrastructure damage, crop losses or pathogen transfer. The latter threatens humans and livestock alike. Frequent contacts between wild rodents and livestock favour pathogen transfer and it is therefore important to understand the movement patterns of small mammals in order to develop strategies to prevent damage and health issues. Miniaturised proximity loggers are a newly developed tool for monitoring spatial behaviour of small mammals. The strength of the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signal can be used as an indicator of close contacts between wild rodents and livestock feeding sites, which is relevant for identifying possible transmission routes. This method study focussed on the use of the technology in an agricultural setting as well as dry runs for testing and calibrating this technology in farming environments used for animal husbandry. Results show that the battery life of the loggers was mainly influenced by the pre-set scan interval. Short scan intervals resulted in reduced battery lifespan and should be maximised according to the activity patterns of the target species. Habitat affects BLE signal strength resulting in higher signal strength indoors than outdoors. The height of the location of the loggers positively affected signal strength in livestock stables. Signal reception generally decreased with increasing distance and differed among loggers making calibration necessary. Within habitat specific distances, BLE proximity logging systems can identify contacts among small mammals and between animals and particular structures of interest. These results support the use of BLE based systems in animal husbandry environments and contribute to a body of evidence of validated techniques. In addition, such approaches can provide valuable insights into possible pathogen transmission routes.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0312553 |
| spellingShingle | Florian Huels Bram Vanden Broecke Vincent Sluydts Lucinda Kirkpatrick Ivan Herrera Olivares Hendrik Ennen Dries Vermeiren Herwig Leirs Jens Jacob The use of miniaturised Bluetooth Low Energy proximity loggers to study contacts among small rodents in agricultural settings. PLoS ONE |
| title | The use of miniaturised Bluetooth Low Energy proximity loggers to study contacts among small rodents in agricultural settings. |
| title_full | The use of miniaturised Bluetooth Low Energy proximity loggers to study contacts among small rodents in agricultural settings. |
| title_fullStr | The use of miniaturised Bluetooth Low Energy proximity loggers to study contacts among small rodents in agricultural settings. |
| title_full_unstemmed | The use of miniaturised Bluetooth Low Energy proximity loggers to study contacts among small rodents in agricultural settings. |
| title_short | The use of miniaturised Bluetooth Low Energy proximity loggers to study contacts among small rodents in agricultural settings. |
| title_sort | use of miniaturised bluetooth low energy proximity loggers to study contacts among small rodents in agricultural settings |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0312553 |
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