Svalbard Reindeer Circadian Rhythms Under Arctic Photoperiods

A study of locomotor activity, rumen temperature, and heart rate in free-living Svalbard reindeer across the Arctic year. Lomb-Scargle periodogram analyses with high statistical power found diel or circadian rhythmicity persisted throughout the year, including during Polar Night and midnight sun. The data reveal profound seasonal changes in foraging, metabolic activity, and rhythm power as adaptations to extreme High Arctic conditions.

Use Cases

• Analyze the persistence of diel rhythmicity in locomotor activity during Polar Night and midnight sun conditions.
• Model the relationship between rumen temperature and heart rate with seasonal foraging activity peaks.
• Investigate the attenuation of circadian rhythms when continuous daylight coincides with the period of growing forage.
• Compare the power of diel rhythmicity across 15-day intervals for the less frequently measured heart rate data.

Strengths

• Analysis based on Lomb-Scargle periodogram methods with high statistical power.
• Study covers the full annual cycle, including extreme Polar Night and continual daylight periods.
• Findings represent the most pronounced and long-lasting metabolic suppression ever found in ungulates.

Limitations

• Specific data structure, column details, row counts, and file formats are not provided.
• The dataset appears to be a static research output from a specific study, not a continuously updated time series.
• Heart rate data was measured less frequently, with some 15-day intervals lacking significant rhythmicity.

Provenance

Source

Walter Arnold via Dryad.

Collection Method

Lomb-Scargle periodogram analyses of measures from free-living Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus).

Time Range

Covers an annual cycle, including Polar Night and summer midnight sun.

Freshness

Last updated in June 2020.

Geography

High Arctic, specifically Svalbard.