Predicting Metabolic Rate from Telemetered Heart Rate in White-Tailed Deer

Abstract

Six adult white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were equipped with heart rate telemeters and placed in a temperature-controlled, indirect respiration calorimeter to measure heart rate and metabolic rate simultaneously. Over a 4-yr period, from 1970-1973, 20 trials were conducted covering 9 calendar months. In each trial 5-12 different ambient temperatures were maintained, each for 12 consecutive hours (period), giving a wide range in the traits being measured; in all, 165 such periods were studied. An equation is presented for predicting metabolic rate from mean heart rate; it accounts for 78% of the variation in metabolic rate.