Animal Sciences Commons^™

Dominance And Aggression Among Hummingbirds In The Cloud Forests Of The Talamanca Mountains, Costa Rica, Crystal Sauder, Aileen Scarim

Scholar Week 2016 - present

Hummingbirds (Trochilidae) are known for being aggressive and territorial. By knowing hummingbirds are not very social, nor appear to enjoy having interactions with others, we wanted to observe how multiple species of Trochilidae interact with one another. The study was completed to observe if males of different Trochilidae would be more aggressive at hummingbird feeders over females. Three different feeder locations were decided on, spread across the Savegre Valley region near the Quetzal Education Research Center (QERC). Symbols were agreed upon in order to shorthand the exact series of events that were happening while we observed the feeders. Species and ...

Abundance, Population Dynamics, Reproduction, Rates Of Population Increase And Migration Linkages Of Eastern Australian Humpback Whales (Megaptera Novaeangliae) Utilising Hervey Bay, Queensland, Wally Franklin

Dr Wally Franklin

This study presents the first evidence that the humpback whales utilising Hervey Bay may be a sub-group of the eastern Australian (E1) humpback whale population and that the stopover may contribute to high rates of increase in abundance observed in Hervey Bay compared to other populations. Humpback whales from Hervey Bay are shown to use complex migratory pathways to and from Antarctic feeding areas, are involved in low levels of migratory interchange with nearby populations and, this study provides the first evidence that eastern Australian humpbacks use the southern waters of New Zealand en-route to and from Antarctic feeding areas.

Adaptmap: Exploring Goat Diversity And Adaptation, Alessandra Stella, Ezequiel Luis Nicolazzi, Curtis P. Van Tassell, Max F. Rothschild, Licia Colli, Benjamin D. Rosen, Tad S. Sonstegard, Paola Crepaldi, Gwenola Tosser-Klopp, Stephane Joost, Francesca Bertolini, Jim Reecy

Max Rothschild

International initiatives on goat genetics and genomics

Goats are bred worldwide and present in a wide variety of production environments. Local breeds, which are well adapted to a range of agro-ecological conditions, contribute to ensuring the sustainability of livestock farming in marginal and difficult areas in both developed and developing countries. Compared to other livestock species, goats have been domesticated in a single region and subject to a limited amount of hybridization between breeds, thus they represent one of the best species for the study of genetic diversity and adaptation.

Standardization And Extrapolation Of Icing Stability, Shelf Life, And Safety Under Heat Abuse, Jaden Castinado

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

Inquiries from Kansas citizens requested information on the stability, shelf life, and safety of icings on baked goods after prolonged exposure to heat without refrigeration, often common at county and state fairs. Methods include compiling a sample of icing recipes from Kansas citizens and entering into a database so that recipes could be sorted by factors such as sugar and/or dairy content. A central composite design will then be used to identify trials with variable amounts of sugar, dairy, and sugar with dairy. Current work is focused on creating a concise and navigable database with sufficient data to create ...

Predicting Aged Pork Quality Using A Portable Raman Device, C. C. Santos, J. Zhao, X. Dong, S. M. Lonergan, E. Huff-Lonergan, A. Outhuse, K. B. Carlson, K. J. Prusa, C. A. Fedler, C. Yu, S. D, Shackelford, D. A. King, T. L. Wheeler

Steven M. Lonergan

The utility of Raman spectroscopic signatures of fresh pork loin (1 d & 15 d postmortem) in predicting fresh pork tenderness and slice shear force (SSF) was determined. Partial least square models showed that sensory tenderness and SSF are weakly correlated (R2 = 0.2). Raman spectral data were collected in 6 s using a portable Raman spectrometer (RS). A PLS regression model was developed to predict quantitatively the tenderness scores and SSF values from Raman spectral data, with very limited success. It was discovered that the prediction accuracies for day 15 post mortem samples are significantly greater than that for day ...

Evaluating Opinions Of Kentucky’S Agri-Science Educators On Climate Change, Emily Cook

Scholars Week

Climate Change is the significant long term changes in the weather and temperatures on a large scale and is seen globally. Scientists have been studying the effects of Climate Change on the planet for decades; foreseeing problems of the future. Global Warming has been escalating over the past hundred years with the amount of Carbon Dioxide gases rising into to atmosphere at an alarming rate. Agri-Science Educators across Kentucky are teaching the topics of Climate Change and Global Warming and this research intends to find the truth and variances in their knowledge. Twenty educators from across the state of Kentucky ...

Human Demonstration Does Not Facilitate The Performance Of Horses (Equus Caballus) In A Spatial Problem-Solving Task, Joan-Bryce Burla, Janina Siegwart, Christian Nawroth

Christian Nawroth, Ph.D.

Horses’ ability to adapt to new environments and to acquire new information plays an important role in handling and training. Social learning in particular would be very adaptive for horses as it enables them to flexibly adjust to new environments. In the context of horse handling, social learning from humans has been rarely investigated but could help to facilitate management practices. We assessed the impact of human demonstration on the spatial problem-solving abilities of horses during a detour task. In this task, a bucket with a food reward was placed behind a double-detour barrier and 16 horses were allocated to ...

Goats Prefer Positive Human Emotional Facial Expressions, Christian Nawroth, Natalia Albuquerque, Carine Savalli, Marie-Sophie Single, Alan G. Mcelligott

Christian Nawroth, Ph.D.

Domestication has shaped the physiology and the behaviour of animals to better adapt to human environments. Therefore, human facial expressions may be highly informative for animals domesticated for working closely with people, such as dogs and horses. However, it is not known whether other animals, and particularly those domesticated primarily for production, such as goats, are capable of perceiving human emotional cues. In this study, we investigated whether goats can distinguish human facial expressions when simultaneously shown two images of an unfamiliar human with different emotional valences (positive/ happy or negative/angry). Both images were vertically attached to a wall ...

Human-Directed Behaviour In Goats Is Not Affected By Short-Term Positive Handling, Jan Langbein, Annika Krause, Christian Nawroth

Christian Nawroth, Ph.D.

In addition to domestication, interactions with humans or task-specific training during ontogeny have been proposed to play a key role in explaining differences in human–animal communication across species. In livestock, even short-term positive interactions with caretakers or other reference persons can influence human–animal interaction at different levels and over different periods of time. In this study, we investigated human-directed behaviour in the ‘unsolvable task’ paradigm in two groups of domestic goats (Capra aegagrus hircus). One group was positively handled and habituated to a plastic box by the experimenter to retrieve a food reward, while the other group only ...

The Piping Plover Problem: A Review Of Management Issues For A Threatened Shorebird, Andrew Lydeard, Gerry Harris

Scholars Week

Andrew Lydeard and Gerry Harris

The Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) was federally listed in 1986. Since listing, Piping Plovers have been a focus of conservation and management efforts, particularly on their breeding grounds in the Northern Great Plains, Great Lakes, and northern Atlantic Coast. Despite management efforts that have resulted in range-wide population growth of the Piping Plover, growth in individual populations is often slow and reasons for this are poorly understood. A bias towards understanding drivers of declines on breeding sites compared to wintering and migratory stopover sites may be an underlying cause of this lack of understanding. Conducting ...

Evaluation Of Responses To Vaccination Of Angus Cattle For Four Viruses That Contribute To Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex, L. M. Kramer, M. S. Mayes, E. Fritz-Waters, J. L. Williams, E. D. Downey, R. G. Tait Jr., A. Woolums, C. Chase, J. M. Reecy

James M Reecy

While vaccination is an effective measure in reducing the risk of bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC) in cattle, BRDC losses remain significant. Increasing the efficacy of vaccination depends on elucidating the protective immune response to different antigens included in vaccines, determining the best timing for vaccination and understanding the impact of the age of calf on vaccination. This study measured the serum antibodies present in calves following vaccination against four viruses commonly associated with BRDC: bovine viral diarrhea virus 1 and 2 (BVDV1 and BVDV2), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), and bovine herpesvirus (BHV1). Serum antibody titers were measured in ...

Identifying Roadkill Hotspots Using A Running Average, Kori A. Ogletree, Alfred J. Mead, Evan R. Boitet

Georgia Journal of Science

The identification of roadkill hotspots is necessary prior to the consideration of wildlife road mortality mitigation measures. In a previous study, 178 roadkill specimens were tallied via a driving survey along 21.4 km (13.3 mi) on three connected roadways in Baldwin County, Georgia. Roadkill locations were recorded to the nearest 0.16 km (0.1 mi) using the vehicle odometer. In the current study, location data were used to generate three graphical displays of roadkill distribution: 1) a linear graph of roadkills per 0.16 km (0.1 mi) bin; 2) a linear graph of roadkills per 0 ...

Preventing Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis In Salmonid Fish Along The Columbia River Basin, Whitney L. Wright

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) is a member of the Rhabdoviridae family and causes infectious hematopoietic necrosis (IHN) disease in many salmonid species during the juvenile or “fry” stage of life. IHNV is endemic to Western North America and occurs in the Columbia River Basin, where Steelhead and Chinook salmon are the most abundant IHNV-vulnerable species. IHNV can cause an epidemic in wild or farmed stocks, killing 90-95 percent of the fish it infects. Transmission is currently understood to occur by direct exposure through the gills, and the virus is shed typically from asymptomatic or clinically ill carrier adults at ...

Changes In Spring Arrival Times: Climate Change And The Phenology Of Spring Bird Migration, Aaron Svedlow

Student Scholarship

Climate change and weather affect the phenology of bird migration; however, specific climatological factors associated with these observed effects have only recently been described. The relationship between local, regional, and global climate patterns and avian migration are increasingly important to understand due to the widespread, and potentially negative, implications (such as reduced fecundity) of rapid human induced climate change on bird populations. Migratory birds are under selective pressure to arrive at breeding areas at the optimal time to set up nesting territories and exploit seasonally abundant food resources, and because climate change has the potential to occur more rapidly than ...

Forage News [2019-04], University Of Kentucky Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences

Forage News

• Register today for the Kentucky Grazing School
• Fencing School spaces still open in Burkesville and Russellville
• More Stuff Not in the Book
• Simplifying Grain Drill Calibration
• New Mandatory Paraquat Training Requirements for Applicators
• Grass-Fed and -Finished Beef Production & Marketing: an OAK Field Day - May 2, 2019

Influence Of Amino Acid Supplementations In Juvenile Yellow Perch Fed Plant Protein Combinations, Aaron J. Von Eschen, Michael L. Brown, Kurt A. Rosentrater

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Publications

Distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) in combination with soy protein concentrate (SPC) with and without an essential amino acid (EAA) complex were assessed as protein alternatives in juvenile Yellow Perch Perca flavescens diets. Diets contained 5% FM, 40% SPC, and 20% or 40% DDGS each with or without EAA. No mortalities or health assessment differences were observed during the trial and all fish readily accepted the experimental diets. Diets supplemented with EAA produced greater weight gain, improved feed conversion, and apparent protein digestibility. Performance was consistently improved for fish fed diets containing amino acid supplements. Based on these results ...

Microhabitat Comparison Of Percina Roanoka (Roanoke Darter) And Percina Nevisense (Chainback Darter) In The Roanoke River, Dakota R. Spruill, Steven L. Powers

Virginia Journal of Science

Snorkel observations of Percina roanoka and P. nevisense in the Roanoke River during summer months were followed by measuring current velocity, water depth, and substrate diameter at points of occupation. A total of 89 observations of P. roanoka and 81 observations of P. nevisense were compared using two-sample T-tests. Percina roanoka inhabited faster, shallower water than P. nevisense with the former found in a mean flow of 0.318 m/s and depth of 31.53 cm and the latter in a mean flow of 0.17 m/s and depth of 55.6 cm. Mean diameter of substrate at ...

Density Of Hemigrapsus Sanguineus And Carcinus Maenas In Kettle Cove, Cape Elizabeth, Maine, Valerie Huston, Teresa Martel, Zimzim Mohamed

Thinking Matters Symposium

Our focus for this project is to determine how the population densities of Hemigrapsus sanguineus, Asian shore crab and Carcinus maenas, European green crabs have shifted over a brief period of time. We are comparing data collected on September 17, 2018, to data collected on October 22, 2018. The location where the two sets of data were collected from is Kettle Cove, Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The GPS coordinance was 43°.33.55N70°.13.40N. We discuss what affects the influences of environmental factors such as temperature, salinity, high intertidal versus low intertidal, and percent ascophyllum cover affect have on the ...

X-Inactivation And Epigenetics, Serena Weston

Thinking Matters Symposium

To prevent abnormal development caused by expressing both X chromosomes, female mammals inactivate one of their X chromosomes using an epigenetic process called dosage compensation. This literature review examines how X chromosome inactivation (XCI) occurs during the formation and development of an embryo. This condensation of DNA is marked by histone tail modifications, DNA methylation, and the arrival of structural proteins resulting in extraordinarily stable heterochromatin. X-inactivation is regulated in cis by the X-inactivation center (Xic) that contains the Xist gene and its antisense gene, Tsix. On one X chromosome, Xist RNA is expressed and coats the center of the ...

Influence Of Indirect Cues And Vegetation Density On Foraging Behavior In Snowshoe Hares (Lepus Americanus), Zachary Lankist

Thinking Matters Symposium

Prey avoid chemical cues from predators at feeding sites because the risk of death outweighs the benefit of food. However, we lack information regarding avoidance of chemical cues from competitors as well as how foraging behavior changes alongside vegetative cover. To test if chemical cues and vegetative cover alter prey vigilance, number of visits, and time spent at feeding sites, I observed snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) in plots containing coyote (Canis latrans; predator) and moose (Alces alces; competitor) urine across a spectrum of vegetation densities. Snowshoe hares significantly reduced the number of visits to feeding plots when coyote or moose ...