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Animal Sciences Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Animal Sciences

Predicting Habitat Choice After Rapid Environmental Change, Philip H. Crowley, Pete C. Trimmer, Orr Spiegel, Sean M. Ehlman, William S. Cuello, Andrew Sih May 2019

Predicting Habitat Choice After Rapid Environmental Change, Philip H. Crowley, Pete C. Trimmer, Orr Spiegel, Sean M. Ehlman, William S. Cuello, Andrew Sih

Biology Faculty Publications

Decisions made while searching for settlement sites (e.g., nesting, oviposition) often have major fitness implications. Despite numerous case studies, we lack theory to explain why some species are thriving while others are making poor habitat choices after environmental change. We develop a model to predict (1) which kinds of environmental change have larger, negative effects on fitness, (2) how evolutionary history affects susceptibility to environmental change, and (3) how much lost fitness can be recovered via readjustment after environmental change. We model the common scenario where animals search an otherwise inhospitable matrix, encountering habitats of varying quality and settling when …


Long-Term Effects Of Different Fat Sources And Vitamin E Supplementation On Growth Performance, Antioxidant Status, Carcass Characteristics, Meat Quality, And Immune Capacity Of Pigs With Heavy Slaughter Weight Up To 150 Kg, Ding Wang Jan 2019

Long-Term Effects Of Different Fat Sources And Vitamin E Supplementation On Growth Performance, Antioxidant Status, Carcass Characteristics, Meat Quality, And Immune Capacity Of Pigs With Heavy Slaughter Weight Up To 150 Kg, Ding Wang

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

Two experiments were used to evaluate the potential interaction of fat source and vitamin E (VE) in heavy slaughter weight pigs. In Experiment 1, a total of 64 individually-fed pigs (28.41 ± 0.83 kg) were randomly assigned to 8 dietary treatments in a 4×2 factorial arrangement. Fat treatments included cornstarch (CS), tallow (TW), corn-oil (CO), and coconut-oil (CN). VE treatments were dietary α-tocopheryl acetate (ATA) at 11 and 200 ppm. In Experiment 2, a total of 72 individually fed pigs (28.55 ± 1.16 kg) were randomly assigned to 12 dietary treatments in a 2 × 6 factorial arrangement. Fat treatments …


Quantifying White-Tailed Deer Density And Its Impacts On Agricultural Systems, Jonathan A. Matthews Jan 2019

Quantifying White-Tailed Deer Density And Its Impacts On Agricultural Systems, Jonathan A. Matthews

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) commonly consume row crops, with yield losses often attributed to their browsing. Deer density and field morphology may predict yield losses within local areas. We sought to 1) determine the effects of deer browsing on corn and soybean yields and investigate if deer density or field morphology correlated to yield loss in western Kentucky, and 2) compare pellet-based distance sampling to game camera surveys to determine if a distance sampling technique could accurately estimate deer density during the growing season. Overall, deer reduced corn and soybean yields on one-half of surveyed properties. Deer density …


Trade-Offs Shape Carotenoid-Based Color Variation In Redheaded Pine Sawfly (Neodiprion Lecontei) Larvae, Maranda Gaines Jan 2019

Trade-Offs Shape Carotenoid-Based Color Variation In Redheaded Pine Sawfly (Neodiprion Lecontei) Larvae, Maranda Gaines

Lewis Honors College Capstone Collection

Carotenoids serve various ecological roles in animals including coloration, immune responses, and vision. Carotenoid-derived coloration is greatly emphasized in the literature, particularly relating to mate choice and aposematic warning. However, the trade-offs between the color and non-color functions of carotenoids are not thoroughly explored. In the redheaded pine sawfly (Neodiprion lecontei), some larval populations have yellow pigmentation, using carotenoids derived from their diets for aposematic warning coloration. Other larval populations are white in color, having genetically lost the ability to produce the yellow pigment. Because carotenoids are essential to life functions in both the yellow and white populations, we aim …