Animal Sciences Commons^™

Predator Recognition And Responses In The Endangered Macquarie Perch (Macquaria Australasica), Culum Brown, Jennifer Morgan

Sentience Collection

Macquarie perch, Macquaria austalasica, is an endangered species endemic to southern Australia whose distribution is highly fragmented and continues to decline. Key threatening processes include habitat destruction, dams and weirs, overfishing and interactions with introduced species. Here, we examined the responses of small and large Macquarie perch to two native predators and to the introduced redfin perch, Perca fluviatilis. Our results showed that Macquarie perch generally avoided large-bodied native predators but was attracted to small-bodied native predators. Responses to large and small redfin perch lay between these two extremes, suggesting that the Macquarie perch does treat these foreign fish as …

“Goats That Stare At Men” – Dwarf Goats Alter Their Behaviour In Response To Human Head Orientation But Do Not Spontaneously Use Head Direction As A Cue In A Food-Related Context, Christian Nawroth, Eberhard Von Borell, Jan Langbein

Social Cognition Collection

Recently, comparative research on the mechanisms and species-specific adaptive values of attributing attentive states and using communicative cues has gained increased interest, particularly in non-human primates, birds, and dogs. Here, we investigate these phenomena in a farm animal species, the dwarf goat (Capra aegagrus hircus). In the first experiment, we investigated the effects of different human head and body orientations, as well as human experimenter presence/absence, of a human on the behaviour of goats in a food-anticipating paradigm. Over a 30-sec interval, the experimenter engaged in one of four different postures or behaviours (head and body towards the subject, head …

Scent Of The Familiar: An Fmri Study Of Canine Brain Responses To Familiar And Unfamiliar Human And Dog Odors, Gregory S. Berns, Andrew M. Brooks, Mark Spivak

Social Cognition Collection

Understanding dogs’ perceptual experience of both conspecifics and humans is important to understand how dogs evolved and the nature of their relationships with humans and other dogs. Olfaction is believed to be dogs’ most powerful and perhaps important sense and an obvious place to begin for the study of social cognition of conspecifics and humans. We used fMRI in a cohort of dogs (N = 12) that had been trained to remain motionless while unsedated and unrestrained in the MRI. By presenting scents from humans and conspecifics, we aimed to identify the dimensions of dogs’ responses to salient biological …

A General Framework For Animal Density Estimation From Acoustic Detections Across A Fixed Microphone Array, Ben C. Stevenson, David L. Borchers, Res Altwegg, René Swift, Douglas M. Gillespie, G. John Measey

Bioacoustics Collection

1. Acoustic monitoring can be an efficient, cheap, non‐invasive alternative to physical trapping of individuals. Spatially explicit capture–recapture (SECR) methods have been proposed to estimate calling animal abundance and density from data collected by a fixed array of microphones. However, these methods make some assumptions that are unlikely to hold in many situations, and the consequences of violating these are yet to be investigated.
2. We generalize existing acoustic SECR methodology, enabling these methods to be used in a much wider variety of situations. We incorporate time‐of‐arrival (TOA) data collected by the microphone array, increasing the precision of calling animal density estimates. …

Dairy Digest 2015, South Dakota State University Dairy Club

Dairy Digest

No abstract provided.

Accuracy Or Precision: Implications Of Sample Design And Methodology On Abundance Estimation, Lucas K. Kowalewski, Christopher J. Chizinski, Larkin A. Powell, Kevin L. Pope, Mark A. Pegg

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Sampling by spatially replicated counts (point-count) is an increasingly popular method of estimating population size of organisms. Challenges exist when sampling by point-count method, and it is often impractical to sample entire area of interest and impossible to detect every individual present. Ecologists encounter logistical limitations that force them to sample either few large-sample units or many small sample-units, introducing biases to sample counts. We generated a computer environment and simulated sampling scenarios to test the role of number of samples, sample unit area, number of organisms, and distribution of organisms in the estimation of population sizes using N-mixture …

Likelihood Of Marine Pest Introduction To The Indian Ocean Territories, Justin I. Mcdonald, Samantha D. Bridgwood, Mathew Hourston

Fisheries Research Reports

The introduction of new species to environments in which they did not evolve has been widely recognised as one of the top five threats to marine ecosystem function and to biodiversity (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005).

Behavioral Observations: Foraging And Aggression Of Neotropical Migrants And Resident Birds In Panama, Jessica M. Johnston, Samuel B. King, Ryan A. Levering

Rice Rivers Center Research Symposium

Lyons suggests that foraging data in songbirds can be an indicator of food abundance, with higher attack rate= higher habitat quality; higher foraging speed= lower habitat quality (2005). Territorial behavior such as interspecific aggression among songbirds may also be related to food availability. Previous studies have documented variation in the extent of territorial and aggressive behaviors among resident and Neotropical migratory species on tropical wintering grounds. This research gathered foraging and aggression data at two coastal angroves sites in central Panama, one on the Caribbean Coast (Galeta) and one on the Pacific Coast (Juan Diaz-East). Foraging data was used an …

The Feral Cat Conundrum: Assessing The Science And Ethics Of Trap-Neuter-Return, Emily Vincent 15

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

Ua66/5 Department Of Agriculture 2015 Newsletter, Department Of Agriculture And Food Science

Agriculture Department Publications

No abstract provided.

Fisheries Research Report No. 260 - Management Implications Of Climate Change Effect On Fisheries In Western Australia Part 1: Environmental Change And Risk Assessment Frdc: Project No. 2010/535, Nicolavito Caputi, Ming Feng, Alan Pearce, J Benthuysen, Ainslie M. Denham, Y Hetzel, Gary Jackson, Brett W. Molony, Lindsay M. Joll, Arani N. Chandrapavan

Fisheries Research Reports

Objectives: 1. Assess future climate change effects on Western Australia’s marine environment using a suite of IPCC model projections, downscaled to the key shelf regions and the spatial and temporal scales relevant for key fisheries 2. Examine the modeled shelf climate change scenarios on fisheries and implications of historic and future climate change effects 3. Review management arrangements to examine their robustness to possible effects of climate change

Identification Key For Chewing Lice (Phthiraptera: Amblycera, Ischnocera) Infesting The Indian Peafowl (Pavo Cristatus) With One New Country Record And New Host Record For Saudi Arabia, Mohamed Nasser, Azzam Al-Ahmed, Mohammed Shobrak, Yousif Aldryhim

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The amblyceran and ischnoceran lice removed from the Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus L.) collected at the Riyadh bird market, and other specimens available in the King Saud University Museum of Arthropods, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, were identified. Amyrsidea minuta Emerson, a new country record, and Goniodes dissimilis Denny were found infesting the Indian Peafowl in Saudi Arabia. Goniodes dissimilis is recorded for the first time from this bird species, along with Menacanthus stramineus (Nitzsch), the well-known chicken body louse. All previous records of the 12 species of chewing louse reported from the Indian Peafowl are reviewed. An identification key for …

Phylogenetic Relationships Among Populations Of Pristurus Rupestris Blanford,1874 (Sauria: Sphaerodactylidae) In Southern Iran, Sugol Yousofi, Eskandar Rastegar Pouyani, Vida Hojati

Turkish Journal of Zoology

We examined intraspecific relationships of the subspecies Pristurus rupestris iranicus from the northern Persian Gulf area (Hormozgan, Bushehr, and Sistan and Baluchestan provinces). Phylogenetic relationships among these samples were estimated based on the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. We used three methods of phylogenetic tree reconstruction (maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony, and Bayesian inference). The sampled populations were divided into 5 clades but exhibit little genetic divergence between populations, suggesting that these all represent a single species and subspecies. The low genetic divergences suggest that the species may have expanded its range within Iran since the last drying period of the Persian …

Karyological And Some Morphological Characteristics Of The Egyptian Mongoose, Herpestes Ichneumon (Mammalia: Carnivora), Along With Current Distribution Range In Turkey, Şaki̇r Önder Özkurt

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The Egyptian mongoose is the only member of the family Herpestidae in Turkey. The species is distributed mainly in Africa, and Turkey constitutes the northernmost distribution margin of the species. Thus far, a natural specimen's karyotype from an area with a known locality for H. ichneumon has not been studied. The karyotype of a male specimen from Hatay was determined to be 2n = 43, NF = 71, NFa = 66. The X1 and X2 chromosomes were middle-sized metacentric, and the Y chromosome was middle-sized telocentric. The external and skull measurements of the Adana-Yumurtalık and Hatay specimens are given here …

Parasites Of The Common Carp Cyprinus Carpio L., 1758 (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) From Water Bodies Of Turkey: Updated Checklist And Review For The 1964-2014 Period, Lorenzo Vilizzi, Ali̇ Serhan Tarkan, Fitnat Güler Ekmekçi̇

Turkish Journal of Zoology

A synopsis is provided of the parasites of common carp Cyprinus carpio L. From water bodies of Turkey based on literature data from 1964 to 2014. In total, 45 studies were included in the review and these provided data from 41 water bodies, comprising 12 man-made reservoirs, 21 natural lakes, and 8 water courses. Forty-one different taxa (including molluscan Glochidium sp.) in total were recorded. Of these taxa, 2 had not been previously reviewed for Turkey, and 4 were excluded from the list because of dubious identification. The Turkish parasite fauna of common carp living under natural conditions was dominated …

Taxonomic Survey On The Rogadinae Förster, 1862 (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) In The Northeastern Anatolian Region, Turkey, Ahmet Beyarslan

Turkish Journal of Zoology

In order to study the fauna of Rogadinae (Hym., Braconidae) of Turkey, adult specimens were collected from different habitats of the provinces of Ardahan, Erzurum, Iğdır, Kars, and Muş (partially) in the northeastern Anatolian region of Turkey between 2011 and 2014. Specimens were collected from a total of 115 localities. All specimens were obtained from natural vegetation or agricultural areas by using either a sweeping net, Malaise traps, or light traps. In total, 14 species belonging to the genus Aleiodes Wesmael were collected and identified from the studied regions; among them, 6 species are recorded for the first time from …

Ua3/2/1 President's Office-Garrett Correspondence/Subject File, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

General correspondence and subject files regarding Western Kentucky University.

2015 Interior Least Tern And Piping Plover Monitoring, Research, Management, And Outreach Report For The Lower Platte River, Nebraska, Mary Bomberger Brown, Lauren R. Dinan, Joel G. Jorgensen

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Abstract:

This document reports on our monitoring, research, management, and outreach activities during the past 12 months (2014–2015). We prepared it to inform our partners, cooperating agencies, funding sources, and other interested parties of our activities and to provide a preliminary summary of our results.

The lower Platte River and its major tributaries provide important nesting and migratory stopover habitat for two bird species of special conservation concern: the state and federally endangered Interior Least Tern (Sternula antillarum athalassos) and threatened Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus). The Tern and Plover Conservation Partnership (TPCP), based at the University …

Predictions Of Future Ephemeral Springtime Waterbird Stopover Habitat Availability Under Global Change, Daniel R. Uden, Craig R. Allen, Andrew A. Bishop, Roger Grosse, Christopher F. Jorgensen, Theodore G. Lagrange, Randy G. Stutheit, Mark P. Vrtiska

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

In the present period of rapid, worldwide change in climate and landuse (i.e., global change), successful biodiversity conservation warrants proactive management responses, especially for long-distance migratory species. However, the development and implementation of management strategies can be impeded by high levels of uncertainty and low levels of control over potentially impactful future events and their effects. Scenario planning and modeling are useful tools for expanding perspectives and informing decisions under these conditions. We coupled scenario planning and statistical modeling to explain and predict playa wetland inundation (i.e., presence/absence of water) and ponded area (i.e., extent of water) in the Rainwater …

The Importance Of Scaling For Detecting Community Patterns: Success And Failure In Assemblages Of Introduced Species, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler, Michael P. Moulton, Crawford S. Holling

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Community saturation can help to explain why biological invasions fail. However, previous research has documented inconsistent relationships between failed invasions (i.e., an invasive species colonizes but goes extinct) and the number of species present in the invaded community. We use data from bird communities of the Hawaiian island of Oahu, which supports a community of 38 successfully established introduced birds and where 37 species were introduced but went extinct (failed invasions). We develop a modified approach to evaluate the effects of community saturation on invasion failure. Our method accounts (1) for the number of species present (NSP) when the species …

Effects Of Alternative Framing On The Publics Perceived Importance Of Environmental Conservation, Amanda E. Sorensen, Daniel Clark, Rebecca C. Jordan

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Effective communication of science to the general public is important for numerous reasons, including support for policy, funding, informed public decision making, among others. Prior research has found that scientists participating in public policy and public communication must frame their communication efforts in order to connect with audiences. A frame is the mechanism that individuals use to understand and interpret the world around them. Framing can encourage specific interpretations and reference points for a particular issue or event; especially when meaning is negotiated between the media and public audiences. In this study, we looked at the effect of framing within …

Abiotic Habitat Preferences Of Age-0 Paddlefish In Lake Sakakawea, North Dakota During Late Summer, Derek Dufault

Journal of Earth and Life Science

Since the early 1990’s, surface visual counts along transects have been conducted annually, allowing for estimates of relative abundance and year-class strength of age-0 paddlefish Polyodon spathula on the upper portions of Lake Sakakawea, North Dakota. This study focuses on the annual visual surface count data collected over an eleven year period from 2004-2014. More specifically it focuses on abiotic habitat factors (Secchi depth, water depth, and water temperature) and how they relate to age-0 paddlefish locations in late summer. Understanding habitat use during early life stages is imperative, yet to date, there is very limited knowledge available regarding the …

Influence Of Depth And Retrieval Speed On Yellow Perch Barotrauma Recovery Time In Winter, Bradley J. Klingsheim

Journal of Earth and Life Science

Physoclistous fish are often affected by barotrauma because the swim bladder is not connected to the esophagus. Barotrauma is increasingly being used in assessing mortality in fish brought from deep water. Barotrauma is the physical damage that occurs because of the over inflation of the gas bladder resulting from a rapid decrease in ambient pressure. The two important factors influencing barotrauma effects are water depth and decompression. In this study, two experiments were conducted on yellow perch (Perca flavescens) at three depth locations on Grace Lake, Bemidji, Minnesota. Fish were measured for barotrauma recovery time (s) following capture by hook …

The Effects Of Harvest Regulations On Behaviors Of Duck Hunters, Matthew T. Haugen, Larkin A. Powell, Mark P. Vrtiska, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Uncertainty exists as to how duck harvest regulations influence waterfowl hunter behavior. We used the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Parts Collection Survey to examine how harvest regulations affected behaviors of Central Flyway duck hunters. We stratified hunters into ranked groups based on seasonal harvest and identified three periods (1975–1984, 1988–1993, 2002–2011) that represented different harvest regulations (moderate, restrictive, and liberal, respectively; season length and daily bag limits smallest in restrictive seasons and largest in liberal seasons). We examined variability of seven measures of duck hunter behaviors across the periods: days harvesting ducks, daily harvest, hunter mobility, mallard (Anas platyrhynchos …

Masked Expression Of Life- History Traits In A Highly Variable Environment, Jason A. Deboer, Joseph J. Fontaine, Christopher J. Chizinski, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Differing life-history strategies may act as a constraint on reproductive expression that ultimately limits the ability of individual species to respond to changes in the magnitude or frequency of environmental variation, and potentially underlies the variation oft en inherent in phenotypic and evolved responses to anthropogenic change. Alternatively, if there are environmental cues that predict reproductive potential, differential expression of life-history strategies may represent differences in the adaptive capacity to optimize current reproductive value given variation in environmental conditions. We compared several aspects of walleye Sander vitreus spawning ecology at two reservoirs that diff er in environmental variability (i.e., annual …

Fisheries Research Report 261: Management Implications Of Climate Change Effect On Fisheries In Western Australia Part 2: Case Studies Frdc Project No. 2010/535, Nicolavito Caputi, Feng Ming, Alan Pearce, J Benthuysen, Ainslie M. Denham, Y Hetzel, R Matear, Gary Jackson, Brett W. Molony, M Lindsay, Arani N. Chandrapavan

Fisheries Research Reports

The Western Rock Lobster Panulirus cygnus (George) is taken by commercial and recreational fishers throughout its geographic range along the lower west coast of Western Australia. It is fished by three managed fisheries; West Coast Rock Lobster Managed Fishery (WCRLMF), Augusta–Windy Harbour Managed Fishery and the South Coast Crustacean Fisheries. The WCRLMF is the largest fishery encompassing most of the Western Rock Lobster’s (WRL) geographic range (Figure 1.1.1), including the most productive regions and is Australia’s largest single-species fishery worth $200–400 million annually.

Technical Note: Collection And Preparation Techniques Change Nutrient Composition Of Masticate Collected From Esophageally Fistulated Cattle, Jacqueline A. Musgrave, J. V. Judy, K. H. Jenkins, T. J. Klopfenstein, L. A. Stalker

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Two experiments determined effects of collection and preparation techniques on nutrient composition of masticate samples from esophageally fistulated cattle. In Exp. 1, 12 esophageally fistulated cattle were maintained on 2 precollection diets, high CP (24% CP; n = 6) or low CP (7.7% CP; n = 6), for 8 d. On d 9, the esophageal plug was removed, screen bottom bags were attached, and each cow was offered fresh grass. Immediately after fresh grass sample collection was complete, dry grass (hay) was offered and a sample was collected. Blood samples were collected and analyzed for serum urea nitrogen concentration. Masticate …

Osseointegration Of Wrapped Dental Implants In Rabbits, Alex Whitehead

AUCTUS: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

Edentulous patients (those lacking teeth) require one of two approaches to augmentation: inserting a vertical bone graft, or subperiosteally anchoring a device on which an implant can be attached. Bone grafts have had unpredictable results and can undergo resorption over time, compromising implant stability and success. As of the subperiosteal approach, current materials have not proven to directly integrate with the bone, in a process termed osseointegration. Therefore, we used additive manufacturing to create a Ti6Al4V alloy surface with a specific roughness to determine if it would be osseoinductive in a challenging rabbit model over six weeks.

Neuronal Migration: How Do You Build A Brain?, Sravya Uppalapati

AUCTUS: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

Senior biology major Alex Burkard is working in the Walsh Neurodevelopment Laboratory at VCU to help answer the question, ‘How do you build a brain?’ Burkard is researching neuronal migration in Zebrafish and how cellular polarity affects hindbrain development.

The Dry Season Shuffle: Gorges Provide Refugia For Animal Communities In Tropical Savannah Ecosystems, J. Sean Doody, Simon Clulow, Geoff Kay, Domenic D'Amore, David Rhind

USF St. Petersburg Campus Faculty Publications

In the wet-dry tropics, animal species face the major challenges of acquiring food, water or shelter during an extended dry season. Although large and conspicuous animals such as ungulates and waterfowl migrate to wetter areas during this time, little is known of how smaller and more cryptic animal species with less mobility meet these challenges. We fenced off the entire entrance of a gorge in the Australian tropical savanna, offering the unique opportunity to determine the composition and seasonal movement patterns of the small vertebrate community. The 1.7 km-long fence was converted to a trapline that was deployed for 18-21 …