Animal Sciences Commons^™

An Acoustic Monitoring Method For Assessing River Dolphin Presence And Changes In The Context Of Anthropogenic Development, Charles A. Muirhead

Graduate Masters Theses

Populations of river dolphins throughout Asia are in decline as a direct result of intensified anthropogenic activity along river systems. Water development projects, land use change, contamination, and intensified fishing practices are known factors contributing to the probable extinction of the Yangtze river dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer) and declining populations of the South Asian river dolphin (Platanista gangetica spp.), Irrawady dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris), and finless porpoise (Neophocaena a. asiaeorientalis). Although not yet as extensive, river system development in South America is following a similar path as that of Asia, with impacts on dolphin species likely to follow. Currently, the Amazon river …

Using Physical Contact Heterogeneity And Frequency To Characterize Dynamics Of Human Exposure To Nonhuman Primate Bodily Fluids In Central Africa, Victor Narat, Mamdou Kampo, Thibut Heyer, Stephanie Rupp, Philippe Ambata, Richard Njouom, Tamara Giles-Vernick

Publications and Research

Emerging infectious diseases of zoonotic origin constitute a recurrent threat to global health. Nonhuman primates (NHPs) occupy an important place in zoonotic spillovers (pathogenic transmissions from animals to humans), serving as reservoirs or amplifiers of multiple neglected tropical diseases, including viral hemorrhagic fevers and arboviruses, parasites and bacteria, as well as retroviruses (simian foamy virus, PTLV) that are pathogenic in human beings. Hunting and butchering studies in Africa characterize at-risk human social groups, but overlook critical factors of contact heterogeneity and frequency, NHP species differences, and meat processing practices. In southeastern Cameroon, a region with a history of zoonotic emergence …

Simulating Detection-Censored Movement Records For Home Range Analysis Planning, Lyndsie S. Wszola, Victoria L. Simonsen, Lucía Corral, Christopher J. Chizinski, Joseph J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Home range estimation is an important analytical method in applied spatial ecology, yet best practices for addressing the effects of spatial variation in detection probability on home range estimates remain elusive. We introduce the R package “DiagnoseHR,” simulation tools for assessing how variation in detection probability arising from landscape, animal behavior, and methodological processes affects home range inference. We demonstrate the utility of simulation methods for home range analysis planning by comparing bias arising from three home range estimation methods under multiple detection scenarios. We simulated correlated random walks in three landscapes that varied in detection probability and constructed home …

Bovine Mammary Gland Biopsy Techniques, Veridiana L. Daley, Charles Dye, Sophie H. Bogers, R. Michael Akers, Francisco C. Rodriguez, John P. Cant, John Doelman, Peter Yoder, Karan Kumar, Dane Webster, Mark D. Hanigan

Animal and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

Bovine mammary gland biopsies allow researchers to collect tissue samples to study cell biology including gene expression, histological analysis, signaling pathways, and protein translation. This article describes two techniques for biopsy of the bovine mammary gland (MG). Three healthy Holstein dairy cows were the subjects. Before biopsies, cows were milked and subsequently restrained in a cattle chute. An analgesic (flunixin meglumine, 1.1 to 2.2 mg/kg of body weight) was administered via jugular intravenous [IV] injection 15-20 min prior to biopsy. For standing sedation, xylazine hydrochloride (0.01-0.05 mg/kg of body weight) was injected via the coccygeal vessels 5-10 min before the …

A Potent Lassa Virus Antiviral Targets An Arenavirus Virulence Determinant, Ikenna G. Madu, Megan Files, Dima N. Gharaibeh, Amy L. Moore, Kieh-Hoon Jung, Brian B. Gowen, Dongcheng Dai, Kevin F. Jones, Shanthakumar R. Tyavanagimatt, James R. Burgeson, Marcus J. Korth, Kristin M. Bedard, Shawn P. Iadonato, Sean M. Amberg

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

Arenaviruses are a significant cause of hemorrhagic fever, an often-fatal disease for which there is no approved antiviral therapy. Lassa fever in particular generates high morbidity and mortality in West Africa, where the disease is endemic, and a recent outbreak in Nigeria was larger and more geographically diverse than usual. We are developing LHF-535, a small-molecule viral entry inhibitor that targets the arenavirus envelope glycoprotein, as a therapeutic candidate for Lassa fever and other hemorrhagic fevers of arenavirus origin. Using a lentiviral pseudotype infectivity assay, we determined that LHF-535 had sub-nanomolar potency against the viral envelope glycoproteins from all Lassa …

Legacy Habitat Suitability Of Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea Virginica) In Louisiana: A Prelude To Mississippi River Delta Freshwater Diversions, Tasia Mv Denapolis

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The Louisiana oyster industry is greatly impacted by freshwater and sediment diversions that are part of the effort to restore the state’s coastline. A habitat suitability index (HSI) proposes species-habitat relationships that can be instrumental in creating impact assessments and suitability predictions for management as new diversions are implemented. An oyster (Crassostrea virginica) HSI was developed using three variables crucial to oyster sustainability: average annual salinity, minimum monthly salinity, and average salinity during the spawning season. These Legacy HSI visualizations show annual fluctuations in the distribution of zones suitable for oyster cultivation prior to proposed diversions in Pontchartrain …

Scorpions Of The Horn Of Africa (Arachnida, Scorpiones). Part Xvii.Revision Of Neobuthus, With Description Of Seven New Species From Ethiopia, Kenya And Somaliland (Buthidae), František Kovařík, Graeme Lowe, Ahmed Ibrahim Awale, Hassan Sh Abdirahman Elmi, Ali Abdi Hurre

Euscorpius

New information about the taxonomy and distribution of the genus Neobuthus Hirst, 1911 is presented, based on material recently collected mainly from Somaliland, but also Djibouti and Kenya. Emended diagnoses are proposed for N. berberensis Hirst, 1911 and N. ferrugineus (Kraepelin, 1898) sensu stricto. New species described are: N. amoudensis sp. n. from Ethiopia and Somaliland; N. erigavoensis sp. n., N. factorio sp. n., N. gubanensis sp. n., N. maidensis sp. n., and N. montanus sp. n. from Somaliland; and N. kloppersi sp. n. from Kenya. This doubles the number of species in Neobuthus, unearthing a rich diversification …

Effects Of Urbanization On The Foraging Ecology And Microbiota Of The Generalist Seabird Larus Argentatus, Matthew Fuirst, Richard R. Veit, Megan Hahn, Nolwenn Dheilly, Lesley H. Thorne

Publications and Research

Larus gull species have proven adaptable to urbanization and due to their generalist feeding behaviors, they provide useful opportunities to study how urban environments impact foraging behavior and host-associated microbiota. We evaluated how urbanization influenced the foraging behavior and microbiome characteristics of breeding herring gulls (Larus argentatus) at three different colonies on the east coast of the United States. Study colonies represented high, medium and low degrees of urbanization, respectively. At all colonies, gulls frequently foraged at landfills and in other urban environments, but both the use of urban environments and gull foraging metrics differed with the degree of urbanization. …

Revision Of The Central Asian Scorpion Genus Anomalobuthus Kraepelin, 1900, With Descriptions Of Three New Species And A Generic Synonymy (Scorpiones: Buthidae), Rolando Teruel, František Kovařík, Victor Fet

Euscorpius

We revise the Central Asian endemic genus Anomalobuthus Kraepelin, 1900, which was considered monotypic for more than 100 years until the recent addition of a second species from Iran (Teruel et al., 2014). We redefine the generic diagnosis of Anomalobuthus and reveal that it is composed of no less than six species, three of which are described as new: A. krivochatskyi, sp. n. (central Uzbekistan and extreme southern Kazakhstan), A. lowei, sp. n. (southeastern Kazakhstan), and A. pavlovskyi, sp. n. (south-central Kazakhstan and extreme northern Turkmenistan). The monotypic genus Psammobuthus Birula, 1911 (described from the Ferghana Valley …

Microplastics In Full View: Birds As Bioindicators Of Malta's Coastal Ecosystem Health, Dalton Brauer

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Plastic pollution has recently become a widely studied topic, yet research on microplastics has remained lacking for specific geographic regions. Microplastics are small plastics resulting from degradation or the dumping of raw material and can lead to deleterious impacts on the coastal marine environment and its organisms. To assess Malta’s coastal environmental health, water birds (inshore, offshore and pelagic species) were used as bioindicators by assessing the presence and abundance of plastic within their stomach contents. The project hoped to fill some of the current gaps in knowledge on microplastics within Malta by creating a working baseline, as well as …

Employing Natural History Collections In The Aid Of Conservation: Streamlining An Approach To Model Species Distributions En Masse For The Preservation Of Biodiversity, Alice Fornari

Master's Projects and Capstones

Using species distribution models (SDMs) in Natural History Collections (NHCs) can influence how humans implement conservation changes in flora and fauna communities and ecosystems. Through the use of legacy data (old NHCs and their associated locality/collection information), data correction (background data or pseudo absences added to presence-only data), and the SDM software, Maxent (and its associated geographic information systems or GIS projected models), it has been shown that it is feasible to create a low budget protocol/setup to project the past, present and future of species population changes. This has been done in the past few decades as more collections …

The New World Of Pet Prosthetics, Anna Brooks

Capstones

When an abandoned dog was found in Brooklyn with his paw gnawed off, the animal shelter had two options: amputate the leg, or put the dog down. But neither seemed like a solution. So they decided to do something different, and fit the dog for a prosthetic leg. Prosthetics for people have been around for millennia, and now these devices are moving into the animal kingdom. This story explores the new world of animal prosthetics, and how these devices have changed the lives of animals like Mr. Stubbs — the first alligator with a prosthetic tail — and saved the …

Comparing Strategies For Selection Of Low-Density Snps For Imputation-Mediated Genomic Prediction In U.S. Holsteins, Jun He, Jiaqi Xu, Xiao-Lin Wu, Stewart Bauck, Jungjae Lee, Gota Morota, Stephen D. Kachman, Matthew L. Spangler

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

SNP chips are commonly used for genotyping animals in genomic selection but strategies for selecting low-density (LD) SNPs for imputation-mediated genomic selection have not been addressed adequately. The main purpose of the present study was to compare the performance of eight LD (6K) SNP panels, each selected by a different strategy exploiting a combination of three major factors: evenly-spaced SNPs, increased minor allele frequencies, and SNP-trait associations either for single traits independently or for all the three traits jointly. The imputation accuracies from 6K to 80K SNP genotypes were between 96.2 and 98.2%. Genomic prediction accuracies obtained using imputed 80K …

Extension Of Longevity And Reduction Of Inflammation Is Ovarian-Dependent, But Germ Cell-Independent In Post-Reproductive Female Mice, Tracy L. Habermehl, Kate C. Parkinson, Gene B. Hubbard, Yuji Ikeno, Jennifer I. Engelmeyer, Björn Schumacher, Jeffrey B. Mason

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

Cardiovascular disease, rare in premenopausal women, increases sharply at menopause and is typically accompanied by chronic inflammation. Previous work in our laboratory demonstrated that replacing senescent ovaries in post-reproductive mice with young, actively cycling ovaries restored many health benefits, including decreased cardiomyopathy and restoration of immune function. Our objective here was to determine if depletion of germ cells from young transplanted ovaries would alter the ovarian-dependent extension of life and health span. Sixty-day-old germ cell-depleted and germ cell-containing ovaries were transplanted to post-reproductive, 17-month-old mice. Mean life span for female CBA/J mice is approximately 644 days. Mice that received germ …

Gofish: A Versatile Nested Pcr Strategy For Environmental Dna Assays For Marine Vertebrates, Mark Y. Stoeckle, Mithun Das Mishu, Zachary Charlop-Powers

Publications and Research

Here we describe GoFish, a strategy for single-species environmental DNA (eDNA) presence/absence assays using nested PCR. The assays amplify a mitochondrial 12S rDNA segment with vertebrate metabarcoding primers, followed by nested PCR with M13-tailed, species-specific primers. Sanger sequencing confirms positives detected by gel electrophoresis. We first obtained 12S sequences from 77 fish specimens for 36 northwestern Atlantic taxa not well documented in GenBank. Using these and existing 12S records, we designed GoFish assays for 11 bony fish species common in the lower Hudson River estuary and tested seasonal abundance and habitat preference at two sites. Additional assays detected nine cartilaginous …

The Effects Of Sample Storage Conditions On The Microbial Community Composition In Hydraulic Fracturing Produced Water, Daniel Lipus, Amit Vikram, Richard Hammack, Kyle Bibby, Djuna Gulliver

Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center: Reports

The petroleum industry has an increasing interest in understanding the microbial communities driving biofouling and biocorrosion in reservoirs, wells, and infrastructure. However, sampling of the relevant produced fluids from subsurface environments for microbiological analyses is often challenged by high liquid pressures, workplace regulations, operator liability concerns, and remote sampling locations. These challenges result in infrequent sampling opportunities and the need to store and preserve the collected samples for several days or weeks. Maintaining a representative microbial community structure from produced fluid samples throughout storage and handling is essential for accurate results of downstream microbial analyses. Currently, no sample handling or …

Status And Food Preferences Of Bears In Sub Alpine Scrub Forests, Ajk, Madeeha Manzoor, Safdar Ali Shah, Jibran Haider

Journal of Bioresource Management

Bears belong to the family Ursidae, under the order Carnivora with eight extant species (Grzimek, 2003). Roberts (1997) cite the presence of Himalayan brown bear, Himalayan black bear and Balochistan black bear in Pakistan. Dhirkot National Park (2008), Banjosa Nature Reserve (2009), Tolipir National Park (2008), Pir Chanasi National Park (2010) and Pir Lasura National Park (2009) were surveyed. A broad-spectrum investigation was conducted where the number of bears observed directly; pictures from surveillance cameras (Arc View GIS 3.3, 1992-2002) and at the same time indirect indicators such as bear scats, walking trails, paw prints and fur samples were noted …

Checklist Of Zooplanktons In Different Rivers Of Bajwat Area, Zahid Bhatti, Muhammad Asif Gondal, Asad Ghufran, Andleeb Batool

Journal of Bioresource Management

Zooplanktons are important fish and waterfowl food. Limnological studies of Marala Wetlands, a complex created by three rivers, i.e., Jammu Tawi, Chenab and Manawar Tawi, entering Bajwat area located 25 km from North of Sialkot city from state of Jammu and Kashmir, were carried out between October, 2000 to September 2001. This survey was carried out to create a checklist of zooplanktons existing in the study site which would help in future studies relating to aquatic biodiversity and ecological studies of wetlands. A minimum of 25 species of zooplanktons were present in the wetland area, which can be included into …

Rediscovery Of Red Wolf Ghost Alleles In Canid Population Along The American Gulf Coast, Elizabeth Heppenheimer, Kristin Brzeski, Ron Wooten, William Waddell, Linda Y. Rutledge, Michael J. Chamberlain, Et. Al.

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Publications

Rediscovering species once thought to be extinct or on the edge of extinction is rare. Red wolves have been extinct along the American Gulf Coast since 1980, with their last populations found in coastal Louisiana and Texas. We report the rediscovery of red wolf ghost alleles in a canid population on Galveston Island, Texas. We analyzed over 7000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 60 canid representatives from all legally recognized North American Canis species and two phenotypically ambiguous canids from Galveston Island. We found notably high Bayesian cluster assignments of the Galveston canids to captive red wolves with extensive sharing …

Population Trend Of Herons And Egrets (Family: Ardeidae) In Marala Head From Oct 2000- Sep 2001, Zahid Bhatti, Fakhra Nazir, Safdar Ali Shah

Journal of Bioresource Management

The species cited from Pakistan included Ardea goliath, Ardea cinerea cinerea, Ardea cinerea rectirostris, Ardea purpurea manilensis and Butorides striatus javanicus, Ardeola grrayii grayii and Bubulcus ibis coromandus, Ardea alba alba, Ardea alba modesta, Egretta intermedia intermedia, Egretta garzetta garzetta and Egretta gularis schistacea, Nycticorax nycticorax nycticorax, Ixobrychus minutus minutus, Ixobrychus sinensis and Ixobrychus flavicollis flavicollis. The study was carried out from October 2000 to September 2001, spanning the area from Kikar Post to Head Marala. Point count method was used to record the number of birds observed (Ralph et al., 1995). The birds were further identified using literature. Cattle …

Census Study Of Ducks, Swans And Geese From High-Altitude Wetlands Of Pakistan, Fakhra Nazir, Inayatullah Malik, Safdar Ali Shah

Journal of Bioresource Management

The family Anatidae consists of aquatic birds such as ducks, geese and swans of varied sizes that belong to the order Anseriformes (Carboneras, 1992). The Anatidae comprise of approximately 148 species (Johnsgard, 2010). This family is commonly found across the globe except for in Antarctica. Data on ecology and population of these water birds was taken from protected areas of Pir Lasura National Park (June-July 2009), Banjosa Game Reserve (May-June 2009), Dhirkot National Park (February 2008), Pir Chanasi National park (April-May 2010) and Tolipir National Park (April-May 2008). Only four species from the family Anatidae were found in the study …

Optimizing Robotic Milk: A Qualitative Research Approach To Understanding Challenges That May Inhibit Optimal Usage Of Automatic Milking Systems In Northern Utah, Jessica Felts

Fall Student Research Symposium 2018

Automatic Milking Systems (AMS) – or robotic milkers – have been on the market for over twenty years. However, AMS introduction is relatively new to the Western U.S., and requires challenging adjustments and new management systems.

Population Genomic Analysis Of North American Eastern Wolves (Canic Lycaon) Support Their Conservation Priority Status, Elizabeth Heppenheimer, Ryan Harrigan, Linda Rutledge, Klaus-Peter Koepfli, Alexandra L. Decandia, Kristin Brzeski, Et. Al.

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Publications

The threatened eastern wolf is found predominantly in protected areas of central Ontario and has an evolutionary history obscured by interbreeding with coyotes and gray wolves, which challenges its conservation status and subsequent management. Here, we used a population genomics approach to uncover spatial patterns of variation in 281 canids in central Ontario and the Great Lakes region. This represents the first genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) dataset with substantial sample sizes of representative populations. Although they comprise their own genetic cluster, we found evidence of eastern wolf dispersal outside of the boundaries of protected areas, in that the frequency …

Optimization Of Light Irradiance During The Early Life Of Sexually-Produced Porites Astreoides And Agaricia Agaricites Recruits, Nicholas J. Mcmahon

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Current solutions of coral restoration rely mainly on fragmentation. Though a reliable technique, this asexual form of reproduction does not benefit the genetic diversity of the coral reef. With many global and local stressors threatening corals’ existence, the resiliency of corals to future ocean conditions depends highly on sexual reproduction to produce new genotypes. New technology allows coral spawning/larval release, larval settlement and rearing to be carried out in an aquarium system. Many of the techniques necessary to maintain coral recruits are well-established, however the effects of light intensity remain to be studied for these early life stages. Newly …

Contrasting Population Genetic Structure In Three Aggregating Groupers (Percoidei: Epinephelidae) In The Indo-West Pacific: The Importance Of Reproductive Mode, Ka Yan Ma, Lynne Van Herwerden, Stephen J. Newman, Michael L. Berumen, John Howard Choat, Ka Hou Chu, Yvonne Sadovy De Mitcheson

Fisheries Research Articles

Background

Understanding the factors shaping population genetic structure is important for evolutionary considerations as well as for management and conservation. While studies have revealed the importance of palaeogeographic changes in shaping phylogeographic patterns in multiple marine fauna, the role of reproductive behaviour is rarely considered in reef fishes. We investigated the population genetics of three commercially important aggregating grouper species in the Indo-West Pacific, namely the camouflage grouper Epinephelus polyphekadion, the squaretail coral grouper Plectropomus areolatus, and the common coral trout P. leopardus, with similar life histories but distinct spatio-temporal characteristics in their patterns of forming spawning aggregations. …

Consumer Perceptions Of Labeling Claims On Poultry Products, Sarah Townley

Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology Undergraduate Honors Theses

An increasing number of consumers wants more knowledge of how the food they eat is produced, and specifically, how animals used in the production of their food are raised. One method consumers use to become more aware of production practices behind the food they purchase and consume is simply reading food labels. Labeling claims can be defined as textual, pictorial, graphic, or symbolic representation that either explicitly states or implies that a food product has a specific set of properties supported by a certification process. The purpose of this study is to gather data regarding consumer knowledge and understanding of …

Management Of Cull Dairy Cows—Consensus Of An Expert Consultation In Canada, Jane Stojkov, G. Bowers, M. Draper, Todd Duffield, P. Duivenvoorden, M. Groleau, Deb Haupstein, R. Peters, Jane Pritchard, C. Radom, N. Sillett, W. Skippon, H. Trépanier, David Fraser

Farm Animal Welfare Collection

Many cull dairy cows enter the marketing system and travel to widely dispersed and specialized slaughter plants, and they may experience multiple handling events (e.g., loading, unloading, mixing), change of ownership among dealers, and feed and water deprivation during transport and at livestock markets. The objectives of this study were to describe the diverse management of cull dairy cows in Canada and establish consensus on ways to achieve improvements. A 2-day expert consultation meeting was convened, involving farmers, veterinarians, regulators, and experts in animal transport, livestock auction, and slaughter. The 15 participants, recruited from across Canada, discussed regional management practices …

Entrepreneur`S Guide To Starting A Rabbit Agricultural Enterprise, Mary Maldonado

Agricultural Education and Communication

At San Luis Obispo, the University Cal Ploy has an Animal Science Department that offers over twenty enterprises pertaining to livestock production which “provide the environment for students to get outside the classroom and work with the animals in teams of students” (Cal Poly 2017-19). As reported from the “Animal Science Department Enterprise Class List”, the classes involved help develop technical skills by having students learn and work in active production settings with livestock such as cows, steers, pigs, lambs, goats, and chickens (Animal Science Department 2017-19). However, when compared to the livestock accounted for at a traditional county fair …

Agricultural Sciences Outreach Program, Maghan Lea England, Sophie Lorraine Johnston

Agricultural Education and Communication

The College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) mission statement and vision of the Agricultural Education and Communication Department is to develop future leaders, educators, and communicators to advance and advocate for the agricultural industry in a global economy (AGED, 2018). Student organizations, such as Agriculture Ambassadors and Agriculture Leadership Society, facilitate several outreach events to engage and excite prospective students in pursuing their higher education goals in agriculture at Cal Poly (CAFES Ag Council, 2018). In order to maintain growing student numbers, the Agricultural Education and Communication Department, specifically, the Agricultural Science major needs revamped recruiting efforts and …

Prairie Reconstruction Unpredictability And Complexity: What Is The Rate Of Reconstruction Failures?, Jack E. Norland, Cami Dixon, Diane Larson, Kristine Askerooth, Benjamin A. Geaumont

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

The outcomes of prairie reconstructions are subject to both unpredictability and complexity. Prairie, tallgrass, and mixed grass reconstruction is defined as the planting of a native herbaceous seed mixture composed of multiple prairie species (10 or more) in an area where the land has been heavily cultivated or anthropogenically disturbed. Because of the unpredictability and complexity inherent in reconstructions, some outcomes end up being failures dominated by exotic species. We propose that these failures follow a fat-tailed distribution as found in other complex systems. Fat-tailed distributions follow the Pareto principle, where 80% of the time reconstructions work as expected but …