Abstract: Context. Livestock producers worldwide are negatively affected by livestock losses because of predators and wildlife-transmitted diseases. In the western Great Lakes Region of the United States, this conflict has increased as grey wolf (Canis lupus) populations have recovered and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have served as a wildlife reservoir for bovine tuberculosis (Myobacterium bovis).Aims. We conducted field experiments on cattle farms to evaluate the effectiveness of livestock-protection dogs (LPDs) for excluding wolves, coyotes (C. latrans), white-tailed deer and mesopredators from livestock pastures.Methods. We integrated LPDs on six cattle farms (treatment) and monitored wildlife use with tracking swaths on these farms, concurrent with three control cattle farms during 2005-2008. The amount of time deer spent in livestock pastures was recorded using direct observation.Key results. Livestock pastures protected by LPDs had reduced use by these wildlife compared with control pastures not protected by LPDs. White-tailed deer spent less time in livestock pastures protected by LPDs compared with control pastures not protected by LPDs.Conclusions. Our research supports the theory that LPDs can be an effective management tool for reducing predation and disease transmission. We also demonstrate that LPDs are not limited to being used only with sheep and goats; they can also be used to protect cattle.Implications. On the basis of our findings, we support the use of LPDs as a proactive management tool that producers can implement to minimise the threat of livestock depredations and transmission of disease from wildlife to livestock. LPDs should be investigated further as a more general conservation tool for protecting valuable wildlife, such as ground-nesting birds, that use livestock pastures and are affected by predators that use these pastures.

Abstract: Intraspecific interactions between individuals or groups of individuals of the same species are an important component of population dynamics. Interactions can be static, such as spatial overlap, or dynamic based on the interactions of movements, and can be mediated through communication, such as the deployment of scent marks. Interactions and their behavioural outcomes can be difficult to determine, especially for species that live at low densities. With the use of GPS collars we quantify both static and dynamic interactions between male cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) and the behavioural outcomes. The 99% home-ranges of males overlapped significantly while there was little overlap of the 50% home-ranges. Despite this overlap, male cheetahs rarely came into close proximity of one another, possibly because presence was communicated through frequent visits to marking posts. The minimum distance between individuals in a dyad ranged from 89m to 196m but the average proximity between individuals ranged from 17,145 ± 6,865m to 26,367 ± 11,288m. Possible interactions took place more frequently at night than by day and occurred mostly in the 50% home-range of one individual of a dyad or where cores of both individuals overlapped. After a possible encounter male cheetahs stayed in close proximity to each other for up to 6 hours, which could be the result of a territory defence strategy or the presence of a receptive female. We believe that one of the encounters between a singleton and a 5-male coalition resulted in the death of the singleton. Our results give new insights into cheetah interactions, which could help our understanding of ecological processes such as disease transmission.

Abstract: Ziel der Studie war die Beschreibung der motorischen Lateralität („Schiefe“) gesunder adulter Pferde. Hierzu wurden 14 lahmfreie Pferde (10 Warmblüter, 4 Quarter Horses) auf dem Laufband in Schritt und Trab auf individuelle Abweichungen von der symmetri-schen Bewegung hinsichtlich Abstellung der Hinterhand, Wirbelsäulenform (Biegung), Vor- und Rückführung sowie Belastung von Vorder- und Hintergliedmaßen jeweils simul-tan hochfrequenzkinematographisch und kinetisch mittels resistiver Hufdrucksensoren untersucht. Zusätzlich wurden bevorzugte Abstellung und Biegung sowie Galopppräfe-renz klinisch bzw. reiterlich beurteilt, das Vorliegen einer Weideschrittpräferenz unter-sucht und Freilaufversuche (bevorzugte Abbiegerichtung, Ausweichrichtung um ein Hin-dernis, Galoppräferenz) durchgeführt. Keines der Pferde zeigte Symmetrie über alle Merkmale; zwar wurde bei jedem Merkmal für einzelne Probanden Symmetrie festgestellt, mit Ausnahme des Galopp-Freilaufver-suchs trat Asymmetrie jedoch häufiger auf. 12 Probanden zeigten in der Bewegungsana-lyse eine signifikante seitliche Abstellung (8x rechts (R), 4x links (L), mittlere seitliche Abweichung im Schritt 1,22°±1,09°, im Trab 1,05°±1,03°), 10 eine bevorzugte Biegung (9x L, 1x R), 13 signifikante Asymmetrien der Gliedmaßenvor- bzw. -rückführung und 12 eine signifikante asymmetrische Gliedmaßenbelastung für die normalisierte Spitzenkraft (PFN, peak force) bzw. den Impuls der Belastung (IN) an mindestens einem Beinpaar (alle Merkmale individuell wiederholbar). Linksabgestellte Pferde führten in beiden Gang-arten das rechte Hinterbein signifikant weiter zurück als nach rechts abgestellte Pferde, die tendenziell eher das linke Hinterbein weiter zurückführten. – Die auf dem Laufband festgestellten Asymmetrien traten in beiden Gangarten auf, aber nicht immer überein-stimmend, wobei die Richtung der bevorzugten Abstellung und ebenso der bevorzugten Biegung beim einzelnen Pferd in Schritt und Trab nie gegensätzlich waren. Jeder dieser beiden Parameter wurde daher für das einzelne Pferd über beide Gangarten zusammen-gefasst. Die Richtung von Abstellung und Biegung waren voneinander unabhängig, so-dass die Bewegungsmuster Abstellung ohne Biegung, Biegung ohne Abstellung, Abstel-lung mit Biegung in Laufrichtung (Travers) sowie Abstellung mit Biegung entgegen der Laufrichtung (Schulterherein) vorkamen. Kein Pferd war in beiden Merkmalen symmet-risch; für manche Pferde war neben der einfachen Biegung auch eine S-Form der Wir-belsäule signifikant. Die Belastungssymmetrie der Gliedmaßen war in beiden Gangarten von der Abstellung und der Biegung unabhängig, es gab aber Hinweise auf Zusammen-hänge zwischen bestimmten Kombinationen von Abstellung und Biegung einerseits und der Existenz einer Belastungsasymmetrie der Vorderbeine im Trab andererseits (unge-bogen mit Abstellung laufende und im Schulterherein laufende Pferde belasteten i.d.R. asymmetrisch).
8 Pferde wiesen eine signifikante Weideschrittpräferenz auf (5x L, 3x R), die bei ebenso vorhandener seitlicher Abstellung signifkant häufiger auf der der Abstellung abgewandten Seite auftrat. Sie wies keinen Zusammenhang mit der Rückführung der Hinterbeine im Schritt oder im Trab auf. Das Auftreten einer Weideschrittpräferenz war signifikant vom durch Abstellung und Biegung bestimmten Bewegungsmuster abhängig (Auftreten bei Abstellung ohne Biegung und bei Schulterherein, nicht bei Travers oder Biegung ohne Abstellung). Zudem zeigt die Präferenz der Pferde im Weideschritt eine starke Überein-stimmung mit der Belastungssymmetrie der Vorderbeine im Trab (bevorzugt vorgestelltes Bein wird mehr belastet (IN); symmetrische Belastung bei fehlender Präferenz). Im Hindernisversuch hatten 12 von 13 getesteten Probanden eine signifikant bevorzugte Ausweichrichtung (5x L, 7x R); diese war unabhängig von der gemessenen Wirbelsäulenform, lag aber bei Pferden mit seitlicher Abstellung überwiegend auf der Seite der gemessenen Abstellung. Im Abbiegeversuch zeigten 6 von 12 getesteten Probanden eine signifikant bevorzugte Abbiegerichtung (3x L, 3x R), diese war weder von der Abstellungsrichtung noch von der Wirbelsäulenform, der Weideschrittpräferenz oder der Belastungssymmetrie der Vorderbeine im Trab abhängig. Die meisten Pferde zeigten im Freilauf keine signifikante Galopppräferenz (2x L, 11x gerade (N), 1x R), wogegen reiterlich bei den meisten Pferden eine Präferenz festgestellt wurde; beide Beurteilungen stimmten ebenso wie die Beurteilungen verschiedener Reiter nicht miteinander überein. Die gemessene Abstellungsrichtung ließ sich durch visuelle Beobachtung mit hoher Si-cherheit vorhersagen. Die bevorzugte Wirbelsäulenform stimmte nicht mit der reiterlich oder an der Longe festgestellten Biegung überein, wohl aber mit der Seite, auf die die Mähne fällt. Die vorliegende Studie weist nach, dass individuell stabile motorische Lateralität, weitge-hend bestehend aus den den Merkmalen der reiterlich postulierten „Schiefe“, bei gesun-den Pferden in symmetrischen Gangarten besteht und dass zwischen bestimmten Merkmalen vorhersagbare Zusammenhänge bestehen. Daraus ergeben sich wertvolle Schlussfolgerungen für das reiterliche Geraderichten des Pferdes, für das in Übereinstimmung mit der Reitliteratur insbesondere die Lektion Schulterherein geeignet erscheint. Es ist gelungen, für die wesentlichen Merkmale Abstellung, Biegung und Belastungssymmetrie der Vordergliedmaßen im Trab klinische Tests aufzuzeigen, die mit hoher Sicher-heit die Ergebnisse der Bewegungsanalyse vorhersagen können, wobei Rückschlüsse auf weitere asymmetrische Merkmale möglich sind. Die reiterliche Beurteilung von bevor-zugter Biegung und Galopppräferenz scheint jedoch von weiteren Faktoren außer dem Pferd selbst abhängig zu sein und stimmt häufig nicht mit den messbaren Parametern überein. – In dieser Studie wird erstmals eine wissenschaftlich überprüfte und klinisch anwendbare Methode zur umfassenden Analyse der motorischen Lateralität im Sinne der „Schiefe“ eines Pferdes beschrieben.
Summary -“Crookedness“ in the Horse: Symmetry of Motion and Hoof Loading
The purpose of this study was description of motor laterality (in terms of “crookedness“) of sound adult horses. 14 non-lame horses (10 Warmblood horses, 4 Quarter Horses) were examined walking and trotting on a treadmill for individual motion asymmetry concerning keeping the hindlimbs at an angle (hindlimbs not tracking the frontlimbs, “hindquarter angle”), lateroflexion, pro- and retraction of the limbs as well as loading of front- and hindlimbs. High-speed-kinematography and resistive pressure sensors were used simultanously. The horses were also ridden to evaluate preferred lateroflexion and preferred lead in canter. Moving at an angle towards a preferred side was assessed visually. Laterality of grazing stance was tested, as well as preferred turning direction, obstacle avoidance direction and preferred lead in canter while moving unrestrained in an arena. None of the horses moved symetrically over all traits; although there were symmetrical traits with individual horses, asymmetry was more commen (except for the unrestrained preferred lead test). On the treadmill, 12 horses moved with their hindquarters significantly at a angle (8x right (R), 4x left (L), mean lateral angle 1,22°±1,09° at a walk and 1,05°±1,03° at a trot), 10 showed laterality for lateroflexion (9x L, 1x R), 13 had significant asymmetries for protraction and/ or retraction and 12 for loading of contralateral limbs concerning normalized peak force (PFN) and impulse (IN), respectively, of at least one pair of limbs (all with good repeatibility). Horses keeping their hindquarters to the left showed significantly larger retraction of the right hindlimb compared to horses keeping their hindquarters to the right, who tended to further retract the left hindlimb. – Asymmetries found on the treadmill occurred in both gaits but were not always the same in both gaits, though the direction of the hindquarter angle as well as that of the preferred lateroflexion never contradicted each other within the same individual. Therefore, a specific laterality direction of hindquarter angle and lateroflexion could be assigned to each horse. The direction of preferred hindquarter angle and lateroflexion, respectively, were independent of each other so that the movement patterns “hindquarter angle without lateroflexion”, “lateroflexion without hindquarter angle”, “hindquarter angle with lateroflexion to the same side” (hindquarter-in/ travers) and “hindquarter angle with lateroflexion to opposite sides” (shoulder-in) could be found; no horse moved symmetrical for both traits. The lateroflexion of some horses could even be regarded as a double bend. At both gaits, symmetry of limb loading was independent of hindquarter angle as well as lateroflexion, taken seperately; still, there seems to be a relation between certain combinations of hindquarter angle and lateroflexion, on the one side, and the existence or absence of asymmetric loading of the frontlimbs in trot (horses moving with hindquarter angle, but without lateroflexion, and horses moving in shoulder-in mostly had asymmetric frontlimb loading).
238 7. Summary8 horses displayed laterality for a grazing stance (5x L, 3x R); their hindquarter angle, if they showed one, was significantly more often on the opposite side of their advanced frontleg while grazing. The direction of the grazing stance was independent of hindlimb retraction symmetry in either gait. Occurrence of grazing stance laterality significantly depended on the movement pattern consisting of hindquarter angle and lateroflexion (horses moving with a hindquarter angle, but without lateroflexion, and horses moving in shoulder-in mostly showed grazing stance laterality, while horses moving with lateroflexion, but without a hindquarter angle, and horses moving in hindquarter-in did not). Also, grazing stance laterality was highly predictive of the symmetry of frontlimb loading at trot (advanced frontleg has significantly higher impulse (IN) at trot; horses without grazing stance laterality showed symmetrical impulse). 12 of 13 horses displayed laterality for obstacle avoidance direction (5x L, 7x R) that was independent of the individually preferred lateroflexion but if the horses showed a hindquarter angle it was usually to the same side. 6 of 12 horses showed laterality for turning direction (3x L, 3x R) that had no relation to laterality of either hindquarter angle, lateroflexion, grazing stance or frontlimb loading symmetry at trot. Most horses had no significant lead preference in the unrestrained canter test (2x L, 11x no preference (N), 1x R) even though riders assigned a lead preference to most horses; both ratings did not match, as well as the rating between two different riders did not match. The (measured) direction of hindquarter angle was highly predictable by visual asessment. Preferred (measured) lateroflexion did not match the direction of lateroflexion assigned by either rider or on the long line; it was in agreement with the mane side of the horse, though. This study proves that individual and stable motor laterality exists in sound horses in symmetrical gaits, mostly consisting of the traits that are hypothesized as “crookedness” in riding literature. It also shows that predictible relationships exist between certain traits thereof. This knowledge is valuable since it has implications for the training of riding horses for straightness, wherefore especially riding shoulder-in should be helpful. Relatively easy clinical tests could successfully be found that allow well predicting main features of individual horses ́ motor laterality like hindquarter angle, lateroflexion and frontlimb loading symmetry at trot as measured on the treadmill. Some conclusions can also be drawn for other asymmetrical traits. The asessment of preferred lateroflexion and canter lead performed by riders, though, seems to also underlie other influences than the horse itself and failed to be a predictor of the measured traits. – For the first time, a scientifically proven and clinically applicable method of asessing a horses motor laterality in terms of “crookedness” is presented.

Abstract: The innovation process is currently undergoing significant change in many industries. The World Wide Web has created a virtual world of collective intelligence and helped large groups of people connect and collaborate in the innovation process [1]. Von Hippel [2], for instance, states that a large number of users of a given technology will come up with innovative ideas. This process, originating in business, is now also being observed in science. Discussions around “Citizen Science” [3] and “Science 2.0” [4] suggest the same effects are relevant for fundamental research practices. “Crowdsourcing” [5] and “Open Innovation” [6] as well as other names for those paradigms, like Peer Production, Wikinomics, Swarm Intelligence etc., have become buzzwords in recent years. However, serious academic research efforts have also been started in many disciplines. In essence, these buzzwords all describe a form of collective intelligence that is enabled by new technologies, particularly internet connectivity. The focus of most current research on this topic is in the for-profit domain, i.e. organizations willing (and able) to pay large sums to source innovation externally, for instance through innovation contests. Our research is testing the applicability of Crowdsourcing and some techniques from Open Innovation to the scientific method and basic science in a non-profit environment (e.g., a traditional research university). If the tools are found to be useful, this may significantly change how some research tasks are conducted: While large, apriori unknown crowds of “irrational agents” (i.e. humans) are used to support scientists (and teams thereof) in several research tasks through the internet, the usefulness and robustness of these interactions as well as scientifically important factors like quality and validity of research results are tested in a systematic manner. The research is highly interdisciplinary and is done in collaboration with scientists from sociology, psychology, management science, economics, computer science, and artificial intelligence. After a pre-study, extensive data collection has been conducted and the data is currently being analyzed. The paper presents ideas and hypotheses and opens the discussion for further input.