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Author Minero, M.; Zucca, D.; Canali, E.
Title A note on reaction to novel stimulus and restraint by therapeutic riding horses Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication (up) Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 97 Issue 2-4 Pages 335-342
Keywords Horse; Therapeutic riding; Behavioural indicators; Heart rate; Lymphocyte proliferation
Abstract Little research has been done to measure reactivity objectively in therapeutic riding horses (TRH). As individual reactivity and chronic stress could be assessed by exposing animals to acute, novel stressors, the authors of this work aimed at comparing reactions of TRHs and jumping horses (JH) to two challenges. Four TRHs and four JHs were exposed to a restraint covering their head with a hood for 1 h and to a startling stimulus (a 40 cm long, red and white synthetic holiday garland shaken with a rustling noise inside the box). Heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) were recorded continuously and telemetrically, the reaction was video-recorded and analysed with a software for behavioural analysis. Blood samples were collected before and after each challenge to determine lymphocyte proliferation and other biochemical parameters. Horses spent most of the time immobile, during the challenges (p < 0.05). TRHs had a significantly higher average basal HR than JH (p < 0.05), probably due to their better condition. HR varied among different behaviours during the restraint (p < 0.05): the average HR during “pawing” was higher than during other behaviours (p < 0.005). A significant decrease in the proliferation of lymphocytes in samples taken after the removal of the hood (p < 0.05) was found, while the other stress related parameters did not vary significantly after the challenges. The authors conclude that TRHs did not react less than JHs to the new stimuli and this should be taken into consideration while planning their daily work and management.
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Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 279
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Author Nogueira, S.S. da C.; Nogueira-Filho, S.L.G.; Bassford, M.; Silvius, K.; Fragoso, J.M.V.
Title Feral pigs in Hawai`i: Using behavior and ecology to refine control techniques Type Journal Article
Year 2007 Publication (up) Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 108 Issue 1-2 Pages 1-11
Keywords Sus scrofa; Invasive species; Wildlife management; Pest management; Vertebrate pest control
Abstract Early Polynesians settlers were the first to introduce pigs to the Hawaiian Islands. Later Captain Cook brought European pigs during his first voyage to Hawai`i. Many other importations have followed. Animals from these introductions became feral and dispersed throughout the islands. Free-ranging pigs are now considered pests with negative impacts on some native biota. Several methods to control the ecological damage attributed to pigs have been adopted, such as fencing, hunting, live trapping and poisoning. However, the absence of behavioral knowledge in current control programs has resulted in inefficient management of this species. Therefore, the feral pig problem continues, and what before was almost strictly an agricultural and conservation concern has now become an urban problem as well. The aim of this study is to describe the state of knowledge on feral pig behavior in the Hawaiian Islands, introducing potential management approaches derived from the principles of behavioral ecology. Considering behavioral aspects of feral pig ecology, such as cognition and communication could help improve capture techniques, keep feral pigs away from urban areas and begin to resolve human-wildlife conflicts.
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2887
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Author Ransom, J.I.; Cade, B.S.; Hobbs, N.T.
Title Influences of immunocontraception on time budgets, social behavior, and body condition in feral horses Type Journal Article
Year 2010 Publication (up) Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 124 Issue 1-2 Pages 51-60
Keywords Equus caballus; Fertility control; Porcine zona pellucida (PZP); Wild horse; Wildlife contraception
Abstract Managers concerned with shrinking habitats and limited resources for wildlife seek effective tools for limiting population growth in some species. Fertility control is one such tool, yet little is known about its impacts on the behavioral ecology of wild, free-roaming animals. We investigated influences of the immunocontraceptive porcine zona pellucida (PZP) on individual and social behavior in bands of feral horses (Equus caballus) in three discrete populations and used 14 hierarchical mixed effect models to gain insight into the influences of PZP treatment on feral horse behavior. A model of body condition was the strongest predictor of feeding, resting, maintenance, and social behaviors, with treated females allocating their time similarly to control females. Time spent feeding declined 11.4% from low condition to high condition females (F1,154 = 26.427, P < 0.001) and was partially reciprocated by a 6.0% increase in resting (F1,154 = 7.629, P = 0.006), 0.9% increase in maintenance (F1,154 = 7.028, P = 0.009), and 1.8% increase in social behavior (F1,154 = 15.064, P < 0.001). There was no difference detected in body condition of treated versus control females (F1,154 = 0.033, P = 0.856), but females with a dependent foal had lower body condition than those without a foal (F1,154 = 4.512, P = 0.038). Herding behavior was best explained by a model of treatment and the interaction of band fidelity and foal presence (AICc weight = 0.660) which estimated no difference in rate of herding behavior directed toward control versus treated females (F1,102 = 0.196, P = 0.659), but resident females without a dependent foal were herded 50.9% more than resident females with a foal (F3,102 = 8.269, P < 0.001). Treated females received 54.5% more reproductive behaviors from stallions than control mares (F1,105 = 5.155, P = 0.025), with the model containing only treatment being the most-supported (AICc weight = 0.530). Treated and control females received harem-tending behaviors from stallions equally (F1,105 = 0.001, P = 0.969) and agonistic behaviors from stallions equally (F1,105 < 0.001, P = 0.986). Direct effects of PZP treatment on the behavior of feral horses appear to be limited primarily to reproductive behaviors and most other differences detected were attributed to the effects of body condition, band fidelity, or foal presence. PZP is a promising alternative to traditional hormone-based contraceptives and appears to contribute few short-term behavioral modifications in feral horses.
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ISSN 0168-1591 ISBN Medium
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5084
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Author Kampmann, S.; Hampson, B.A.; Pollitt, C.C.
Title Population dynamics of feral horses (Equus caballus) following above-average rainfall in a semi-arid environment of Australia Type Journal Article
Year 2013 Publication (up) Australian Veterinary Journal Abbreviated Journal Aust Vet J
Volume 91 Issue 11 Pages 482-487
Keywords animal welfare; ecology; horses; reproduction; wildlife
Abstract Background Recent record rainfall in much of semi-arid Central Australia is the most likely reason for a feral horse population increase in excess of normal. Uncontrolled numbers of feral horses have habitat degradation and animal welfare implications. Objectives The aims of this study were to investigate the social structure of feral horses and assess their population growth rate following unseasonably high rainfall. Methods The study area was 4000 km2 of unmanaged, semi-arid country in Central Australia (latitude 24.50°S, longitude 132.10°E). Horses were identified by descriptive features from ground searches, movement-activated cameras and ‘hides’ positioned at key water holes. Wherever possible, sex and age categories were documented. Population growth rate was estimated by the number of foals divided by the number of horses older than 1 year in the observed population. Results A total of 1424 horses were identified and categorised, of which 335 were foals born within the current year. Only 123 juveniles were identified. Of the adult horses, 53.4% were male and 46.6% were female and this differed from parity (P = 0.04). Of the mares, 71.9% had a foal at foot and the population growth rate was 29.5%. Conclusions With a sustained population growth rate of 29.5%, this population of feral horses will more than double within 3 years. The high population increase will likely have a detrimental effect on native fauna and flora and the fragile, semi-arid ecosystems of Central Australia. After a period of high rainfall and plentiful resources, ‘normal’ drought conditions will return and many feral horses will starve and die as they compete for limited resources.
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ISSN 1751-0813 ISBN Medium
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5747
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Author Eagle, N.; Pentland, A.
Title Eigenbehaviors: identifying structure in routine Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication (up) Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
Volume 63 Issue 7 Pages 1057-1066-1066
Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences
Abstract Longitudinal behavioral data generally contains a significant amount of structure. In this work, we identify the structure inherent in daily behavior with models that can accurately analyze, predict, and cluster multimodal data from individuals and communities within the social network of a population. We represent this behavioral structure by the principal components of the complete behavioral dataset, a set of characteristic vectors we have termed eigenbehaviors. In our model, an individual’s behavior over a specific day can be approximated by a weighted sum of his or her primary eigenbehaviors. When these weights are calculated halfway through a day, they can be used to predict the day’s remaining behaviors with 79% accuracy for our test subjects. Additionally, we demonstrate the potential for this dimensionality reduction technique to infer community affiliations within the subjects’ social network by clustering individuals into a behavior space spanned by a set of their aggregate eigenbehaviors. These behavior spaces make it possible to determine the behavioral similarity between both individuals and groups, enabling 96% classification accuracy of community affiliations within the population-level social network. Additionally, the distance between individuals in the behavior space can be used as an estimate for relational ties such as friendship, suggesting strong behavioral homophily amongst the subjects. This approach capitalizes on the large amount of rich data previously captured during the Reality Mining study from mobile phones continuously logging location, proximate phones, and communication of 100 subjects at MIT over the course of 9 months. As wearable sensors continue to generate these types of rich, longitudinal datasets, dimensionality reduction techniques such as eigenbehaviors will play an increasingly important role in behavioral research.
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Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5189
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Author Fischhoff, I.; Dushoff, J.; Sundaresan, S.; Cordingley, J.; Rubenstein, D.
Title Reproductive status influences group size and persistence of bonds in male plains zebra (Equus burchelli) Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication (up) Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
Volume 63 Issue 7 Pages 1035-1043-1043
Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences
Abstract Animal groups arise from individuals’ choices about the number, characteristics, and identity of associates. Individuals make these choices to gain benefits from their associations. As the needs of an individual change with its phenotype, so too we expect the nature of its associations to vary. In this paper, we investigate how the social priorities of male plains zebra (Equus burchelli) depend on reproductive state. An adult male is either a bachelor, and lacking mating access, or a stallion defending a harem. Multiple harems and bachelor males aggregate in larger herds. Herds frequently split and merge, affording males opportunities to change associates. Over a 4-year period, we sampled the herd associations in a population of 500–700 zebras. To isolate the effects of reproductive state on male social behavior, we account for potential confounding factors: changes in population size, grouping tendencies, and sampling intensity. We develop a generally applicable permutation procedure, which allows us to test the null hypothesis that social behavior is independent of male status. Averaging over all individuals in the population, we find that a typical bachelor is found in herds containing significantly more adults, bachelors, and stallions than the herds of a typical stallion. Further, bachelors’ bonds with each other are more persistent over time than those among stallions. These results suggest that bachelors form cohesive cliques, in which we may expect cooperative behaviors to develop. Stallion–stallion associations are more diffuse, and less conducive to long-term cooperation.
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Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
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ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5193
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Author Franks, D.; James, R.; Noble, J.; Ruxton, G.
Title A foundation for developing a methodology for social network sampling Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication (up) Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
Volume 63 Issue 7 Pages 1079-1088-1088
Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences
Abstract Researchers are increasingly turning to network theory to understand the social nature of animal populations. We present a computational framework that is the first step in a series of works that will allow us to develop a quantitative methodology of social network sampling to aid ecologists in their social network data collection. To develop our methodology, we need to be able to generate networks from which to sample. Ideally, we need to perform a systematic study of sampling protocols on different known network structures, as network structure might affect the robustness of any particular sampling methodology. Thus, we present a computational tool for generating network structures that have user-defined distributions for network properties and for key measures of interest to ecologists. The user defines the values of these measures and the tool will generate appropriate network randomizations with those properties. This tool will be used as a framework for developing a sampling methodology, although we do not present a full methodology here. We describe the method used by the tool, demonstrate its effectiveness, and discuss how the tool can now be utilized. We provide a proof-of-concept example (using the assortativity measure) of how such networks can be used, along with a simulated egocentric sampling regime, to test the level of equivalence of the sampled network to the actual network.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5194
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Author Henzi, S.; Lusseau, D.; Weingrill, T.; van Schaik, C.; Barrett, L.
Title Cyclicity in the structure of female baboon social networks Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication (up) Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
Volume 63 Issue 7 Pages 1015-1021-1021
Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences
Abstract There is an established and very influential view that primate societies have identifiable, persistent social organizations. It assumes that association patterns reflect long-term strategic interests that are not qualitatively perturbed by short-term environmental variability. We used data from two baboon troops in markedly different habitats over three consecutive seasons to test this assumption. Our results demonstrate pronounced cyclicity in the extent to which females maintained differentiated relationships. When food was plentiful, the companionships identified by social network analysis in the food-scarce season disappeared and were replaced by casual acquaintanceships more representative of mere gregariousness. Data from the fourth, food-scarce, season at one site indicated that few companions were re-united. It is likely that this reflected stochastic variation in individual circumstances. These results suggest that attention could profitably be paid to the effects of short-term local contingencies on social dynamics, and has implications for current theories of primate cognitive evolution.
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Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
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ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5203
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Author James, R.; Croft, D.; Krause, J.
Title Potential banana skins in animal social network analysis Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication (up) Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
Volume 63 Issue 7 Pages 989-997-997
Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences
Abstract Social network analysis is an increasingly popular tool for the study of the fine-scale and global social structure of animals. It has attracted particular attention by those attempting to unravel social structure in fission–fusion populations. It is clear that the social network approach offers some exciting opportunities for gaining new insights into social systems. However, some of the practices which are currently being used in the animal social networks literature are at worst questionable and at best over-enthusiastic. We highlight some of the areas of method, analysis and interpretation in which greater care may be needed in order to ensure that the biology we extract from our networks is robust. In particular, we suggest that more attention should be given to whether relational data are representative, the potential effect of observational errors and the choice and use of statistical tests. The importance of replication and manipulation must not be forgotten, and the interpretation of results requires care.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
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ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium
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Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5206
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Author Krause, S.; Mattner, L.; James, R.; Guttridge, T.; Corcoran, M.; Gruber, S.; Krause, J.
Title Social network analysis and valid Markov chain Monte Carlo tests of null models Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication (up) Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.
Volume 63 Issue 7 Pages 1089-1096-1096
Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences
Abstract Analyses of animal social networks derived from group-based associations often rely on randomisation methods developed in ecology (Manly, Ecology 76:1109–1115, 1995) and made available to the animal behaviour community through implementation of a pair-wise swapping algorithm by Bejder et al. (Anim Behav 56:719–725, 1998). We report a correctable flaw in this method and point the reader to a wider literature on the subject of null models in the ecology literature. We illustrate the importance of correcting the method using a toy network and use it to make a preliminary analysis of a network of associations among eagle rays.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
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ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5208
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