PSX-B-18 Behavioral and physiological responses of ewes in hardwood silvopastures vs. open pastures

2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 221-221
Author(s):  
Sanjok Poudel ◽  
Aleks Halili ◽  
John H Fike ◽  
Gabriel J Pent
Keyword(s):  
Animal Behavior ◽  
Plasma Cortisol ◽  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Hair Cortisol ◽  
Ambient Conditions ◽  
Pastoral Systems ◽  
Trail Cameras ◽  
Physiological Benefits ◽  
Sampling Procedures ◽  
Animal Handling

Abstract Managing livestock in silvopasture systems can help reduce heat stress and improve animal behavior and productivity. However, quantifying physiological benefits for animals in pastoral systems is challenging because the sampling procedures require animal handling; this is stressful and elevates plasma cortisol, a stress hormone. Hair cortisol (HC) is a relatively non-invasive and reliable measure of chronic stress, but it has received limited use especially in pasture systems. We compared behavioral and physiological (temperature, hair and blood cortisol) responses of ewes that grazed mid-stage hardwood silvopastures vs. open pastures. The study site consists of 0.27-ha black walnut (Juglans nigra; BW) and honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos; HL) silvopastures and open pasture (OP) treatments, each replicated three times. Thirty-six Katahdin ewes were assigned to one of the treatments for a 6-week summer grazing trial. Ewe weights and intravaginal temperatures were recorded routinely; trail cameras captured animal behavior. Blood was collected via jugular venipuncture; hair grown during the trial was collected from the loin region. Blood and hair cortisol concentration was determined by ELISA. Body weight gains and plasma cortisol levels did not differ among treatments. Ewes on OP had higher HC on Day-21 and Day-42 (P ≤ 0.007) and 0.5–1.0 °C hotter (P ≤ 0.04) intravaginal temperatures between 1200h-1700h than ewes on silvopasture treatments. Overall, ewes on OP spent more (P < 0.001) time loafing and less (P < 0.10) time lying down compared to ewes on silvopasture treatments. Trees within the silvopastures moderated ambient conditions, both reducing stress and improving the behavioral and physiological responses of ewes.

Biochemical and Galvanic Skin Responses to Music Stimuli by College Students in Biology and Music

1992 ◽  
Vol 74 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1079-1090 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherman D. VanderArk ◽  
Daniel Ely
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Cortisol ◽  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Music Students ◽  
Music Majors ◽  
Physiological Changes ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Behavioral Therapies ◽  
Skin Responses ◽  
Galvanic Skin Responses

The purpose of this study was to examine biochemical and physiological responses to musical stimuli. Specifically, university music and biology students' plasma levels of norepinephrine, endorphin, and Cortisol, and their galvanic skin responses were measured before and after listening to two different musical selections in an anechoic chamber and during controlled silence. The results indicated that biochemical variables changed significantly in both groups during listening to music but were not different during the controlled silence. These data suggest that music majors may listen more analytically to music. GSR responses were significantly higher for music majors than biology majors, and plasma Cortisol increased in music students but decreased in biology students. Music which elicits specific emotions induces physiological changes which may be beneficial to relaxation and behavioral therapies.

Physiological responses and non-specific immune parameters in Epinephelus moara exposed to repeated physical stress

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Sun ◽  
Baojun Tang ◽  
Fei Yin
Keyword(s):  
Alkaline Phosphatase ◽  
Lactic Acid ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Plasma Cortisol ◽  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Physical Stress ◽  
Basic Information ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Immune Parameters ◽  
End Of Treatment

To evaluate effects of physical stress on physiological and non-specific immune parameters in Epinephelus moara, levels of cortisol, glucose, lactic acid in serum, as well as malondialdehyde (MDA), Alkaline phosphatase (AKP), acid phosphatase (ACP) and lysozyme (LZM) activities in liver were examined. Plasma cortisol levels increased significantly to peak levels at the first day in stressed individuals. Moreover, those levels were significantly higher with respect to control (P less than 0.05). Concentrations of glucose in serum has only a slight increase at the first day when subjected to stress (P greater 0.05). The levels of lactic acid, activity of ACP and AKP increased and significantly peaked during treatment; then, all of them dropped to the levels of control groups at the end of treatment. The concentration of LZM and MDA in liver had a significant increase and peaked during treatment; then it began to drop, and finally recovered to the level of control groups. The results indicate that E. moara presented significant physiological and immune responses when subjected to a repeated physical stressor. Also, cortisol and MDA changes could be used as bio-indicators for monitoring stress. The present study provides basic information for improved rearing and feeding protocols in this species.

Effect of loading practices and 6-hour road transport on the physiological responses of yearling cattle

2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 1028 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. G. Pettiford ◽  
D. M. Ferguson ◽  
J. M. Lea ◽  
C. Lee ◽  
D. R. Paull ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Cortisol ◽  
Acute Phase Protein ◽  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Road Transport ◽  
Recovery Phase ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
Blood Samples ◽  
Single Animal ◽  
Phase Protein ◽  
Rate Of Recovery

A controlled study using 16 yearling Angus steers was conducted to determine the physiological responses associated with loading practices followed by 6 h of road transport and 17 h of post-transport recovery. The cattle were quietly mustered from grazing at pasture and directly loaded onto a truck for transport. During loading, cattle received either four consecutive prods with a commercial electric prodder (n = 8) or no prodding (control, n = 8). The experiment was performed in four replicates, conducted on consecutive days, with four animals (n = 2 per treatment) utilised on each day. On the truck, cattle were confined to pens that each held a single animal facing the direction of travel. Blood samples were taken via jugular catheters before and during the 6 h journey and during the 17 h recovery phase. Samples were analysed for haematology, osmolality and plasma cortisol, total protein, creatine kinase, blood urea nitrogen and the acute phase protein haptoglobin. The physiological measurements indicated that most stress occurred during loading and the initial stages of transport, but after this, the cattle habituated and were able to cope with the 6 h of transport. After 17 h of recovery, nearly all the variables measured had returned to their pre-transport levels. Use of an electric prodder during loading did not modify the physiological responses to loading, transport or the rate of recovery compared with the controls.

scholarly journals Physiological and Yield Responses of Spring Wheat Cultivars under Realistic and Acute Levels of Ozone

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1392
Author(s):  
Nivedita Chaudhary ◽  
David J. Bonfil ◽  
Eran Tas
Keyword(s):  
Spring Wheat ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Wheat Cultivars ◽  
Ambient Conditions ◽  
Mixing Ratios ◽  
Yield And Quality ◽  
Stomatal Responses ◽  
Yield Responses ◽  
Hard Spring Wheat

Tropospheric ozone (O3) is widely recognized as the cause of substantial yield and quality reduction in crops. Most of the previous studies focused on the exposure of wheat cultivars to elevated O3 levels. Our main objectives were to: (i) investigate the consistency of wheat cultivars’ physiological responses across two different realistic O3 levels; and (ii) compare these physiological responses with those under short acute O3 exposure. Three commercially available hard spring wheat cultivars bred under semiarid and Eastern Mediterranean conditions were exposed to two different O3 levels during two consecutive seasons (2016–2018)—36 and 71 ppbv 7 h mean O3 mixing ratios in open-top chambers. The results were compared to those following short acute O3 exposure (102.8 ppbv, 7 h mean for 10 days) in a greenhouse. Non-stomatal responses were significantly more pronounced than stomatal responses in all cultivars under different levels of O3. The specific cultivar was observed as the most O3-tolerant under all experiments. The fact that the same cultivar was found remarkably tolerant to the local semiarid ambient conditions according to other studies and to O3 exposure based on the present study supports a link between cultivar resistance to drought conditions and O3.

269 Validation of an Automatic Scale Equipped with Solar Panels for Grazing Beef Cattle

2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 143-143
Author(s):  
Stefania Pancini ◽  
Gabriel J Pent ◽  
Robin R White ◽  
Guillermo Goncherenko ◽  
Nicholas W Wege Dias ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Behavior ◽  
Beef Cows ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
Wireless System ◽  
Great Precision ◽  
Water Trough ◽  
Automatic Scale ◽  
Grazing Systems ◽  
Animal Handling

Abstract Body weight (BW) is used to detect health and nutritional disorders in cattle, as well as calculate profitability of the production system based on weight gain curves. In grazing systems, measuring BW frequently implies moving animals, which is labor intense, stressful, and reduces grazing time and feed intake. All of which negatively impacts animal performance. An automated scale in the pasture can reduce labor and animal handling, while ensuring an accurate BW estimation. Our objective was to evaluate the functionality and accuracy of an automatic wireless scale system equipped with solar panels (SmartScale, C-LOCKTM), when compared to a conventional scale located at the cattle working facility. Eight multiparous beef cows were weighed in a 14-day interval for a period of 57 days with a conventional scale, while at the same time BW was measured daily with an automated scale located at the pasture in front of the water trough. This wireless system registers BW every time the animal approaches the water trough and automatically transmit it to a server via cellular network. Correlation between weighing systems was evaluated through a linear regression (R Core Team, 2019), where the adjusted R2 value was 0.99, determining an excellent linear relationship between values obtained by the conventional scale and values obtained by the automated scale. In addition, the automated scale registered the time of day, time spent in the scale, and number of daily visits. The probability to find an animal at the scale varies between 15% to 20% during daylight, decreasing under 9% during the night, with 2.56±1.50 average number of visits per day, where animals spend in average 2.94±1.84 minutes. In conclusion, the automated scale has the ability to measure BW with great precision and has potential to be used as a complimentary instrument to evaluate animal behavior in grazing systems.

scholarly journals Physiological responses and animal behavior in Bonsmara-Hereford crosses vs. Hereford purebred on environment stress

2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. 479-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Alicia Batista Taborda ◽  
Celmira Tomasina Saravia ◽  
Ana Carolina Espasandin
Keyword(s):  
Animal Behavior ◽  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Environment Stress

scholarly journals Walking in Each Other’s Footsteps: Do Animal Trail Makers Confer Resilience against Trampling Tourists?

Environments ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 83 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Croft
Keyword(s):  
Animal Ecology ◽  
Animal Behavior ◽  
Large Animal ◽  
Tourism Research ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Evolutionary View ◽  
Trail Cameras ◽  
Large Animals

Modern humans, and other hominins before them, have walked across the landscapes of most continents for many millennia. They shared these landscapes with other large animals, especially mammalian herbivores and their predators, whose footsteps defined trails through the vegetation. Most of the diversity in the wild species is now concentrated in protected areas and visited by large numbers of tourists who may walk amongst them. This review examines the literature about medium-large animal and tourist trampling impacts to uncover any marriage between animal ecology and nature-based tourism research. Methodology is comparable. Animal ecology has focused on the propagation of grazing and trampling effects from a point source (usually water). Tourism research has focused on trail structure (formal/informal, hardened, wide/narrow) and the propagation of effects (especially weeds) into the hinterland and along the trail. There is little research to substantiate an evolutionary view of trampling impacts. At least tourists venturing off formed trails may reduce impacts by following animal trails with caveats, such as risk of encounters with dangerous animals and disruption of animal behavior. This is an under-studied topic but a fertile ground for research, aided by modern tools like trail cameras and geographically enabled devices borne by tourists.

Effect of shearing on oestrus and ovulation in sheep

1989 ◽  
Vol 113 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Parr ◽  
I. F. Davis ◽  
A. J. Tilbrook
Keyword(s):  
Luteinizing Hormone ◽  
Environmental Stress ◽  
Plasma Cortisol ◽  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Releasing Hormone ◽  
Gonadotrophin Releasing Hormone

Shearing causes a rapid increase in plasma cortisol concentrations (Kilgour & de Langen 1970; Purchas 1973; Fulkerson & Jamieson 1982), indicating that acute physiological responses are associated with the procedure. Environmental stress before mating can result in a delay in the onset of oestrus (Doney et al. 1973) and a reduction in ovulation rates (Doney et al. 1976). Dobson (1988) demonstrated that shearing caused a reduction in the luteinizing hormone (LH) response to exogenous gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) in anoestrous ewes. Such a response to shearing could influence the incidence of oestrus and ovulation.

Effect of carbon dioxide-induced water acidification and seasonality on the physiology of the sea-bob shrimp Xiphopenaeus kroyeri (Decapoda, Penaeidae)

Crustaceana ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 91 (8) ◽  
pp. 947-960 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Augusto ◽  
Andressa C. Ramaglia ◽  
Paulo V. Mantoan
Keyword(s):  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Ammonia Excretion ◽  
Atomic Ratio ◽  
Nitrogen Excretion ◽  
Hepatosomatic Index ◽  
Reproduction Rate ◽  
Ambient Conditions ◽  
Physiological Alterations ◽  
Xiphopenaeus Kroyeri ◽  
Energy Type

Abstract Climate changes are altering the chemistry of the oceans, and knowing their effects on the biology of animals is urgent. Since the physiological responses of crustaceans may be different given the seasons of the year, this work evaluated the synergistic effect of ocean acidification and seasonality on the physiology of the sea-bob shrimp, Xiphopenaeus kroyeri. Experimental groups were exposed for 5 days to two levels of pH, representing present-day mean ambient conditions (pH 8.0) and distant-future conditions (pH 7.3) during the summer and winter. Metabolism, nitrogen excretion, energy type and storage were determined, respectively, by oxygen consumption, ammonia excretion, atomic ratio O/N and hepatosomatic index. The reduction of pH resulted in a decrease of about 30% in the X. kroyeri metabolism during the summer and winter. Nitrogen excretion (reduction of 40%) and hepatosomatic index (increase of 120%) showed to be altered in animals exposed to reduced pH only throughout summer. Regardless of pH and seasons of the year, animals use mainly proteins as energy substrate and they do not show mortality. The increase of the hepatosomatic index, indicator of the accumulation of energy reserves, associated with metabolism reduction, suggests the suppression of activities that demand energy expenditure. The consequences of the physiological alterations observed may include decreases in growth and reproduction rate and displacement of populations to more appropriate conditions. The results might be associated with a set of factors resulting from the exposure to reduced pH, the synergy between pH and temperature, but also with a pattern of different physiological responses that may occur according to seasonality.

304 Effects of Supplementing Phix-up® on Productive, Physiological, and Rumen Responses of Feedlot Cattle Consuming a Corn-based Finishing Diet

2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 162-163
Author(s):  
Eduardo Colombo ◽  
Reinaldo F Cooke ◽  
Kelsey Harvey ◽  
Jacob Wiegand ◽  
Ana Clara Araujo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Latin Square ◽  
Feedlot Cattle ◽  
Hair Cortisol ◽  
Finishing Cattle ◽  
Rumen Ph ◽  
Hair Samples ◽  
Buffering Agent ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Feeding Systems

Abstract This experiment (d -14 to 118) compared rumen pH, productive, and physiological responses in finishing cattle supplemented or not with a rumen-buffering agent (pHix-up®; Timab, Dinard, France). Angus-influenced yearling cattle (58 heifers and 62 steers) were ranked by sex and body weight (BW) and allocated to 4 groups of 30 animals each (d -14). Groups were housed in 1 of 4 drylot pens equipped with GrowSafe automated feeding systems, and assigned to receive a corn-based diet containing monensin, and with the inclusion of pHix-up® at 0.00% (control) 0.25%, 0.50%, or 0.75% (d 0 to 118). Cattle BW was recorded twice monthly (d -14 to 118), and blood samples were collected on d 0, 28, 56, 84 and 112. Hair samples from the tail-switch were collected on d 0, 56 and 112. Cattle were slaughtered on d 119. Eight rumen-cannulated steers were also assigned to this experiment (d 42 to 98), with 2 steers housed with each group in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin Square design (4 periods of 14 d). Rumen pH was measured on d 7 and 14 of each period at 0800h, 1200h, 1600h and 2000h. No treatment effects were noted (P ≥ 0.13) for cattle BW gain, feed intake, and feed efficiency. Inclusion of pHix-up® linearly increased (P < 0.01) plasma Mg concentrations and tended to linearly decrease (P = 0.09) plasma haptoglobin concentrations. Cattle receiving pHix-up® had greater (P < 0.01) mean plasma cortisol concentrations compared with non-supplemented cattle. Hair cortisol concentration linearly decreased (P < 0.01) as pHix-up® inclusion increased on d 112 (treatment × day interaction; P = 0.02). In rumen-cannulated steers, pHix-up® inclusion linearly increased (P = 0.03) mean rumen pH. Collectively, pHix-up® supplementation improved rumen pH and modulated stress-related physiological responses in finishing cattle, but without improving their productive responses.

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