MEASURING FAT CONTENT USING COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY TO ESTABLISH A BODY CONDITION INDEX IN FREE-RANGING BLANDING'S TURTLES (EMYDOIDEA BLANDINGII) IN ILLINOIS

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin M. Newman ◽  
Matthew C. Allender ◽  
Dan Thompson ◽  
Gary A. Glowacki ◽  
Marina Ivančić ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Danise Benatti ◽  
Luis Felipe Andrietti ◽  
José Flávio Cândido Júnior ◽  
Alexandre Vogliotti ◽  
Marcela Figueirêdo Duarte Moraes ◽  
...  

Abstract Rodents are small mammals that can be parasitized by various helminths. This study aimed to identify and describe the ecological indicators of infection in rodents captured in fragments of the Atlantic Forest in the western region of Paraná State, Brazil. Sixty-eight specimens of five rodent species were collected, necropsied, and inspected in search of helminths. The parasites were stored in 70% ethanol, morphologically identified, and counted for calculation of infection indicators. Fourteen species of helminths and one species of Crustacea were recorded: ten in Akodon montensis, four in Mus musculus, two in Thaptomys nigrita, two in Oligoryzomys nigripes, and one in Euryoryzomys russatus. The registered species of parasites were: Rodentolepis akodontis, Angiostrongylus sp., Protospirura numidica criceticola, Trichuris navonae, Syphacia alata, Syphacia criceti, Syphacia evaginata, Trichofreitasia lenti, Stilestrongylus aculeata, Stilestrongylus eta, Stilestrongylus gracielae, Stilestrongylus franciscanus, Stilestrongylus moreli, Stilestrongylus sp., and Pentastomida gen. sp. A positive correlation between the intensity of infection of T. navonae and T. lenti was observed with the body condition index of the host A. montensis. For all species, this study represents a new register of locality, and for eight of them a new host.



2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-76
Author(s):  
Yasser Ahmed ◽  
Armin Fabritzek ◽  
Neviaty P. Zamani ◽  
Karen Von Juterzenka ◽  
Mark Lenz

Pergerakan organisme dipengaruhi oleh penyebaran alami dan aktivitas manusia.Beberapa spesies yang terbawa, memiliki sebaran yang melebihi distribusi batas normal oleh pengaruh tertentu (vector).Penelitian ini melakukan pengujian pada skala laboratorium untuk melihat survival rate yang terkait dengan body condition index selama diberikan stress suhu yang terkait perubahan iklim dan ini juga dapat dijadikan sebagai simulasi transportasi kapal, sehingga dapat diketahui pergerakan organisme.Distribusi organisme tersebut mempengaruhi kemampuan bertahan hidupselama transportasi.Oleh karena itu, perlu dilakukan penelitian dengan mengekspose grup pra-stress dan grup non stress sebelum masuk ke fase stress dan membandingkan survival rate dan body condition index (BCI) pada organisme tersebut. Organisme yang dipilih adalah Kerang Hijau (P. viridis) dengan menggunakan stress suhu.Pengukuran respon variabel dari organisme tersebut yaitu survival rate dan body condition index (BCI).Penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa survival rate dan body condition index memiliki korelasi linier.



2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Mortimer ◽  
Alan Lill

Some birds facing energy ‘bottlenecks’ display elevated oxidative metabolism and oxygen delivery to tissues and could be particularly susceptible to chronic stress. We examined whether there was evidence for such trends in little penguins (Eudyptula minor) over the period from breeding to the post-moulting stage and particularly during the onshore moult-fast. Penguin parents contribute equally to incubation, brooding and brood provisioning. A few weeks post-breeding, adults undergo a protracted, terrestrial moult-fast and then make brief visits to the colony during the post-moulting stage. Provisioning nestling(s) and moulting could theoretically be particularly energetically and nutritionally demanding. We determined for adults whether mass, a body condition index and blood parameters influencing vascular oxygen carrying capacity (hematocrit, Hct; whole blood haemoglobin, Hb) and indicating chronic stress (leukocyte count, WBC; heterophil/lymphocyte ratio, H/L) varied from August to May in a manner reflecting likely variation in energy and nutrient demand. Female mass and body condition index decreased significantly between the incubation and guard stages, before returning to incubation levels between the guard and post-guard nestling stages. Both parameters declined to their lowest levels between the post-guard and moult stages, before increasing to levels comparable with those during nestling care between the moult and post-moult stages. Blood parameters in both sexes exhibited temporal variation similar to that in female mass and body condition index, declining to their lowest levels during moult and increasing after the moult to levels comparable with those during breeding. Results indicated that the period of most intense provisioning of nestlings was associated with a decrease in blood oxygen carrying capacity, but no pronounced change in chronic stress indicators. However, the penguin’s moult-fast involved a loss of female body condition and, in both sexes, a reduction in body mass, vascular oxygen carrying capacity and possibly specific immune competence. Thus, regulation of human disturbance in accessible little penguin colonies may be particularly important during moult.



1999 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. MERILÄ ◽  
R. PRZYBYLO ◽  
B. C. SHELDON

An increasing amount of evidence indicates that different forms of environmental stress influence the expression of genetic variance in quantitative traits and, consequently, their evolvability. We investigated the causal components of phenotypic variance and natural selection on the body condition index (a trait often related to fitness in wild bird populations) of blue tit (Parus caeruleus) nestlings under contrasting environmental conditions. In three different study years, nestlings grown under a poor feeding regime attained lower body condition than their full-sibs grown under a good feeding regime. Genetic influences on condition were large and significant in both feeding regimes, and in all three study years. However, although estimates of additive genetic variance were consistently higher in the poor than in the good environment, heritability estimates for body condition index were very similar in both environments due to higher levels of environmental variance in the poor environment. Evidence for weak genotype×environment interactions was obtained, but these contributed little to variance in nestling condition. Directional natural selection on fledging condition of nestlings was detected, and there were no indications of year or environmental effects on the form and intensity of selection observed, in a sample of 3659 nestlings over four years. However, selection on fledging condition was very weak (standardized selection gradient, β=0·027±0·016 SE), suggesting that, in the current population, the large additive genetic component to fledging condition is not particularly surprising. The results of these analyses are contrasted with those obtained for other populations and species with similar life-histories.



2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (6) ◽  
pp. 1021-1029 ◽  
Author(s):  
A I Schulte-Hostedde ◽  
J S Millar ◽  
G J Hickling

Body condition (energy reserves) can have important fitness consequences. Measuring condition of live animals is typically done by regressing body mass on measures of body size and using the residuals as an index of condition. The validity of this condition index was evaluated by determining whether it reflected measured fat content of five species of small mammals (yellow-pine chipmunks (Tamias amoenus Allen), bushy-tailed wood rats (Neotoma cinerea Ord), deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus Ord), red-backed voles (Clethrionomys gapperi Vigors), and meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus Ord)). We also determined whether body water could predict fat content, enabling the use of hydrogen-isotope dilution for estimating condition. For all five species, condition estimates weakly predicted fat content and more accurately predicted variation in lean dry mass and water content. The relationship between body water and fat content was inconsistent among the five species, discouraging against the general use of isotope dilution in these animals. Although ecologically important, these indices are best interpreted as explaining variation in all constituents of body composition.



2017 ◽  
Vol 81 ◽  
pp. 383-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annalucia Cantafaro ◽  
Giandomenico Ardizzone ◽  
Marco Enea ◽  
Alessandro Ligas ◽  
Francesco Colloca


2012 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 346-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
James G. MacCracken ◽  
Jennifer L. Stebbings


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 561-569
Author(s):  
Filipe Martins Santos ◽  
David Risco ◽  
Nayara Yoshie Sano ◽  
Gabriel Carvalho de Macedo ◽  
Wanessa Teixeira Gomes Barreto ◽  
...  

Assessing and monitoring the welfare of free-living mammals is not a usual process due to the logistical complications associated with their capture and sedation, collection and storage of biological samples and their release. In this context, non-invasive methods for monitoring wildlife constitute a good alternative approach for in situ conservation. Body condition index, as a measurement of health status, has been used in free-living mammals; its low value may be associated with negative effects on reproduction and survival. The present study aimed to generate an alternative and reliable non-invasive method and then determine the body condition index, based on previously-collected biometric measurements, without the need to capture and immobilise the animals. A total of 178 free-living Nasua nasua Linnaeus, 1766 were trapped, weighed and measured. Statistical methods were used, based on Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) using body mass, biometric measurements (body length, height and chest girth) and gender as explanatory variables. To assess the agreement between the real Body Condition Indices (BCIs) and the predicted values of BCIs, we explored the correlation between each model using the Bland-Altman method. This method showed a strong agreement between the predictive BRT models proposed (standardised residuals from a linear regression between body length and chest girth) and standardised residuals (linear regression between body mass and body length). The results obtained herein showed that BRT modelling, based on biometrical features, is an alternative way to verify the body conditions of coatis without the need to capture and immobilise the animals.



2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 165
Author(s):  
Hector R. Benatti ◽  
Hermes R. Luz ◽  
Daniel M. Lima ◽  
Vinicius D. Gonçalves ◽  
Francisco B. Costa ◽  
...  

The capybara, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris, is the largest extant rodent of the world. To better understand the correlation between size and body mass, and biochemical parameters of capybaras from areas with different degrees of anthropization (i.e., different food supplies), we sampled free-ranging capybaras from areas of natural landscapes (NLs) and human-modified landscapes (HMLs) in Brazil. Analyses of biometrical and biochemical parameters of capybaras showed that animals from HMLs were heavier (higher body mass) than those from NL, a condition possibly related to fat deposit rather than body length, as indicated by Body Condition Index (BCI) analyses. Biochemical parameters indicated higher serum levels of albumin, creatine kinase, cholesterol, fructosamine and total protein among capybaras from HMLs than from NLs; however, when all adult capybaras were analyzed together only cholesterol and triglycerides were positively correlated with body mass. We propose that the biochemical profile differences between HMLs and NLs are related to the obesity condition of capybaras among HMLs. Considering that heavier animals might live longer and reproduce more often, our results could have important implications in the population dynamics of capybaras among HMLs, where this rodent species is frequently represented by overgrowth populations that generate several levels of conflicts with human beings.



2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret M. Lamont ◽  
Darren Johnson

The neritic environment is rich in resources and as such plays a crucial role as foraging habitat for multi-species marine assemblages, including sea turtles. However, this habitat also experiences a wide array of anthropogenic threats. To prioritize conservation funds, targeting areas that support multi-species assemblages is ideal. This is particularly important in the Gulf of Mexico where restoration actions are currently ongoing following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. To better understand these areas in the Gulf of Mexico, we characterized two multi-species aggregations of sea turtles captured in different neritic habitats. We described species composition and size classes of turtles, and calculated body condition index for 642 individuals of three species captured from 2011 to 2019: 13.6% loggerheads (Caretta caretta), 44.9% Kemp’s ridleys (Lepidochelys kempii) and 41.4% green turtles (Chelonia mydas). Species composition differed between the two sites with more loggerheads captured in seagrass and a greater proportion of green turtles captured in sand bottom. Turtles in sand bottom were smaller and weighed less than those captured in seagrass. Although small and large turtles were captured at both sites, the proportions differed between sites. Body condition index of green turtles was lower in sand habitat than seagrass habitat; there was no difference for Kemp’s ridleys or loggerheads. In general, smaller green turtles had a higher body condition index than larger green turtles. We have identified another habitat type used by juvenile sea turtle species in the northern Gulf of Mexico. In addition, we highlight the importance of habitat selection by immature turtles recruiting from the oceanic to the neritic environment, particularly for green turtles.



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