Stocking Density Affects Welfare Indicators in Horses Reared for Meat Production

Horses kept for meat production are reared in intensive breeding farms. We employed a checklist adapted from the Animal Welfare Indicators (AWIN) assessment protocol. Our evaluation aims to assess whether welfare indicators are influenced by stocking densities (m2/horse) and feeding strategies applied. An analysis was carried out on the data obtained from 7 surveys conducted at a single horse farm designed for meat production. In each survey, the same 12 pens were assessed, but on each occasion, the horses in the pens had been changed as had the stocking densities. Briefly, 561 horses aged 16 ± 8 months (mean ± standard deviation) were evaluated. Two stocking density cut-off values (median and 75th percentile: 3.95 and 4.75 m2/horse, respectively) were applied to investigate the effect of stocking density on horse welfare. Data were analysed using Mann–Whitney U and Fisher’s exact tests (p < 0.05). When cut-off was set as the median percentile, lower stocking density was associated with improvements in body condition score (BCS), coat cleanliness and bedding quantity, less coughing, less resting in a standing position, and less feeding related to the greater space available at the feed bunk. When the 75th percentile cut-off was used, indicators that improved were coat cleanliness, bedding quantity and mane and tail condition, as well as less resting in standing position and less feeding related to the greater space available at the feed bunk. Accordingly, the use of two different stocking density cut-off values showed that the increase of space allowance affected specific welfare indicators. Further increment of space and/or changes in management regimes should be investigated to improve all the indicators. Moreover, results related to feeding indicated the need to intervene as starch intakes exceeded recommended safe levels, negatively affecting horse welfare.

Aggression towards unfamiliar intruders by male lizards Eurolophosaurus nanuzae depends on contestant’s body traits: a test of the dear enemy effect

A reduction of territory owners’ aggression towards their neighbours in relation to the intrusion of strangers characterises the dear enemy phenomenon. Supposedly, the disparity in aggression levels of territory owners is due to a higher threat imposed by strangers compared to the threat imposed by neighbours. To evaluate the occurrence of the phenomenon in males of the small-sized lizard Eurolophosaurus nanuzae we performed a field manipulative study. We considered three models to run intrusions in males’ territories: neighbour, tailed stranger (unfamiliar) and tailless stranger intruders. Our results lend support to the presence of dear enemy for this species as residents acted more aggressively towards strangers than to neighbours. In addition, the information we provide supports the relative threat hypothesis as territory owners were more aggressive towards tailed stranger intruders than to tailless stranger intruders. In this sense, tail condition can represent a trait that signals the ‘resource holding power’ (RHP) of a lizard. Therefore, we show that beyond neighbourhood recognition, residents are able to evaluate the potential threat of stranger intruders in general, thereby extending the evolutionary gains of the dear enemy by saving energy even in the context they are expected to acts with higher costs.

Incidence patterns of ectodermic lesions in wild populations of Common Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis)

Skin lesions frequently present in adult lizards may be due to a variety of causes, both physical and infectious, including excessively high humidity and environmental temperature, malnutrition, concurrent disease etc. On the other hand, skin lesions in lizards could be simple evidence of various behavioural patterns and biotic interactions. However, studies on frequencies of dermal lesions and their anatomical and environmental correlates in lacertid lizards are rare. Here, we use Podarcis muralis to analyse the relations between occurrence of ectodermal lesions and three possible indicators of environmental stress (body condition index – BCI, infestation by ticks and tail condition) by evaluating differences among local populations at uni- and multivariate level. Our results showed that BCI, together with body size and sexual size dimorphism, varied between populations but had no direct influence on the presence of lesions. Males had higher frequencies of lesions and ticks but lower frequencies of broken tails than females. All three parameters varied between sites likely due to differences in predation/parasite exposures and agonistic interactions with conspecifics between sexes and populations. Results of multivariate analyses suggested that the occurrence of lesions is decoupled from the other morphological stress indicators. Detected associations indicated that relations between presence of lesions and other analysed variables are rather complex. Directions for further research on ectodermal lesions in lacertid lizards are provided.

RECURSIVE FORECAST COMBINATION FOR DEPENDENT HETEROGENEOUS DATA

This paper studies a procedure to combine individual forecasts that achieve theoretical optimal performance. The results apply to a wide variety of loss functions and only require a tail condition on the data sequences. The theoretical results show that the bounds are also valid in the case of time varying combination weights.

Do demographic aspects of neighbouring lizard populations differ? A case study with the common wall lizard, Podarcis muralis

Demographic and morphological aspects of two nearby subpopulations of the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) were studied, by a capture-mark-recapture procedure, at an archaeological site in the surroundings of Rome, central Italy. In both sites, the births peak was observed in September. Adult sex-ratio was skewed towards males in one subpopulation, but was close to equality in the other. Morphological characteristics were consistent in the two sites, with males always exhibiting larger snout-vent-length and head size. Population size and density, computed by a Jolly-Seber index applied by using POPAN model revealed differences between subpopulations, with lizard density being much higher in the site with higher habitat heterogeneity and shelter availability. Tail condition was similar between sites. The general implications of these data are discussed.

Flight initiation distance in relation to substratum type, sex, reproductive status and tail condition in two lacertids with contrasting habits

Flight initiation distance in relation to substratum type, sex, reproductive status and tail condition was studied in two lacertid lizards with contrasting habits: the ground-dwelling common lizard Zootoca vivipara and the rupicolous Horvath's rock lizard Iberolacerta horvathi. These species were studied in sympatric populations in a mountain area in North-Eastern Italy, Tarvisio Forest. Mean escape distance was significantly higher in I. horvathi than in Z. vivipara. In both species there were significant differences between sexes, with males escaping at longer distances than females but there were no significant differences between adults and subadults. In both species there were no differences in escape distance of females in different reproductive states. In Z. vivipara specimens with broken tails escaped at a shorter distance than individuals with intact tails. Substratum type had a significant effect on escape distance in both species.

Hawkes branching point processes without ancestors

In this article, we prove the existence of critical Hawkes point processes with a finite average intensity, under a heavy-tail condition for the fertility rate which is related to a long-range dependence property. Criticality means that the fertility rate integrates to 1, and corresponds to the usual critical branching process, and, in the context of Hawkes point processes with a finite average intensity, it is equivalent to the absence of ancestors. We also prove an ergodic decomposition result for stationary critical Hawkes point processes as a mixture of critical Hawkes point processes, and we give conditions for weak convergence to stationarity of critical Hawkes point processes.