Applying thermal imaging software to cattle grazing winter range

Keren, Elai N.; Olson, Bret E.

doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2006.11.004

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Instead, selection for the combined factors of solar radiation and greater distance from forested areas suggests horses may have been maximizing sun exposure, which would aid in winter thermoregulation. Similar observations have been made with cattle in Montana during winter (Keren and Olson 2007). Conversely, sun exposure may not have been high enough for horses to seek thermal cover during summer, and relatively cool summer temperatures in this environment (generally , 308C) may have limited the need for horses to seek shade.…”

Section: Mechanisms Regulating Habitat Selection By Horsessupporting

confidence: 66%

Seasonal Variation in Habitat Selection by Free-Ranging Feral Horses Within Alberta’s Forest Reserve

Girard

Bork

Nielsen

et al. 2013

Rangeland Ecology & Management

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Little is known about habitat selection by free-ranging feral horses in Montane environments, including how horse use may vary seasonally throughout the year. We tracked four global positioning system collared horses in four separate harems between November 2008 and October 2010 for a portion of the Rocky Mountain Forest Reserve in southwest Alberta, Canada. We assessed seasonal habitat selection for the study period by combining locational data with landscape data (including vegetation types) in an information theoretic framework. Home ranges for horses varied from 12.4 to 90 km 2 and were confined to local watersheds. Horses selected most for lowland grasslands across all seasons, with shrublands increasingly selected in spring and summer. Harvested conifer forests were only selected by horses during winter. Resource selection functions indicated that in addition to vegetation type, horses were selecting for a variety of habitat characteristics (i.e., distance to forest and solar radiation), while water availability, topographic accessibility, and disturbance features (e.g., distance to roads, recreational trails, and seismic lines associated with energy exploration) had little or no influence on horse selection. Overall, horses demonstrated selection for habitats covering 14% of the study area while avoiding 42% of habitats: remaining areas were used in proportion to their availability. Concentration of horse use within sparse vegetation types (grassland and shrubland), particularly during one or more times of the year, help identify critical horse habitat including areas where multiple, overlapping land uses interact on public land.

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Section: Mechanisms Regulating Habitat Selection By Horsessupporting

confidence: 66%

Seasonal Variation in Habitat Selection by Free-Ranging Feral Horses Within Alberta’s Forest Reserve

Girard

Bork

Nielsen

et al. 2013

Rangeland Ecology & Management

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“…These points were used to calculate 15 angles around the hooks, pins, and tailhead. Keren and Olson (2007) used thermal imaging in assessing energy requirements for cattle on pasture. Sharony (2003) patented the application of a digital camera for BCS; it was not a thermal camera and they used a different algorithm, and Kriesel and McQuilkin (2005) patented the application of another nonthermal digital camera for measuring livestock dimensions, but not for BCS determination.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cow Body Shape and Automation of Condition Scoring

Halachmi

Polák

Roberts

et al. 2008

Journal of Dairy Science

102

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The feasibility of including a body shape measure in methods for automatic monitoring of body reserves of cattle was evaluated. The hypothesis tested was that the body shape of a fatter cow is rounder than that of a thin cow and, therefore, may better fit a parabolic shape. An image-processing model was designed that calculates a parameter to assess body shape. The model was implemented, and its outputs were validated against ultrasonic and thermal camera measurements of the thickness of fat and muscle layers, and manual body condition scoring of 186 Holstein-Friesian cows. The thermal camera overcomes some of the drawbacks of a regular camera; the hooks and the tailhead nadirs of a thin cow diverged from the parabolic shape. The correlation between thermal camera's measurements and fat and muscle thickness was 0.47. Mean body condition scorings were 2.18, 2.15, and 2.23, with no significant difference found across the assessment methods. Further research is needed to achieve fully automatic, accurate body condition scoring.

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“…Early studies on cattle (Riemerschmid, 1943) and sheep (Clapperton et al, 1965) showed that these ruminants can reduce heat gain by orientating parallel to the sun's rays thereby reducing the surface area presented to incident solar radiation. Since then a handful of studies have computed energy savings of orientation to solar radiation in ruminants, namely, cattle (Keren and Olson, 2007;Olson and Wallander, 2001), black wildebeest (Connochaetes gnou; Maloney et al, 2005) and springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis; Hetem et al, 2009;Hofmeyr and Louw, 1987).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%