Feeding competition within a feral goat population on the Isle of Rum, NW Scotland

Shi, Jing; Dunbar, Robin

doi:10.1007/s10164-005-0170-6

Cited by 20 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 48 publications

(68 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Indeed, restricted feeding areas are associated with increased interference interactions in cattle under confinement (DeVries et al, 2004), in rotational grazing systems (Walker and Heitschmidt, 1989), or in supplement delivery areas on rangelands (Sowell et al, 1999 and references therein). Furthermore, similar behaviors have been documented in wild ungulates (Mattiello et al, 1997;McElligott et al, 1998;Shi and Dunbar, 2006) that tend to aggregate in smaller grazing sites during winter when forage is scarce.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Does feeding area restriction inhibit social learning of toxic weed ingestion in cattle?

Jackson

Cibils

Gould

et al. 2010

Animal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Social learning from peers can trigger herd-wide intoxication with white locoweed ( Oxytropis sericea), an alkaloid-synthesizing herbaceous legume that grows on rangelands of western North America. We conducted an experiment to test the hypothesis that restriction of the area allocated to animals to feed in would inhibit social facilitation of locoweed ingestion in yearling heifers. Eight heifers that avoided white locoweed (LA) and eight heifers that readily consumed it (LE) were selected from a pool of 40 cross-bred heifers and were randomly assigned to the social facilitation or social interference treatment groups. We conducted 200 10-min feeding trials in three 5-day phases (pre-treatment, treatment, post-treatment) during which animals were presented with a set of bowls arrayed in a test arena, some of which contained ground wheat straw and others contained air-dried ground white locoweed. During the pre-treatment (days 1 to 5) and the post-treatment phases (days 11 to 15) non-social trials were conducted in which the feeding behavior of individual animals was investigated in an 80 m 2 arena containing 12 feeding bowls. During the treatment phase (days 6 to 10) social learning trials were conducted in which LA 1 LE pairs from the social interference group were exposed to 12 bowls of food distributed in an 80 m 2 arena intended to induce social interference, and LA 1 LE pairs from the social facilitation group were exposed to 36 bowls of food distributed in a 240 m 2 arena intended to permit social facilitation. During pre-treatment phase, LA heifers consumed detectably less locoweed and wheat straw and exhibited lower preference for locoweed than LE ( P < 0.05) although wheat straw preference of LA and LE was similar. During social learning trials (treatment phase), LA in the social interference group visited similar number of locoweed bowls (mean 6 s.e.m.: 0.2 6 0.12) as they had during non-social learning (0.2 6 0.20). Conversely, LA heifers in the social facilitation group visited detectably more locoweed bowls during social learning trials (1.6 6 0.46) compared with the pre-treatment phase (0.2 6 0.16). Correlation between daily number of locoweed bowls visited by LA and LE during social learning trials was detected in the social facilitation (r 5 0.70; P , 0.01), but not in the social interference group (r 5 0.15; P 5 0.52). During testing trials (post-treatment phase), locoweed and wheat straw intake and preference of LA and LE in both treatment groups was similar. Manipulation of the feeding environment delayed, but did not inhibit social learning of toxic weed ingestion in this study.

show abstract

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Does feeding area restriction inhibit social learning of toxic weed ingestion in cattle?

Jackson

Cibils

Gould

et al. 2010

Animal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As with temperature, the effect of density in the year of shooting appears most important ( Figure 5), suggesting that competition for forage following weaning, rather than a lagged influence of competition on mothers in the previous year, has a stronger influence on juvenile mass. Indeed, intra-specific competition for resources is most likely to result in the displacement of subordinate individuals, such as juveniles, from food patches [71][72][73]. Previously, the importance of lagged effects on juvenile condition has been stressed (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental change and long-term body mass declines in an alpine mammal

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction: Climate and environmental change have driven widespread changes in body size, particularly declines, across a range of taxonomic groups in recent decades. Size declines could substantially impact on the functioning of ecosystems. To date, most studies suggest that temporal trends in size have resulted indirectly from climate change modifying resource availability and quality, affecting the ability of individuals to acquire resources and grow.

show abstract

“…Finally, strongly motivated overlapping exploratory and foraging behaviours are equally evident among herbivorous ungulates, including cattle (Howery et al 1996;Westerath et al 2009), deer (Thouless 1990;Bergvall et al 2011), goats (Shi and Dunbar 2006;Shrader et al 2007), sheep (Lynch et al 1992), and horses or donkeys (Salter and Hudson 1979;Kiley-Worthington 2011). Their behaviour also reflects the impact of a number of other factors including food/taste preferences (Deag 1996;Bergvall and Leimar 2005;Balcombe 2009), aversion to toxic foods (Provenza 1996) and the availability and distribution of those foods (Thouless 1990;Shi and Dunbar 2006).…”

Section: Behaviour In Wild or Natural Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Their behaviour also reflects the impact of a number of other factors including food/taste preferences (Deag 1996;Bergvall and Leimar 2005;Balcombe 2009), aversion to toxic foods (Provenza 1996) and the availability and distribution of those foods (Thouless 1990;Shi and Dunbar 2006). In addition, it reflects the level of their species-typical desire for the close proximity of herd-mates when grazing in familiar and unfamiliar environments Dumont and Boissy 2000;Shrader et al 2007).…”

Section: Behaviour In Wild or Natural Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Positive animal welfare states and encouraging environment-focused and animal-to-animal interactive behaviours

2014

New Zealand Veterinary Journal

141

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Affective neuroscience, incorporating neurophysiology and neuropsychology, is providing increasing evidence that certain behaviours of animals may be interpreted in terms of what they are intending to achieve, i.e. their goals. It is also providing evidence that allows inferences to be made about the affective contents of some goal-directed behaviours. These neuroscience-supported inferences are aligned with recommendations based on prior behaviour-based investigations of animals' preferences, aversions and priorities, and these observations together support the cautious use of particular behaviours to infer what the accompanying affects may be. In this review, therefore, some attention is given to negative affects and their relationships to poor animal welfare, but the primary focus is the positive affects animals may experience when they successfully engage in rewarding goal-directed behaviours, encapsulated in the concept of positive affective engagement. The review draws together reports of environment-focused and animal-to-animal interactive behaviours observed in a range of species and under diverse circumstances in order to illustrate the likely widespread occurrence of the positive affects that may accompany them. Particular consideration is given to affects that are potentially associated with some aspects of exploration and food acquisition in stimulus rich or impoverished environments, and to those that may be associated with aspects of the affiliative interactions of bonding or bond affirmation, maternal care, play and sexual activity. It is concluded that animals given the opportunity to engage in such activities may experience some positive affects. However, the intensity of an animal's experience of particular positive affects is likely to range from zero to very high because the associated behaviours occur intermittently, variation may occur during different phases of a goal-directed behaviour, and other positive or negative affects experienced at the same time may have greater impact. As good welfare is achieved both by minimising negative affects and promoting positive ones and as conscious sentient animals may be expected to have an interest in experiencing as little pain and as much pleasure as possible, it is argued that there is an ethical obligation to take practical steps to help them to achieve these outcomes. Such steps would include providing them with opportunities to express more behaviours that are associated with rewarding or satisfying experiences understood in terms of positive affective engagement.

show abstract

Feeding competition within a feral goat population on the Isle of Rum, NW Scotland

Cited by 20 publications

References 48 publications

Does feeding area restriction inhibit social learning of toxic weed ingestion in cattle?

Does feeding area restriction inhibit social learning of toxic weed ingestion in cattle?

Environmental change and long-term body mass declines in an alpine mammal

Positive animal welfare states and encouraging environment-focused and animal-to-animal interactive behaviours

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About