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Koizumi R, Endo T, Tanikawa T, Hirata S, Kiyokawa Y. Coexistence of roof rats and carnivores in barns on a livestock farm in Japan. Anim Sci J 2024; 95:e13982. [PMID: 39030775 DOI: 10.1111/asj.13982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2024] [Revised: 06/19/2024] [Accepted: 07/09/2024] [Indexed: 07/22/2024]
Abstract
Brown rats (Rattus norvegicus), roof rats (Rattus rattus), and house mice (Mus musculus) are considered to be important pests on livestock farms. Although the diel activity patterns of rodents are key to their control, information on this aspect of their ecology is limited. Furthermore, the effect of carnivores on rodent activity patterns as well as the carnivore species present on livestock farms is unclear. Here, we set camera traps in an open-type cow barn and in an enclosed pig barn on the same livestock farm in Japan from August through October 2021. The only rodents observed in both barns were roof rats, and the carnivore species observed were dogs (Canis familiaris), cats (Felis catus), and Japanese weasels (Mustela itatsi). Roof rats showed different patterns of activity and behavior between the barns. However, because the pattern in both barns was nocturnal, the activity patterns of roof rats and carnivores showed a moderate to high degree of overlap. Therefore, roof rats did not appear to shift their activity patterns to avoid nocturnal carnivores. Taken together, the present study provides valuable information for rodent control on livestock farms in Japan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryoko Koizumi
- National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Tomohiko Endo
- Biodiversity Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Tsutomu Tanikawa
- Japan Pest Control Association, Tokyo, Japan
- Animal Health Technology Department, Yamazaki Professional College of Animal Health Technology, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shigeki Hirata
- National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Yasushi Kiyokawa
- Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
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Robbers Y, Tersteeg MMH, Meijer JH, Coomans CP. Group housing and social dominance hierarchy affect circadian activity patterns in mice. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:201985. [PMID: 33972875 PMCID: PMC8074631 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.201985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2020] [Accepted: 01/06/2021] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
In this study, we investigated the effect of social environment on circadian patterns in activity by group housing either six male or six female mice together in a cage, under regular light-dark cycles. Based on the interactions among the animals, the social dominance rank of individual mice was quantitatively established by calculating Elo ratings. Our results indicated that, during our experiment, the social dominance hierarchy was rapidly established, stable yet complex, often showing more than one dominant mouse and several subordinate mice. Moreover, we found that especially dominant male mice, but not female mice, displayed a significantly higher fraction of their activity during daytime. This resulted in reduced rhythm amplitude in dominant males. After division into separate cages, male mice showed an enhancement of their 24 h rhythm, due to lower daytime activity. Recordings of several physiological parameters showed no evidence for reduced health as a potential consequence of reduced rhythm amplitude. For female mice, transfer to individual housing did not affect their daily activity pattern. We conclude that 24 h rhythms under light-dark cycles are influenced by the social environment in males but not in females, and lead to a decrement in behavioural rhythm amplitude that is larger in dominant mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuri Robbers
- Laboratory for Neurophysiology, Department of Cell and Chemical Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Mayke M. H. Tersteeg
- Laboratory for Neurophysiology, Department of Cell and Chemical Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Johanna H. Meijer
- Laboratory for Neurophysiology, Department of Cell and Chemical Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Claudia P. Coomans
- Laboratory for Neurophysiology, Department of Cell and Chemical Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Schmal C, Herzel H, Myung J. Clocks in the Wild: Entrainment to Natural Light. Front Physiol 2020; 11:272. [PMID: 32300307 PMCID: PMC7142224 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2020.00272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2019] [Accepted: 03/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Entrainment denotes a process of coordinating the internal circadian clock to external rhythmic time-cues (Zeitgeber), mainly light. It is facilitated by stronger Zeitgeber signals and smaller period differences between the internal clock and the external Zeitgeber. The phase of entrainment ψ is a result of this process on the side of the circadian clock. On Earth, the period of the day-night cycle is fixed to 24 h, while the periods of circadian clocks distribute widely due to natural variation within and between species. The strength and duration of light depend locally on season and geographic latitude. Therefore, entrainment characteristics of a circadian clock vary under a local light environment and distribute along geoecological settings. Using conceptual models of circadian clocks, we investigate how local conditions of natural light shape global patterning of entrainment through seasons. This clock-side entrainment paradigm enables us to predict systematic changes in the global distribution of chronotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Schmal
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Hanspeter Herzel
- Department Basic Sciences, Institute for Theoretical Biology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jihwan Myung
- Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain, and Consciousness, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.,Brain and Consciousness Research Centre, Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, New Taipei City, Taiwan.,Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.,Computational Neuroscience Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
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Fritzsche P, Chunkov MM, Ushakova MV, Omarov KZ, Weinert D, Surov AV. Diurnal surface activity of the Ciscaucasian hamster (Mesocricetus raddei) in the field. Mamm Biol 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mambio.2017.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Schaeffel F, Feldkaemper M. Animal models in myopia research. Clin Exp Optom 2016; 98:507-17. [PMID: 26769177 DOI: 10.1111/cxo.12312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 111] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2014] [Revised: 03/20/2015] [Accepted: 04/26/2015] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Our current understanding of the development of refractive errors, in particular myopia, would be substantially limited had Wiesel and Raviola not discovered by accident that monkeys develop axial myopia as a result of deprivation of form vision. Similarly, if Josh Wallman and colleagues had not found that simple plastic goggles attached to the chicken eye generate large amounts of myopia, the chicken model would perhaps not have become such an important animal model. Contrary to previous assumptions about the mechanisms of myopia, these animal models suggested that eye growth is visually controlled locally by the retina, that an afferent connection to the brain is not essential and that emmetropisation uses more sophisticated cues than just the magnitude of retinal blur. While animal models have shown that the retina can determine the sign of defocus, the underlying mechanism is still not entirely clear. Animal models have also provided knowledge about the biochemical nature of the signal cascade converting the output of retinal image processing to changes in choroidal thickness and scleral growth; however, a critical question was, and still is, can the results from animal models be applied to myopia in children? While the basic findings from chickens appear applicable to monkeys, some fundamental questions remain. If eye growth is guided by visual feedback, why is myopic development not self-limiting? Why does undercorrection not arrest myopic progression even though positive lenses induce myopic defocus, which leads to the development of hyperopia in emmetropic animals? Why do some spectacle or contact lens designs reduce myopic progression and others not? It appears that some major differences exist between animals reared with imposed defocus and children treated with various optical corrections, although without the basic knowledge obtained from animal models, we would be lost in an abundance of untestable hypotheses concerning human myopia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank Schaeffel
- Section of Neurobiology of the Eye, Ophthalmic Research Institute, Tuebingen, Germany.
| | - Marita Feldkaemper
- Section of Neurobiology of the Eye, Ophthalmic Research Institute, Tuebingen, Germany
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Schöttner K, Hauer J, Weinert D. Non-parametric photic entrainment of Djungarian hamsters with different rhythmic phenotypes. Chronobiol Int 2016; 33:506-19. [PMID: 27031879 DOI: 10.3109/07420528.2016.1160100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
To investigate the role of non-parametric light effects in entrainment, Djungarian hamsters of two different circadian phenotypes were exposed to skeleton photoperiods, or to light pulses at different circadian times, to compile phase response curves (PRCs). Wild-type (WT) hamsters show daily rhythms of locomotor activity in accord with the ambient light/dark conditions, with activity onset and offset strongly coupled to light-off and light-on, respectively. Hamsters of the delayed activity onset (DAO) phenotype, in contrast, progressively delay their activity onset, whereas activity offset remains coupled to light-on. The present study was performed to better understand the underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon. Hamsters of DAO and WT phenotypes were kept first under standard housing conditions with a 14:10 h light-dark cycle, and then exposed to skeleton photoperiods (one or two 15-min light pulses of 100 lx at the times of the former light-dark and/or dark-light transitions). In a second experiment, hamsters of both phenotypes were transferred to constant darkness and allowed to free-run until the lengths of the active (α) and resting (ρ) periods were equal (α:ρ = 1). At this point, animals were then exposed to light pulses (100 lx, 15 min) at different circadian times (CTs). Phase and period changes were estimated separately for activity onset and offset. When exposed to skeleton-photoperiods with one or two light pulses, the daily activity patterns of DAO and WT hamsters were similar to those obtained under conditions of a complete 14:10 h light-dark cycle. However, in the case of giving only one light pulse at the time of the former light-dark transition, animals temporarily free-ran until activity offset coincided with the light pulse. These results show that photic entrainment of the circadian activity rhythm is attained primarily via non-parametric mechanisms, with the "morning" light pulse being the essential cue. In the second experiment, typical photic PRCs were obtained with phase delays in the first half of the subjective night, phase advances in the second half, and a dead zone during the subjective day. ANOVA indicated no significant differences between WT and DAO animals despite a significantly longer free-running period (tau) in DAO hamsters. Considering the phase shifts induced around CT0 and the different period lengths, it was possible to model the entrainment patterns of both phenotypes. It was shown that light-induced phase shifts of activity offset were sufficient to compensate for the long tau in WT and DAO hamsters, thus enabling a stable entrainment of their activity offsets to be achieved. With respect to activity onsets, phase shifts were sufficient only in WT animals; in DAO hamsters, activity onset showed increasing delays. The results of the present paper clearly demonstrate that, under laboratory conditions, the non-parametric component of light and dark leads to circadian entrainment in Djungarian hamsters. However, a stable entrainment of activity onset can be achieved only if the free-running period does not exceed a certain value. With longer tau values, hamsters reveal a DAO phenotype. Under field conditions, therefore, non-photic cues/zeitgebers must obviously be involved to enable a proper circadian entrainment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Konrad Schöttner
- a Department of Zoology , Institute of Biology/Zoology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg , Halle , Germany.,b Department of Biochemistry and Physiology , Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre CAS , Ceske Budejovice , Czech Republic
| | - Jane Hauer
- a Department of Zoology , Institute of Biology/Zoology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg , Halle , Germany
| | - Dietmar Weinert
- a Department of Zoology , Institute of Biology/Zoology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg , Halle , Germany
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Vas J, Andersen IL. Density-Dependent Spacing Behaviour and Activity Budget in Pregnant, Domestic Goats (Capra hircus). PLoS One 2015; 10:e0144583. [PMID: 26657240 PMCID: PMC4687629 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2015] [Accepted: 11/20/2015] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Very little is known about the spacing behaviour in social groups of domestic goats (Capra hircus) in the farm environment. In this experiment, we studied interindividual distances, movement patterns and activity budgets in pregnant goats housed at three different densities. Norwegian dairy goats were kept in stable social groups of six animals throughout pregnancy at 1, 2 or 3 m2 per individual and their spacing behaviours (i.e. distance travelled, nearest and furthest neighbour distance) and activity budgets (e.g. resting, feeding, social activities) were monitored. Observations were made in the first, second and last thirds of pregnancy in the mornings, at noon and in the afternoons of each of these phases (4.5 hours per observation period). The findings show that goats held at animal densities of 2 and 3 m2 moved longer distances when they had more space per animal and kept larger nearest and furthest neighbour distances when compared to the 1 m2 per animal density. Less feeding activity was observed at the high animal density compared to the medium and low density treatments. The phase of gestation also had an impact on almost all behavioural variables. Closer to parturition, animals moved further distances and the increase in nearest and furthest neighbour distance was more pronounced at the lower animal densities. During the last period of gestation, goats spent less time feeding and more on resting, social behaviours and engaging in other various activities. Our data suggest that more space per goat is needed for goats closer to parturition than in the early gestation phase. We concluded that in goats spacing behaviour is density-dependent and changes with stages of pregnancy and activities. Finally, the lower density allowed animals to express individual preferences regarding spacing behaviour which is important in ensuring good welfare in a farming situation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judit Vas
- Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway
- * E-mail:
| | - Inger Lise Andersen
- Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway
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