DOCSLIB.ORG

New Behavioral Insights Into Home Range Orientation of the House Mouse (Mus Musculus) by Blythe E

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
New Behavioral Insights Into Home Range Orientation of the House Mouse (Mus Musculus) by Blythe E New Behavioral Insights Into Home Range Orientation of the House Mouse (Mus musculus) By Blythe E. Alexander Submitted to the graduate degree program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________________ Rudolf Jander ________________________________ Helen M. Alexander ________________________________ Kenneth B. Armitage ________________________________ Linda Trueb ________________________________ Stephen Egbert Date Defended: May 4, 2011 The Dissertation Committee for Blythe Alexander certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: New Behavioral Insights Into Home Range Orientation of the House Mouse (Mus musculus) ________________________________ Rudolf Jander Date approved: ii Abstract Home‐range orientation is a necessity for an animal that maintains an area of daily activity. The ability to navigate efficiently among goals not perceived at the starting point requires the animal to rely on place recognition and vector knowledge. These two components of navigation allow the animal to dynamically update its current position and link that position with the locomotor distance and direction needed to reach a goal. In order to use place knowledge and vector knowledge the animal must learn and remember relevant spatial information obtained from the environment and from internal feedback. The research in this dissertation focuses on behavioral components of topographic orientation, using the house mouse as a model species. Specifically, this research made important discoveries in three main areas: 1) locomotor exploration behavior, 2) the use of learned spatial information for compass orientation, and 3) testable hypotheses based on the controversial cognitive map. In Chapter 1, I used a radial arm maze to find a systematic locomotor component to exploration behavior, which is typically described as random movement. Exploration refers to the learning process that occurs as an animal acquires relevant spatial information for home‐range orientation. I predicted that this process must have a systematic component; and the results revealed that in a radial arm maze, mice avoided exploring a place explored one and two visits prior. Therefore, locomotor exploration does have a systematic component. In Chapter 2, I trained mice to navigate to their home within a circular arena, with access to a visual beacon and an enriched visual background. The mice showed that to navigate home, they preferred to rely on the extra‐arena (background) cues for compass direction. However, when these extra‐arena cues became unreliable, the mice showed flexibility in their preference by ignoring the visual background and instead relying on the visual beacon to locate home. This flexibility in cue use negates a popular theory, called the snapshot theory, which does not allow for such flexibility in navigation. To further study the use of compass cues in mice, in Chapter 3, I utilized a plus‐maze to manipulate both allothetic (environmental) and idiothetic (internal) cues. The purpose was to determine which cue type predominated the directional choice of mice at the maze intersection while both leaving and returning home. Previous studies have ignored the potential difference in cue use during the complete roundtrip an animal would make within its home range. The results show that mice relied on different cues for the outward path and the homing path of a familiar complex roundtrip. Finally, I developed two testable hypotheses and a valid experimental design that can be used to test house mice, and other animals, for the so‐called cognitive map. An animal that has a cognitive map would be able to compute a novel shortcut to a goal relying exclusively on the flexibility of such a map, and not from the other two options of novel shortcutting: guidance orientation or path integration. Thus by designing my experiments to eliminate the potential for the mice to rely on a guiding cue to direct them home, and by eliminating the ability to compute a shortcut by summing the vectors previously walked, I was able to test mice for a iii truly novel, map‐based shortcut home. These two hypotheses were named viewpoint extrapolation and viewpoint interpolation and require pure visual exploration to acquire the necessary place and vector knowledge. Both experiments showed that mice were not capable of using pure visual exploration and therefore these studies provide no evidence that mice have a cognitive map. Overall, my research provides evidence that mice do have a mental route‐ based map and to build such a mental map, locomotor exploration is necessary and sufficient for acquiring relevant spatial knowledge to later use to efficiently navigate. iv Acknowledgements I would like to thank my advisor, Rudolf Jander, for his excellent advice with regards to my experimental designs, presentations and clarity of writing. His knowledge and advice were invaluable to my dissertation research. I would also like to thank my committee members, Helen Alexander, Ken Armitage, Linda Trueb, and Steve Egbert for their support and helpful comments on my manuscript. Many undergraduates helped me with data collection, especially Carla Burford, Cory Keene, Will Pass, David Richart, Running Wolf, Anssi Santanen, Ryan Townley, Najib Wardak, Brian Wyrowski, and Erin Zarr. Finally, my parents, James and Rosemary Alexander, provided me with much needed love, support, advice, and helped me maintain my sanity. I am also grateful to a great group of friends who were always there to support me, locally and from a far. To all of these people, I offer heartfelt thanks for helping me through to the end. v Table of Contents GENERAL INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 1: LOCOMOTOR PATTERNS IN THE EXPLORING HOUSE MOUSE (MUS MUSCULUS).............................................................................................................................................12 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................... 13 METHODS................................................................................................................................................................. 14 RESULTS................................................................................................................................................................... 17 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................................................. 19 FIGURES.................................................................................................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER 2: FLEXIBLE PREFERENCE BETWEEN DISTAL VISUAL CUES OR A SALIENT, VISUAL BEACON AS DIRECTIONAL CUES FOR HOMING IN THE HOUSE MOUSE (MUS MUSCULUS).............................................................................................................................................28 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................... 29 METHODS................................................................................................................................................................. 30 RESULTS................................................................................................................................................................... 34 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................................................. 35 FIGURES.................................................................................................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER 3: FEEDBACK CONTROL OF A NAVIGATING HOUSE MOUSE AWAY FROM HOME AND BACK: IDIOTHETIC OR ALLOTHETIC?....................................................................46 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................... 47 SPECIAL METHODS AND RESULTS....................................................................................................................... 53 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................................................. 59 FIGURES.................................................................................................................................................................... 68 CHAPTER 4: THE SHORTCUT AND THE MAP IN THE RODENT NAVIGATION SYSTEM: EXPERIMENTS WITH THE HOUSE MOUSE (MUS MUSCULUS) ................................................72 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................... 74 GENERAL METHODS .............................................................................................................................................. 76 EXPERIMENT 1: METHODS..................................................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • HOME RANGE OVERLAP and SPATIAL-TEMPORAL INTERACTIONS in FEMALE FISHERS on the HOOPA INDIAN RESERVATION in CALIFORNIA by Kerry M
    HOME RANGE OVERLAP AND SPATIAL-TEMPORAL INTERACTIONS IN FEMALE FISHERS ON THE HOOPA INDIAN RESERVATION IN CALIFORNIA By Kerry M. Rennie A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Humboldt State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Natural Resources: Wildlife Committee Membership Dr. Micaela Szykman Gunther, Committee Chair J. Mark Higley, Committee Member Dr. Matthew Johnson, Committee Member Dr. William J. Zielinski, Committee Member Dr. Yvonne Everett, Graduate Coordinator July 2015 ABSTRACT HOME RANGE OVERLAP AND SPATIAL-TEMPORAL INTERACTIONS IN FEMALE FISHERS ON THE HOOPA INDIAN RESERVATION Kerry M. Rennie Spatial organization and interactions within animal populations can have important effects on population demography, social dynamics, and genetic composition. Understanding social behavior and relatedness of individuals in a population can advise species management and conservation. Previous research suggests that fishers (Pekania pennanti) are asocial and exhibit intrasexual territoriality, where home ranges rarely overlap with the same sex. On the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation in California, female fishers appear to overlap with members of the same sex to a greater extent than most studies report. I tested the hypothesis that female fishers tolerate some degree of spatial overlap, but that co- occurrence in the area of overlap is uncommon. I also tested the hypothesis that this overlap is mediated by habitat selection and female philopatry. I found that female fishers share a large proportion of their home ranges and overlap at a high frequency. However, dynamic interactions revealed fishers avoided each other in both space and time. Habitat used in overlap areas differed from what was available to them in non-overlapping areas but lacked a consistent pattern of ii selection among habitat types.
    [Show full text]
  • Home Range Estimates, Variability, and Sample Size Marc Bekoff University of Colorado
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center for 1984 Simulation analyses of space use: Home range estimates, variability, and sample size Marc Bekoff University of Colorado L. David Mech USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsnpwrc Part of the Animal Sciences Commons, Behavior and Ethology Commons, Biodiversity Commons, Environmental Policy Commons, Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration Commons, and the Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons Bekoff, Marc and Mech, L. David, "Simulation analyses of space use: Home range estimates, variability, and sample size" (1984). USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. 371. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsnpwrc/371 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers 1984, Vol. 16 (1), 32-37 COMPUTER SIMULATION Simulation analyses of space use: Home range estimates, variability, and sample size MARC BEKOFF University ofColorado, Boulder, Colorado and L. DAVID MECH Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, U. SFish and Wildlife Service, Laurel, Maryland Simulations of space use by animals were run to determine the relationship among home range area estimates, variability, and sample size (number of locations). As sample size in­ creased, home range size increased asymptotically, whereas variability decreased among mean home range area estimates generated by multiple simulations for the same sample size.
    [Show full text]
  • Animal Umwelten in a Changing World
    Tartu Semiotics Library 18 Tartu Tartu Semiotics Library 18 Animal umwelten in a changing world: Zoosemiotic perspectives represents a clear and concise review of zoosemiotics, present- ing theories, models and methods, and providing interesting examples of human–animal interactions. The reader is invited to explore the umwelten of animals in a successful attempt to retrieve the relationship of people with animals: a cornerstone of the past common evolutionary processes. The twelve chapters, which cover recent developments in zoosemiotics and much more, inspire the reader to think about the human condition and about ways to recover our lost contact with the animal world. Written in a clear, concise style, this collection of articles creates a wonderful bridge between Timo Maran, Morten Tønnessen, human and animal worlds. It represents a holistic approach Kristin Armstrong Oma, rich with suggestions for how to educate people to face the dynamic relationships with nature within the conceptual Laura Kiiroja, Riin Magnus, framework of the umwelt, providing stimulus and opportuni- Nelly Mäekivi, Silver Rattasepp, ties to develop new studies in zoosemiotics. Professor Almo Farina, CHANGING WORLD A IN UMWELTEN ANIMAL Paul Thibault, Kadri Tüür University of Urbino “Carlo Bo” This important book offers the first coherent gathering of perspectives on the way animals are communicating with each ANIMAL UMWELTEN other and with us as environmental change requires increasing adaptation. Produced by a young generation of zoosemiotics scholars engaged in international research programs at Tartu, IN A CHANGING this work introduces an exciting research field linking the biological sciences with the humanities. Its key premises are that all animals participate in a dynamic web of meanings WORLD: and signs in their own distinctive styles, and all animal spe- cies have distinctive cultures.
    [Show full text]
  • Home Range Overlap and Density Interacts to Affect Conspecific Encounter Rates in a Gregarious Ungulate
    Author's personal copy Behav Ecol Sociobiol DOI 10.1007/s00265-013-1652-0 ORIGINAL PAPER Density dependence in social behaviour: home range overlap and density interacts to affect conspecific encounter rates in a gregarious ungulate Eric Vander Wal & Michel P. Laforge & Philip D. McLoughlin Received: 4 March 2013 /Revised: 5 November 2013 /Accepted: 5 November 2013 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013 Abstract Sociality is poorly understood in the context of of these results as they pertain to sociobiology, resource population processes. We used wild, female elk (Cervus competition, and pathogen transmission. canadensis) equipped with proximity-logging radio collars (n =62) from Manitoba, Canada (2007–2009), to test for Keywords Cervus canadensis . Density dependence . Elk . modifying effects of population density (two areas: 0.42 and Encounter rate . Sociality 0.22 animals/km2) on the relationship between two measures of sociality. This included the rate at which collared individ- uals encountered one another per year (encounters logged as Introduction animals ranging to within 1.4 m of each other) and the extent to which animals overlapped in annual home range (propor- Sociality is broadly defined as the properties and processes of tion of shared minimum convex polygon ranges). Overlap social existence (Wilson 1975). Ecologists interested in soci- was significantly greater in the high density area compared ality seek to inform us about the ecological and evolutionary to that of the low, but not if we only considered individuals factors that promote and maintain interactions between con- that directly encountered each other, implying that familiar specifics leading to group living. Despite broad acceptance individuals will maintain a constant degree of range overlap that density-dependent processes are fundamental to ecology, regardless of density.
    [Show full text]
  • A Ten-Stage Protocol for Assessing the Welfare of Individual Non-Captive Wild Animals: Free-Roaming Horses (Equus Ferus Caballus) As an Example
    animals Review A Ten-Stage Protocol for Assessing the Welfare of Individual Non-Captive Wild Animals: Free-Roaming Horses (Equus Ferus Caballus) as an Example Andrea M. Harvey 1,*, Ngaio J. Beausoleil 2, Daniel Ramp 1 and David J. Mellor 2 1 Centre for Compassionate Conservation, Faculty of Science, University of Technology, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia; [email protected] 2 Animal Welfare Science and Bioethics Centre, School of Veterinary Science, Massey University, Palmerston North 4474, New Zealand; [email protected] (N.J.B.); [email protected] (D.J.M.) * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 27 November 2019; Accepted: 14 January 2020; Published: 16 January 2020 Simple Summary: Vital for informing debates about the ways we interact with wild animals and their associated habitats is knowledge of their welfare status. To date, scientific assessments of the welfare of free-roaming wild animals during their normal day-to-day lives are not available, in part because the required methodology had not been developed. Accordingly, we have devised, and here describe, a ten-stage protocol for systematically and scientifically assessing the welfare of individual non-captive wild animals, using free-roaming horses as an example. Applying this ten-stage protocol will enable biologists to scientifically assess the welfare of wild animals and should lead to significant advances in the field of wild animal welfare. Abstract: Knowledge of the welfare status of wild animals is vital for informing debates about the ways in which we interact with wild animals and their habitats. Currently, there is no published information about how to scientifically assess the welfare of free-roaming wild animals during their normal day-to-day lives.
    [Show full text]
  • Home Range, Habitat Use, and Food Habits of the Black Bear in South-Central Florida
    University of Kentucky UKnowledge University of Kentucky Master's Theses Graduate School 2008 HOME RANGE, HABITAT USE, AND FOOD HABITS OF THE BLACK BEAR IN SOUTH-CENTRAL FLORIDA Wade Allen Ulrey University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Ulrey, Wade Allen, "HOME RANGE, HABITAT USE, AND FOOD HABITS OF THE BLACK BEAR IN SOUTH- CENTRAL FLORIDA" (2008). University of Kentucky Master's Theses. 524. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gradschool_theses/524 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Kentucky Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ABSTRACT OF THESIS HOME RANGE, HABITAT USE, AND FOOD HABITS OF THE BLACK BEAR IN SOUTH-CENTRAL FLORIDA I studied a small, enigmatic, and imperiled black bear population in south-central Florida from 2004 - 2006. Annual home ranges of males (96.0 km2) were larger than those of females (32.2 km2). Female home ranges were smaller in winter than in summer or fall. At the landscape scale, bears selected forests, scrub, and citrus, but avoided urban areas. At the home range scale, bears selected bay swamp and hardwood hammock, but avoided urban areas and grassland. Bears selected bay swamp in winter, forests and scrub in summer, and forests, scrub, and marsh in fall. The bear’s diverse diet included citrus fruit. Important foods were acorn, saw palmetto fruit, and Florida carpenter ant.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is a Home Range? Author(S): Roger A
    What is a home range? Author(s): Roger A. Powell and Michael S. Mitchell Source: Journal of Mammalogy, 93(4):948-958. 2012. Published By: American Society of Mammalogists DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1644/11-MAMM-S-177.1 URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1644/11-MAMM-S-177.1 BioOne (www.bioone.org) is a nonprofit, online aggregation of core research in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences. BioOne provides a sustainable online platform for over 170 journals and books published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. Your use of this PDF, the BioOne Web site, and all posted and associated content indicates your acceptance of BioOne’s Terms of Use, available at www.bioone.org/page/terms_of_use. Usage of BioOne content is strictly limited to personal, educational, and non-commercial use. Commercial inquiries or rights and permissions requests should be directed to the individual publisher as copyright holder. BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research. Journal of Mammalogy, 93(4):948–958, 2012 What is a home range? ROGER A. POWELL* AND MICHAEL S. MITCHELL Department of Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7617, USA (RAP) United States Geological Survey, Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA (MSM) * Correspondent: [email protected] ‘‘Home range’’ is a standard concept in animal ecology and behavior but few people try to understand what home ranges mean to the animals that have them and often assume that a home-range estimate, quantified using some method, is the home range.
    [Show full text]
  • Welfare Considerations in Aquatic Animals Colin Johnston BVMS(Hons) Macvsc MRCVS Manager, Aquatic Animal Health Primary Industries and Resources South Australia
    NEWS Volume 16 Number 2 2003 Welfare Considerations in Aquatic Animals Colin Johnston BVMS(Hons) MACVSc MRCVS Manager, Aquatic Animal Health Primary Industries and Resources South Australia ublic interest in animal welfare issues has increased are protected in their use for food preparation and transport for steadily over recent years. The ease of access to the restaurant trade, whilst fish are also protected in their use Pinformation via the internet allows people to do home for research and teaching. Fish are afforded protection as a research on whatever topic interests them. A quick scan of the vertebrate under the Australian Code of Practice for the Care internet on “animal welfare” and it’s easy to see that animal and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes. This code of practice welfare pressure groups predominate in the top twenty or thirty is enacted under law according to State or Territory legislation, documents regardless of the search engine used. The and in South Australia most institutions also have a requirement information provided varies from peer-reviewed science, through that the Animal Ethics Committee approves all research involving empirical comment (positive or negative) to the blatantly untrue. vertebrates. Many societal groups are now becoming increasingly interested in animal welfare and not just that of animals seen as being the It is not just in the scientific and educational fields that the welfare most appealing. Animal welfare pressure groups have of aquatic animals is coming under scrutiny. The field of highlighted recreational fishing as a welfare concern for a aquaculture is also starting to develop formalised codes of number of years.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethological Considerations in the Experimental Study of Lizard Behavior
    University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Ecology and Evolutionary Biology January 1978 Ethological Considerations in the Experimental Study of Lizard Behavior Neil Greenberg University of Tennessee - Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_ecolpubs Part of the Behavioral Neurobiology Commons, Medical Sciences Commons, and the Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Greenberg, Neil, "Ethological Considerations in the Experimental Study of Lizard Behavior" (1978). Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_ecolpubs/17 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BeMwitw <m4 Neaf'Olotnl of Li.lotU N. G.....,nberg and P. D. lber-n, eda. NDI:H, 1978. Ethological Considerations in the Experimental Study of Lizard Behavior NeU Greenberg* Laboratory of Brain Evolution and Behavior National Institute of Mental Health SUMMARY. The importance of an ethological approach to the experimental study of an un­ familiar species is described and several of its problems discussed. The selection of units of be.. havior is a crucial first step in the development of a behavior inventory. The correlation of a behavioral unit with a particular context is necessary to ascribe function to that unit and to de� velop an etbogram.
    [Show full text]
  • A Novel Method for Detecting Extra-Home Range Movements (Ehrms) by Animals and Recommendations for Future EHRM Studies
    PLOS ONE RESEARCH ARTICLE A novel method for detecting extra-home range movements (EHRMs) by animals and recommendations for future EHRM studies ¤a ¤b Todd C. JacobsenID *, Kevyn H. Wiskirchen , Stephen S. Ditchkoff School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, United States of America ¤a Current address: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Ridgefield, Washington, United States of America a1111111111 ¤b Current address: Missouri Department of Conservation, Columbia, Missouri, United States of America a1111111111 * [email protected] a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 Abstract Infrequent, long-distance animal movements outside of typical home range areas provide useful insights into resource acquisition, gene flow, and disease transmission within the OPEN ACCESS fields of conservation and wildlife management, yet understanding of these movements is Citation: Jacobsen TC, Wiskirchen KH, Ditchkoff still limited across taxa. To detect these extra-home range movements (EHRMs) in spatial SS (2020) A novel method for detecting extra- relocation datasets, most previous studies compare relocation points against fixed spatial home range movements (EHRMs) by animals and and temporal bounds, typified by seasonal home ranges (referred to here as the ªFixed- recommendations for future EHRM studies. PLoS Periodº method). However, utilizing home ranges modelled over fixed time periods to detect ONE 15(11): e0242328. https://doi.org/10.1371/ journal.pone.0242328 EHRMs within those periods likely results in many EHRMs going undocumented, particu- larly when an animal's space use changes within that period of time. To address this, we Editor: W. David Walter, US Geological Survey, UNITED STATES propose a novel, ªMoving-Windowº method of detecting EHRMs through an iterative pro- cess, comparing each day's relocation data to the preceding period of space use only.
    [Show full text]
  • Tartu Semiotics Library 18
    Tartu Semiotics Library 18 Tartu Tartu Semiotics Library 18 Animal umwelten in a changing world: Zoosemiotic perspectives represents a clear and concise review of zoosemiotics, present- ing theories, models and methods, and providing interesting examples of human–animal interactions. The reader is invited to explore the umwelten of animals in a successful attempt to retrieve the relationship of people with animals: a cornerstone of the past common evolutionary processes. The twelve chapters, which cover recent developments in zoosemiotics and much more, inspire the reader to think about the human condition and about ways to recover our lost contact with the animal world. Written in a clear, concise style, this collection of articles creates a wonderful bridge between Timo Maran, Morten Tønnessen, human and animal worlds. It represents a holistic approach Kristin Armstrong Oma, rich with suggestions for how to educate people to face the dynamic relationships with nature within the conceptual Laura Kiiroja, Riin Magnus, framework of the umwelt, providing stimulus and opportuni- Nelly Mäekivi, Silver Rattasepp, ties to develop new studies in zoosemiotics. Professor Almo Farina, CHANGING WORLD A IN UMWELTEN ANIMAL Paul Thibault, Kadri Tüür University of Urbino “Carlo Bo” This important book offers the first coherent gathering of perspectives on the way animals are communicating with each ANIMAL UMWELTEN other and with us as environmental change requires increasing adaptation. Produced by a young generation of zoosemiotics scholars engaged in international research programs at Tartu, IN A CHANGING this work introduces an exciting research field linking the biological sciences with the humanities. Its key premises are that all animals participate in a dynamic web of meanings WORLD: and signs in their own distinctive styles, and all animal spe- cies have distinctive cultures.
    [Show full text]
  • The Time Frame of Home‐Range Studies
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Archive Ouverte en Sciences de l'Information et de la Communication 1 The time frame of home-range studies: from function to utilization ∗ Guillaume Peron´ University of Lyon, Laboratoire de Biom´etrie et Biologie Evolutive, CNRS, Universit´e Lyon 1, UMR5558, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France ABSTRACT As technological and statistical innovations open new avenues in movement ecology, I review the fundamental implications of the time frame of home-range studies, with the aim of associating terminologies consistently with research objectives and methodologies. There is a fundamental distinction between (a) extrapolations of stationary distributions, associated with long time scales and aiming at asymptotic consistency, and (b) period-specific techniques, aiming at specificity but typically sensitive to the sampling design. I then review the difference between function and utilization in home-range studies. Most home-range studies are based on phenomenological descriptions of the time budgets of the study animals, not the function of the visited areas. I highlight emerging trends in automated pattern-recognition techniques for inference about function rather than utilization. Key words: territory, utilization distribution, functional habitat, buffer size, space use, movement scale, step selection function, network theory. CONTENTS I. Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 II. Time scales
    [Show full text]