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- Title
- INDIVIDUAL IDENTIFICATION OF POLAR BEARS BY WHISKER SPOT PATTERNS.
- Creator
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Anderson, Carlos, Waterman, Jane, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Many types of ecological studies require identification of individual animals. I developed and evaluated an automated identification system for polar bears (Ursus maritimus) based on their whisker spot patterns. First, I measured the reliability of using whisker spot patterns for identification from polar bear photographs taken in western Hudson Bay. This analysis involved estimating the complexity of each whisker spot pattern in terms of its information content. I found that 98% of patterns...
Show moreMany types of ecological studies require identification of individual animals. I developed and evaluated an automated identification system for polar bears (Ursus maritimus) based on their whisker spot patterns. First, I measured the reliability of using whisker spot patterns for identification from polar bear photographs taken in western Hudson Bay. This analysis involved estimating the complexity of each whisker spot pattern in terms of its information content. I found that 98% of patterns contained enough information to be reliable, and this result varied little among three different observers. Based on these results, I implemented a computer-aided identification system for polar bears based on whisker spot pattern recognition. I used standard computer vision techniques to pre-process images and the Chamfer distance transform to compute similary scores between images. In addition, I evaluated the system by testing the effects of photographic quality and angle on system accuracy. I found that excellent and moderate quality/angle provided best results, with system accuracy of 90-95%. These findings suggest that individual identification of polar bears in the field based on whisker spot pattern variation is possible. Researchers studying polar bear behavior or estimating population parameters should benefit from this noninvasive technique.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001671, ucf:47207
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001671
- Title
- SEX-BIASED PARASITISM AND THE REPRODUCTIVE COSTS OF PARASITES IN A SOCIAL AFRICAN GROUND SQUIRREL.
- Creator
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Hillegass, Melissa, Waterman, Jane, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Vertebrate males frequently carry higher numbers of parasites than females. This bias in parasite loads could be a consequence of sexual selection. Grouping species are also assumed to be afflicted with larger numbers of parasites than solitary animals and associated costs of this parasitism could vary with group size or structure. I examined sex-biased parasitism and the influence of group size on parasite loads in Cape ground squirrels (Xerus inauris), a highly social species that occurs in...
Show moreVertebrate males frequently carry higher numbers of parasites than females. This bias in parasite loads could be a consequence of sexual selection. Grouping species are also assumed to be afflicted with larger numbers of parasites than solitary animals and associated costs of this parasitism could vary with group size or structure. I examined sex-biased parasitism and the influence of group size on parasite loads in Cape ground squirrels (Xerus inauris), a highly social species that occurs in the arid regions of southern Africa. Males carried three times as many ectoparasites as females, but females harbored nearly three times more endoparasites than males. Amount of time spent (per hour) autogrooming was similar between males and females, but amount time spent allogrooming by adult female was over eleven times that of adult males. Longer allogrooming of group members could be decreasing the numbers of ectoparasites of group members and ultimately the group. Males infrequently give or receive allogrooming and travel in very large home ranges, potentially increasing their exposure to ectoparasites. However, movement throughout a large home range may result in males foraging in areas with lower densities of fecal pellets, which could explain the lower endoparasite loads observed in males. When I considered the age class of group members, female age classes were similarly parasitized but male age classes were not. Sub-adult males carried similar ectoparasite loads to adult males and similar endoparasite loads to adult females. This result is of particular interest because sub-adult males are becoming scrotal but typically remain in the group until adulthood. Sexual selection does appear to influence parasite loads in this species, and parasite removal or avoidance potentially mitigates individual parasite loads and their associated costs. Parasites can be detrimental to the health, longevity, and reproduction of their hosts, but these costs are rarely quantified. I removed ectoparasites and endoparasites from Cape ground squirrels for three months and evaluated changes in female body mass, reproduction, burrow use, and grooming in response to parasite removal. Female body mass did not increase with parasite removal, but reproductive success (per capita offspring raised to emergence) increased nearly four-fold, while allogrooming by treated females decreased. Since breeding is highest in the late winter dry season when fewer resources are available, the impact of parasites may be highest during this season. Lactation and gestation are the most physiological stressful processes that females undergo, and the dramatic increase in reproductive success in treated females suggests that these females are able to allocate more resources to reproduction than females afflicted with parasites. These results suggest that studies investigating reproduction and fecundity must consider the vulnerability of the host to parasite infection and the potential impact on reproductive success.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001958, ucf:47455
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001958
- Title
- THE EFFECTS OF ECOTOURISM ON POLAR BEAR BEHAVIOR.
- Creator
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Eckhardt, Gillian, Waterman, Jane, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Polar bears spend the majority of their lives on the sea ice, where they gain access to seals and mates. In western Hudson Bay, the sea ice melts for three to four months in the summer, and polar bears there are forced onto land. These bears live on their fat reserves for the duration of the iceless period, until temperatures get colder in the fall and freeze up begins. The aggregation of polar bears near Churchill, Manitoba during the ice free period has led to a thriving tourist industry,...
Show morePolar bears spend the majority of their lives on the sea ice, where they gain access to seals and mates. In western Hudson Bay, the sea ice melts for three to four months in the summer, and polar bears there are forced onto land. These bears live on their fat reserves for the duration of the iceless period, until temperatures get colder in the fall and freeze up begins. The aggregation of polar bears near Churchill, Manitoba during the ice free period has led to a thriving tourist industry, with a large influx of tourists visiting Churchill in the fall in a six to eight week period, yet little is known about the impacts of this industry on the biology of the bears. This study investigated the effect of tourist vehicles and human presence on the behavior of polar bears over the fall of 2003 and 2004. Overall time budgets were estimated for bears, and the behavior of males and females was compared. Females spent significantly less time lying and more time in locomotion than males. Time budgets were also estimated for bears in the presence and absence of tourist vehicles. Bears spent less time lying and more time in a sit/stand position in the presence of vehicles. Air temperature had no significant effect on the time budgets of polar bears. Tundra vehicle approaches were manipulated to determine effects on polar bear behavior, and to investigate any variables that significantly affected response, including habituation. A response was defined as any sudden whole body movement or change in position or behavior at the time of approach. A total of 25% of all bears responded to the experimental vehicle approach. For bears that responded to approach, the average distance at response was 43 m. The average speed of the vehicle was 0.66 ± 0.02 m/s (range 0.23 to 1.15 m/s). Approach variables that significantly influenced the likelihood of response of a bear to an approaching vehicle included angle of approach and vehicle speed. Direct approaches, in which the bear was in the path of the moving vehicle, had a higher probability of eliciting a response than indirect approaches, in which the vehicle stayed to one side of the bear at all times. Higher speeds of the vehicle increased the probability of a response by a bear. Behaviors of the bear that significantly predicted a response were shifting of the body and smacking of the lips. A playback study was conducted to determine the effects of human induced sound on polar bears. There was no significant effect of human sound on polar bears. Results presented here provide the first experimental evidence of variables in the tourist industry that affect polar bear behavior, and the first evidence of behavioral cues predicting a response to vehicle approach.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000544, ucf:46441
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000544
- Title
- REPRODUCTIVE DELAY IN THE FEMALE CAPE GROUND SQUIRREL (XERUS INAURIS).
- Creator
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Pettitt, Beth, Waterman, Jane, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The Cape ground squirrel, Xerus inauris, is a highly social cooperative breeder that forms groups containing multiple breeding females. While the distribution of reproduction among group members is fairly even (i.e. exhibits low reproductive skew), previous studies of Cape ground squirrels suggest the reproductive development of sub-adult females is inhibited by the presence of adult breeding female group mates. As reproductive delay is known to be influenced by a number of different...
Show moreThe Cape ground squirrel, Xerus inauris, is a highly social cooperative breeder that forms groups containing multiple breeding females. While the distribution of reproduction among group members is fairly even (i.e. exhibits low reproductive skew), previous studies of Cape ground squirrels suggest the reproductive development of sub-adult females is inhibited by the presence of adult breeding female group mates. As reproductive delay is known to be influenced by a number of different parameters, my goal was to determine if other factors affected the timing of sexual maturity, and if so, which factors are the most influential. In this study, I simultaneously test the relative power of seven different social and environmental parameters at explaining the variation in the female age of sexual maturity in two populations of Cape ground squirrels. Field work was conducted at two study sites in southern Africa, where trapping, behavioral and hormonal data were collected to determine the timing of reproductive development. Hormonal data was analyzed through the use of steroid enzyme immunoassay analysis to quantify the concentration of gonadal hormone in fecal samples which indicate the onset of sexual maturity. Prior to the start of the field season, I conducted an initial experiment to determine the best alternative form of fecal storage if freezing was unavailable. I found that drying feces provides a more reliable method for long-term preservation of fecal steroid concentrations when compared to storing fecal samples in alcohol. Data associated with each of the seven parameters was analyzed using model selection to simultaneously measure the ability of different combinations of parameters to explain the observed variation in female age of sexual maturity. I found that an increase in the number of adult breeding female group mates and related adult male group mates resulted in a substantial inhibition of female reproductive maturity. I concluded that a female Cape ground squirrel's age of sexual maturity is principally a result of the interaction between adult breeding females' capacity for reproductive suppression and sub-adults' ability to maximize lifetime reproductive success while minimizing inbreeding. The overall reproductive dynamics of each social group results from the tug-of-war between the adult and sub-adult female group mates to control breeding within the group, with minimal direct influence on sexual maturity by environmental factors.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- Identifier
- CFE0001021, ucf:46788
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001021
- Title
- MONITORING A POTENTIALLY STRESSFUL SITUATION IN CAPTIVE WESTERN LOWLAND GORILLAS (GORILLA GORILLA GORILLA) THROUGH ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR AND URINARY CORTISOL.
- Creator
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Skurski, Douglas, Waterman, Jane, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The concept of quantifying animal welfare has received much discussion, in various industries such as agriculture, laboratory, and zoological facilities. Behavioral, physical, and physiological indicators of welfare have previously been used to assess animal welfare; each having advantages and disadvantages, ranging from the practicality of data collection, to the validity of the data and how it is interpreted. Concurrent assessment of multiple measures is a more robust way to examine animal...
Show moreThe concept of quantifying animal welfare has received much discussion, in various industries such as agriculture, laboratory, and zoological facilities. Behavioral, physical, and physiological indicators of welfare have previously been used to assess animal welfare; each having advantages and disadvantages, ranging from the practicality of data collection, to the validity of the data and how it is interpreted. Concurrent assessment of multiple measures is a more robust way to examine animal welfare, which utilizes the advantages of each measure, and provides additional information on which to base conclusions and animal care management decisions. This study used measures of behavior and urinary cortisol to examine the potential stress response of a captive gorilla group to short-term space restriction associated with temporary confinement to indoor housing facilities. The study duration was three months; one month of baseline data collection, one month of indoor restriction, and one month of monitoring post-restriction. All-occurrences of selected behaviors were collected, with an emphasis on social and stress-related behaviors, and urine samples were collected daily from a sub-set of the group. A urinary cortisol metabolite enzyme immunoassay was validated and used to monitor adrenal activity in gorillas. Measured cortisol increases in response to a known stressor (medical illness) provided a physical validation of the cortisol EIA and established biological relevance of the assay system. No significant differences in social behaviors (aggression, affiliation) or stereotypic behaviors were observed. Significant (p<0.05) increases in cortisol concentration were measured, suggesting that the gorillas were responding to a stressor during the study period. The observed cortisol increase was not likely to have been caused exclusively by the temporary indoor confinement. Potential additional causes of increased adrenal activity during the study included: presence of the observer and novelty of re-landscaped outdoor enclosure. While the increases in cortisol concentration demonstrate an observed stress response, the magnitude of this stressor, and thus the degree of the stress response, was minor. The stress experienced was not significant enough to alter the normal biological function of the gorillas, and thus, can be considered negligible. The gorillas' ability to effectively deal with this expected stressor may have been enhanced by the additional enrichment provided to the gorillas during their indoor confinement. Gorillas were provided with additional browse, more enrichment items, additional training sessions, and increased keeper interaction while they remained indoors. These animal care and management techniques may have buffered the predicted negative impact on animal welfare due to increases in stress by providing stimulating novelty in the gorillas' indoor environment.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- Identifier
- CFE0000923, ucf:46744
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000923
- Title
- CONFOCAL LASER SCANNING MICROSCOPY AS A TOOL FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF TETRACYCLINE FLUORESCENCE IN ARCHAEOLOGICALHUMAN BONE.
- Creator
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Maggiano, Corey, Waterman, Jane, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Fluorochromes such as tetracycline have been used to label bone for histomorphometric analysis, measuring bone formation, growth, maintenance, and pathology. More recently, similar fluorescence has been observed in ancient human bone. Attributed to tetracycline (TC) exposure, this phenomenon could affect various aspects of health during life and/or preservation of remains postmortem. Standard epifluorescence microscopy is the most common tool employed in the analysis of these labels. Though...
Show moreFluorochromes such as tetracycline have been used to label bone for histomorphometric analysis, measuring bone formation, growth, maintenance, and pathology. More recently, similar fluorescence has been observed in ancient human bone. Attributed to tetracycline (TC) exposure, this phenomenon could affect various aspects of health during life and/or preservation of remains postmortem. Standard epifluorescence microscopy is the most common tool employed in the analysis of these labels. Though valuable, this technique is limited by its inability to penetrate bone three-dimensionally and its inclusion of out-of-focus light, possibly disrupting accurate analysis. Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM) has been demonstrated as a valuable tool for three-dimensional histology. Its application to the study of compact bone fluorescence has been lacking, especially in archaeological and forensic sciences. In the following two papers, modern TC-controlled bone is compared to well preserved archaeological bone recovered from the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, using both standard wide-field and more modern confocal techniques for imaging and analysis. Spectral analysis via CLSM shows that both modern and ancient fluorescent labels in bone share the exact same fluorescence emission peak at 525 nm. Differences in the shape of the spectral curve and photobleaching characteristics are discussed. In addition, CLSM's high-resolution two- and three-dimensional imaging capabilities (in polarized light, scattered light, and fluorescence light) are found to increase the flexibility and creativity of investigations into the occurrence of tetracycline labels in archaeological bone and could have added benefits for modern medical and anatomical experimentation.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000836, ucf:46680
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000836
- Title
- SOCIAL GROUPING BEHAVIORS OF CAPTIVE FEMALE HIPPOPOTAMUS AMPHIBIUS.
- Creator
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Blowers, Tracy, Waterman, Jane, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Levels of sociality vary depending on the costs and benefits associated with grouping behavior. Grouping species form either ephemeral aggregations due to resource availability, or structured groups based on familiarity of individuals. Because there are different costs and benefits associated with different types of groups, it is important to understand more about group structure before making predictions about specific behaviors. Female Hippopotamus amphibius are known to aggregate in the...
Show moreLevels of sociality vary depending on the costs and benefits associated with grouping behavior. Grouping species form either ephemeral aggregations due to resource availability, or structured groups based on familiarity of individuals. Because there are different costs and benefits associated with different types of groups, it is important to understand more about group structure before making predictions about specific behaviors. Female Hippopotamus amphibius are known to aggregate in the wild but the true nature of their grouping behavior is still not understood. My objective was to determine if captive female hippos form either ephemeral aggregations or social groups. Behavioral data, using continuous focal animal sampling and scan sampling, were collected on a group of nine captive female hippos housed at Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park. The behavioral data were used to analyze interactions between hippos, association patterns for kin and non-kin as well as familiarity, dominance hierarchy, and habitat preferences. My results support the hypothesis that hippos are forming social groups due to the attraction to particular individuals. There were more associations between kin than non-kin and also between individuals that have been together longer. Captive female hippos were also found to exhibit dominance patterns within the group. The results from this study may aid in the general understanding of hippopotamus behavior and aid in the captive management of hippos. Using my results as a starting point, research can begin looking at grouping patterns and its costs and benefits of sociality in wild hippopotamus populations.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- Identifier
- CFE0002239, ucf:47905
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002239
- Title
- THE INFLUENCE OF SEXUAL SELECTION ON BEHAVIORAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS UNDERLYING REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS IN MALE CAPE GROUND SQUIRRELS (XERUS INAURIS).
- Creator
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Manjerovic, Mary, Waterman, Jane, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Sexual selection is considered a powerful evolutionary force responsible for the enormous diversity found in reproductive morphology, physiology, and behavior. I addressed questions related to selection in the Cape ground squirrel (Xerus inauris), a species characterized as highly social and promiscuous. These attributes often are responsible for variance in male reproductive success and as such, sexual selection theory predicts increased opportunity for sexual selection. I confirm that the...
Show moreSexual selection is considered a powerful evolutionary force responsible for the enormous diversity found in reproductive morphology, physiology, and behavior. I addressed questions related to selection in the Cape ground squirrel (Xerus inauris), a species characterized as highly social and promiscuous. These attributes often are responsible for variance in male reproductive success and as such, sexual selection theory predicts increased opportunity for sexual selection. I confirm that the predominant mechanism underlying genital evolution and competition for paternity in X. inauris is sperm competition. I find evidence that investment in sperm competition is costly and may reflect immunocompetence. I quantify reproductive success as it relates to alternative male tactics and female resource distribution. I find that male X. inauris alternative reproductive tactics differ within and across populations most likely due to differences in female resource distribution. In areas where females are evenly distributed, dispersed males encounter more estrous females, and therefore have increased breeding opportunities. However, the decision to remain natal does not preclude reproduction. I determine that these tactics are most likely conditional with equal fitness payoffs. Males, regardless of tactic, invest more in post-copulatory competition (e.g. sperm competition, copulatory plugs) than males within a population with a clustered distribution of breeding females. In the latter area, males form dominance hierarchies that affect copulatory success and lead to greater skews in reproduction among males. Both sites have evidence of a highly skewed variance in reproduction and intense sexual selective pressure. My results suggest these populations have increased opportunities for selection but that different mechanisms of intrasexual competition may result in rapid evolutionary change within this species.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- Identifier
- CFE0003400, ucf:48402
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003400
