Captive environments often fail to resemble the wild environment in respects of limited space, unchanging habitat, lack of stimulus and contingency. Common animal welfare problems which occur in captive animals includ...Captive environments often fail to resemble the wild environment in respects of limited space, unchanging habitat, lack of stimulus and contingency. Common animal welfare problems which occur in captive animals include low behavioral diversity, abnormal behavior and excessive inactivity. Environmental enrichment, as an effective strategy to tackle these problems and promote mental health of captive animals, has been recognized as an important principal for captive animal management. Among all the enriehment techniques, olfactory enrichment is a simple and effective method for improving the well-being of the olfactory sensitive felids. Behavioral problems were observed in six Amur leopards Panthera pardus orientalis at Beijing Zoological Garden. These were held in the older type exhibits which have now been rebuilt. These behaviors include stereotypic behavior and excessive inactivity caused by the spatially limited enclosures with low levels of stimuli. To determine the effects of predator, prey, and herb odors as potential enrichment materials for captive leopards, we conducted olfactory enrichment experiments for the leopards and tested the effects of nutmeg Myristica fragrans, feces of roe deer Capreolus capreolus and urine of Amur tiger Panthera tigris altaica to test for an increase in behavioral repertoire and activity. Odors provided in this study were also believed to improve the psychological and physiological health of individuals. To standardize the method of presentation the odors were introduced to the enclosures by rubbing or spraying onto a clean towel. Our results show that the selected three odors effectively increased the behavioral diversity. Ten new behavior types were observed in the nutmeg experiment, eight in the feces of roe deer experiment and six in the tiger urine experiment. Among the three odors, cats responded to nutmeg for the longest duration, followed by tiger urine and feces of roe deer. Leopards showed more play behavior in presence of nutmeg while more investigatory behavior in presences of feces of roe deer and tiger urine. Providing novel odors increased the spatial use of the exhibit and the animal＇ s increased use of the logs, sleeping platforms and bars in the cages. Novel odors also significantly increased the overall activity of the leopards, but the effects were diminished in about three hours.展开更多
In this work, datasets of water and carbon fluxes measured with eddy covariance technique above a summer maize field in the North China Plain were simulated with artificial neural networks (ANNs) to explore the fluxes...In this work, datasets of water and carbon fluxes measured with eddy covariance technique above a summer maize field in the North China Plain were simulated with artificial neural networks (ANNs) to explore the fluxes responses to local environmental variables. The results showed that photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), vapor pressure deficit (VPD), air temperature (T) and leaf area index (LAI) were primary factors regulating both water vapor and carbon dioxide fluxes. Three-layer back-propagation neural networks (BP) could be applied to model fluxes exchange between cropland surface and atmosphere without using detailed physiological information or specific parameters of the plant.展开更多
Correlation of megafauna extinctions and mega-biosphere disturbances with past supernova explosions has been accomplished by considering a time correction for supernova debris traveling at 88.2325 percent of light spe...Correlation of megafauna extinctions and mega-biosphere disturbances with past supernova explosions has been accomplished by considering a time correction for supernova debris traveling at 88.2325 percent of light speed. Supernova W44 is responsible for the Piora Oscillation which appears to be the biblical event of Noah＇s Flood. The closest supernova explosion, Vela Jr at 652 light-years, gives the beginning of the greatest historical human disaster, The Black Death. When supernova debris energy input occurs in the northern or southern hemisphere, it causes heating （global warming） in the northern or southern hemisphere, respectively. Long term cooling, the Little Ice Age, occurs in the northern hemisphere when the incoming debris of exploding stars impacts only the southern hemisphere for hundreds of years. Termination of the last ice age results due to melting of numerous supernova impacts that correlate time of impact by changing sea level and geothermal energy released for 2,800 years from the exit crater of Dr. J. Kennet＇s nano-diamond meteor theory and part of the process involves Dr. O＇Keefe＇s tektite theory. Correlation of Dr Frezzotti＇s ice melt Antarctica data with supernova impact times over the past 800 years establishes the Global Warming model in conjunction with the November 2016 Antarctic sea ice melt.展开更多
In hand reared birds and mammals, it is generally considered that the development of hoarding behavior is the result of an interaction between the development and maturation of the nervous system and learning from ind...In hand reared birds and mammals, it is generally considered that the development of hoarding behavior is the result of an interaction between the development and maturation of the nervous system and learning from individual experience. How- ever, few studies have been done on wild animals. We tested differences in hoarding behavior between captive reared and wild individuals of two sympatric small rodents, Korean field mice Apodemus peninsulae and Chinese white-bellied rats Niviventer confucianus. Our aim was to identify if lack of experience from the wild would result in poorly developed hoarding behavior. The Korean field mice perform scatter- and larder-hoarding behaviors whereas Chinese white-bellied rats hoard food in larders only. Within outdoor enclosures we compared seed-hoarding behavior in reared juveniles （RJ, 40-50 d old, pregnant mothers were captured in the wild）, wild juveniles （WJ, as young as the RJ） and wild adults （WA, over-winter animals）. We found that a lack of experience from the wild had significant effects on seed-hoarding behavior for both species. The RJ-group removed and hoarded fewer seeds than the WJ- and WA-groups. The two latter groups hoarded seeds in a similar way. In the Korean filed mouse the ILl-group placed more seeds on the ground surface than other groups. These findings suggest that wild experience is important for the acquisition of an appropriate food-hoarding behavior （especially for scatter-hoarding） in these species展开更多
基金founded by the Knowledge Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CXTDS2005-4)the Natural Scientific Foundation of China (No.30230080,No.30670267)
文摘Captive environments often fail to resemble the wild environment in respects of limited space, unchanging habitat, lack of stimulus and contingency. Common animal welfare problems which occur in captive animals include low behavioral diversity, abnormal behavior and excessive inactivity. Environmental enrichment, as an effective strategy to tackle these problems and promote mental health of captive animals, has been recognized as an important principal for captive animal management. Among all the enriehment techniques, olfactory enrichment is a simple and effective method for improving the well-being of the olfactory sensitive felids. Behavioral problems were observed in six Amur leopards Panthera pardus orientalis at Beijing Zoological Garden. These were held in the older type exhibits which have now been rebuilt. These behaviors include stereotypic behavior and excessive inactivity caused by the spatially limited enclosures with low levels of stimuli. To determine the effects of predator, prey, and herb odors as potential enrichment materials for captive leopards, we conducted olfactory enrichment experiments for the leopards and tested the effects of nutmeg Myristica fragrans, feces of roe deer Capreolus capreolus and urine of Amur tiger Panthera tigris altaica to test for an increase in behavioral repertoire and activity. Odors provided in this study were also believed to improve the psychological and physiological health of individuals. To standardize the method of presentation the odors were introduced to the enclosures by rubbing or spraying onto a clean towel. Our results show that the selected three odors effectively increased the behavioral diversity. Ten new behavior types were observed in the nutmeg experiment, eight in the feces of roe deer experiment and six in the tiger urine experiment. Among the three odors, cats responded to nutmeg for the longest duration, followed by tiger urine and feces of roe deer. Leopards showed more play behavior in presence of nutmeg while more investigatory behavior in presences of feces of roe deer and tiger urine. Providing novel odors increased the spatial use of the exhibit and the animal＇ s increased use of the logs, sleeping platforms and bars in the cages. Novel odors also significantly increased the overall activity of the leopards, but the effects were diminished in about three hours.
基金Project (No. 40328001) supported by the National Science Fund forOutstanding Youth Overseas China
文摘In this work, datasets of water and carbon fluxes measured with eddy covariance technique above a summer maize field in the North China Plain were simulated with artificial neural networks (ANNs) to explore the fluxes responses to local environmental variables. The results showed that photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), vapor pressure deficit (VPD), air temperature (T) and leaf area index (LAI) were primary factors regulating both water vapor and carbon dioxide fluxes. Three-layer back-propagation neural networks (BP) could be applied to model fluxes exchange between cropland surface and atmosphere without using detailed physiological information or specific parameters of the plant.
文摘Correlation of megafauna extinctions and mega-biosphere disturbances with past supernova explosions has been accomplished by considering a time correction for supernova debris traveling at 88.2325 percent of light speed. Supernova W44 is responsible for the Piora Oscillation which appears to be the biblical event of Noah＇s Flood. The closest supernova explosion, Vela Jr at 652 light-years, gives the beginning of the greatest historical human disaster, The Black Death. When supernova debris energy input occurs in the northern or southern hemisphere, it causes heating （global warming） in the northern or southern hemisphere, respectively. Long term cooling, the Little Ice Age, occurs in the northern hemisphere when the incoming debris of exploding stars impacts only the southern hemisphere for hundreds of years. Termination of the last ice age results due to melting of numerous supernova impacts that correlate time of impact by changing sea level and geothermal energy released for 2,800 years from the exit crater of Dr. J. Kennet＇s nano-diamond meteor theory and part of the process involves Dr. O＇Keefe＇s tektite theory. Correlation of Dr Frezzotti＇s ice melt Antarctica data with supernova impact times over the past 800 years establishes the Global Warming model in conjunction with the November 2016 Antarctic sea ice melt.
文摘In hand reared birds and mammals, it is generally considered that the development of hoarding behavior is the result of an interaction between the development and maturation of the nervous system and learning from individual experience. How- ever, few studies have been done on wild animals. We tested differences in hoarding behavior between captive reared and wild individuals of two sympatric small rodents, Korean field mice Apodemus peninsulae and Chinese white-bellied rats Niviventer confucianus. Our aim was to identify if lack of experience from the wild would result in poorly developed hoarding behavior. The Korean field mice perform scatter- and larder-hoarding behaviors whereas Chinese white-bellied rats hoard food in larders only. Within outdoor enclosures we compared seed-hoarding behavior in reared juveniles （RJ, 40-50 d old, pregnant mothers were captured in the wild）, wild juveniles （WJ, as young as the RJ） and wild adults （WA, over-winter animals）. We found that a lack of experience from the wild had significant effects on seed-hoarding behavior for both species. The RJ-group removed and hoarded fewer seeds than the WJ- and WA-groups. The two latter groups hoarded seeds in a similar way. In the Korean filed mouse the ILl-group placed more seeds on the ground surface than other groups. These findings suggest that wild experience is important for the acquisition of an appropriate food-hoarding behavior （especially for scatter-hoarding） in these species
