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  • 1. Oster, Faith Examining Student-Animal Interactions in a Post-Secondary Animal Sciences Curriculum Through Student Responses and Animal Behavior

    Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2023, Animal Sciences

    Animals are often used as educational resources in post-secondary educational settings across the United States, especially in animal science curricula. Yet, little is known about the effect of student-animal interactions (SAI) on students' attitudes, curiosity, and empathy (ACE) towards animals or how their demographic backgrounds, past animal experience, and previous animal science coursework affect these areas. Moreover, while these SAI impact the animals used as educational resources, there is minimal understanding regarding their effect on the animals' welfare. Thus, this study aimed to (1) determine if animal sciences students' ACE responses toward animals changed over the course of the semester while identifying any demographic factors contributing to this change and (2) evaluate the emotional states of the animals used as educational resources through measurements of behavioral responses observed during SAI. This study was conducted at The Ohio State University during Autumn semester of 2022. A pre-course (n = 215) and post-course (n = 96) survey was administered to animal sciences students to collect self-reported demographic information, prior animal experience, prior animal science coursework, and ACE responses toward animals by species to determine if there was a change over the semester. Curiosity increased between the pre-course and post-course survey (p < 0.001), with students' attitude, experience, and perceived knowledge of animals (p < 0.001) providing plausible explanations. There was a strong positive correlation between the students' perceived knowledge of species and experience with species, indicating potential for further studies to assess changes in knowledge before and after working with animals (R = 0.793, p < 0.001). The emotional state of animals used as educational resources varied depending on the level of invasiveness of the activity as well as the length of SAI. Animals exhibited a higher frequency of negative emotional states during (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Kimberly Cole (Advisor) Subjects: Animal Sciences

  • 2. Cless, Isabelle A Dissection of Pacing in Zoo-Housed Polar Bears: How Details of the Behavior Can Suggest Motivational and Causal Factors

    Master of Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 2015, Biology

    Pacing is a commonly investigated abnormal behavior in zoo animals, however, little data have been published to support a precise definition of pacing. High-speed video of pacing behavior in 11 zoo-housed polar bears (Ursus maritimus) was compared with goal-oriented locomotion. Step cycle and head height were found to be less variable in the pacing condition (P < 0.01; P < 0.05) and significantly different across conditions (P < 0.01; P < 0.05). Bears did not appear to pace in random spots within their exhibits, and the location therefore seemed tied to underlying motivation for the behavior. Age and whether or not a bear paced anticipatorily had significant effects on a bear's pacing behavior (P < 0.01; P < 0.05). The results of this study confirm that pacing is quantifiably different than non-repetitive locomotion and may reflect a state in which animals are disengaged with their environments.
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    Committee: Kristen Lukas Dr. (Advisor); Roy Ritzmann Dr. (Committee Member); Mark Willis Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Animal Sciences; Animals; Welfare; Zoology

  • 3. Pickard, Shanel Contextually Relevant Behaviors and Their Neural Underpinnings

    Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2022, EMC - Mechanical Engineering

    When considering what capabilities should be implemented in an intelligent robotics platform, we often point to the characteristics of animals as inspiration. Animals exhibit the ability to learn quickly and generalize past knowledge to new tasks, but how they accomplish such abilities is still an open-ended question. Neuroscience has a long-standing influence in artificial intelligence as it provides insight to the neural underpinnings of how we sense the world, integrate information, and assemble behavior patterns. It is from this junctional point of neuroscience and robotics that comes the motivation for this thesis. In the first body of work, I explore the output behavior of hunting mantises at various levels of satiety. In food deprived states, mantises exhibited stereotyped behavior sequences with the primary motivation of prey capture. As satiety increased, behavior sequences became more flexible, indicating a shift in motivation away from prey capture. This work suggests that behavior assembly takes on a more rigid structure in times of desperation, when survival of the animal is at stake. The change in satiety correlates to a change the hierarchical schema of behavior such that when food is secured, behavior takes a more free-form structure. In the second part of the thesis, I propose hypothetical neural mechanisms by which a changing internal state might adjust the neural parameters of a sensory integrator. With a changing internal state, neural systems must be adaptive to the evolving needs of the animals and produce appropriate output behaviors accordingly. Within the arthropod brain, multiple sensory systems are integrated to provide body position updates. It is with these proposed mechanisms, I explore how a sensory integrator might be modulated such that inputs are dynamically weighted in the final determination of body heading. My findings presented in this dissertation establishes a foundation for future exploration into biologically relevant c (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Roger Quinn (Advisor); Roy Ritzmann (Committee Member); Nicholas Szczecinski (Committee Member); Richard Bachmann (Committee Member); Jessica Fox (Committee Member) Subjects: Animals; Applied Mathematics; Behavioral Sciences; Biomechanics; Biomedical Engineering; Endocrinology; Engineering; Entomology; Mechanical Engineering; Neurobiology; Neurosciences; Robotics

  • 4. Bradshaw, Yolonda The Impact of Breed Identification, Potential Adopter Perceptions and Demographics, and Dog Behavior on Shelter Dog Adoptability

    Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2021, Animal Sciences

    Annually, approximately 6.5 million companion animals enter U.S. animal shelters nationwide—3.3 million are dogs. Upon intake, shelter personnel evaluate each dog to gain information regarding behavioral and health history. Previous owner's records or shelter personnel's visual perception of the dog generates a “breed label.” However, the U.S. shelter canine population predominately consists of dogs with an unknown history and breed heritage; thus, the created “breed label” is a subjective assessment of breed type. Several studies illustrate that majority of shelter dogs are composed of more than one breed and are mislabeled compared to identified breeds from their genetic analysis. Additionally, breed labels have negatively impacted adopters' decisions due to certain breeds' stereotypes and legislation. Breed labeling is a tool animal shelters can utilize to implement specific care strategies and tailored adoption matches for the dogs in their care. However, canines are multidimensional individuals whose behavior and appearance are influenced by numerous factors; therefore, whether a breed label accurately reflects a dog's genetic makeup may not be efficient for successfully matching potential adopters with a companion. By steadily increasing the number of successful adoptions out of the shelter, fewer animals may require euthanasia. The overarching objective of this research was to assess the impact of removing dog breed labels in a local animal shelter on overall dog adoption rate and length of availability (LOA) for adoption, in addition to dog breeds commonly restricted by breed legislation or currently under county restrictions in the state of Ohio. The second objective examined the impact of visitors' demographics, perceptions, and importance of potential companion's features on adoption decisions, contingent on breed label presence or absence. A third objective utilized dog behavioral observations during a visitor interaction to identify out-of-kennel she (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Kelly George (Advisor); Kimberly Cole (Committee Member); Peter Neville (Committee Member) Subjects: Animal Sciences; Animals; Behavioral Psychology; Behavioral Sciences; Behaviorial Sciences; Demographics; Management; Marketing; Social Psychology; Veterinary Services; Welfare; Zoology

  • 5. Yarger, Alexandra Inertial encoding mechanisms and flight dynamics of dipteran insects

    Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2020, Biology

    In dipteran insects (true flies), modified hindwings known as halteres detect forces produced by body rotations, and are essential for flight. Halteres are mechanosensory organs with several arrays of sensory cells at their base, and they are one of the characteristic features of flies. Mechanosensory information from the halteres is sent to wing-steering and head movement motor neurons, allowing direct control of body position and gaze. Analyses of the structure and dynamics of halteres indicate that they experience very small aerodynamic forces but significant inertial forces, including Coriolis forces associated with body rotations. The sensory cells at the base of the haltere detect these forces and allow the fly to correct for perturbations during flight. The mechanisms by which haltere neurons transform forces resulting from three-dimensional body rotations into patterns of neural spikes are unknown, however. We use intracellular electrodes to record from haltere primary afferent neurons during a range of haltere motions. We find that spike timing activity of individual neurons changes with displacement, and propose a mechanism by which single neurons can encode three-dimensional haltere movements during flight. However, halteres are not just used for flight. The most recently diverged monophyletic subsection within the Dipteran order, called Calyptratae also use their halters during walking behavior (Hall et al., 2015). We examined the biomechanics of a representative Calyptratae fly and compared it with known wing-haltere mechanics in a non-Calyptratae fly (Deora et al., 2015) that does not use its halters when walking. We also compared the transition behavior (takeoff) that occurs between walking and flying in a variety of Calyptratae and non-Calyptratae fly families. We find that body morphology and haltere use contribute to takeoff speed and stability, but only in the Calyptratae clade.
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    Committee: Jessica Fox PhD (Advisor); Roy Ritzmann PhD (Committee Member); Hillel Chiel PhD (Committee Member); Michael Lewicki PhD (Committee Member); Nicole Crown PhD (Committee Chair) Subjects: Animals; Behavioral Sciences; Biology; Entomology; Neurobiology; Physiology; Zoology

  • 6. Gittis, Alan Developmental analysis of the septal syndrome in the rat /

    Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1975, Graduate School

    Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Psychology

  • 7. Campbell, Lacey Behavior and success in web contests between an invading Pholcus spider and a local congener

    Master of Science, Miami University, 0, Biological Sciences

    Contests over limited resources frequently occur when species occupy the same area. Certain behaviors may predispose some species to have a competitive advantage during these contests. The cellar spider, Pholcus manueli, recently expanded its range and appears to have displaced local populations of Pholcus phalangioides. I quantified activity differences between these species and investigated whether the success of P. manueli is due to its competitiveness. In my first experiment, P. manueli displayed more activity and web deposits than P. phalangioides, but P. phalangioides deposited webbing at a faster rate. Next, I staged interspecific contests over territory—an empty web site or a site occupied by a web (higher resource value) of one species. Pholcus manueli did not win any contests and retreated from interactions more often. The success of P. manueli is not due to its ability to take over territory but may be related to its active nature.
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    Committee: Ann Rypstra (Advisor); Alan Cady (Committee Member); Nancy Solomon (Committee Member) Subjects: Animals; Behavioral Sciences; Biology; Ecology; Zoology

  • 8. Lohrey, Anne The Impact of Avian Predation on the Brush-Legged Wolf Spider, Schizocosa Ocreata (Hentz), and Anti-Predator Responses to Avian Cues

    MS, University of Cincinnati, 2007, Arts and Sciences : Biological Sciences

    This research aimed to quantify the potential for avian predation on Schizocosa ocreata wolf spiders in the field and its impact on spider behavior. In a field study, enclosures that excluded birds had a higher proportion of spiders remaining at the end of the experiment than enclosures that allowed birds access. Additionally, observational data confirmed that some bird species seen active at the study site eat spiders presented in feeding trials. These data suggest that bird predation impacts survival of S. ocreata in the field. In the laboratory, I tested spiders‘ recognition of and behavioral responses to sensory cues indicating the presence of avian predators. Courting male S. ocreata responded to avian acoustic stimuli (bird calls) with anti-predator behavior, which supports the hypothesis that bird predation limits survival of S. ocreata and may be an important selective factor on the evolution of behavior in this species of wolf spider.
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    Committee: Dr. George Uetz (Advisor) Subjects:

  • 9. Severin, Harry A general consideration of the death feigning instinct with an experimental study of the instinct in Nepa apiculata /

    Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1908, Graduate School

    Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

  • 10. Leach, Lester Genetics of a difference in hoarding behavior in the Syrian hamster, Mesocricetus auratus (Waterhouse) /

    Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 1967, Graduate School

    Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

  • 11. Myers, Louis Hoarding Behavior as a Function of Age with Limited Manipulatory Experience

    Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1962, Psychology

    Committee: John R. Schuck (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology

  • 12. MacKay, Rebecca Parasites alter organismal behavior and interactions in aquatic ecosystems

    Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2022, Biological Sciences

    Though parasites are a ubiquitous in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, the important role parasites play in community ecology is often overlooked. Thus, the goal of my dissertation was to determine how parasites impact ecological communities by altering the personality, foraging behavior, and community interactions of a host. Crayfish Faxonius rustucis are the second intermediate host of the digenetic trematode Microphallus spp. Microphallid load impacted crayfish personality along a bold shy spectrum, causing crayfish to become bolder in the presence of a threatening odor and less exploratory in novel environments, whether or not a food source was present. Additionally, crayfish infected with Microphallus spp. consumed significantly less macrophyte tissue that as parasite load increase. This decrease in consumption was species-specific, with parasite load causing the sharpest decrease in the consumption of Chara sp., followed by Elodea canadensis, Ceratophyllum demersum, and Potamotgeton richardsonii. Additionally, females were more effected by parasite load than males, resulting in a sharper decrease in foraging for the female crayfish. Crayfish were placed in larger community mesocosms with both macrophytes (Chara sp., Myriophallum exalbescens, C. demersum, and P. richardsonii) and animal prey (Campeloma decisum, Dreissena polymorpha, and Dicosmoecus sp.) to determine how microphallid load affected consumption of both plant and animal prey as well as community interactions between the competing animal prey. Macrophyte consumption significantly decreased with increasing parasite load, but the number of animal prey consumed was not affected by parasite load. However, animal weight change was slightly impacted by parasite load, such that D. polymorpha weight remained constant, Dicosmoecus sp. gained about 5% of their body weight, and C. decisum lost approximately 5% of their body weight, which could indicate shifts in the competition between these species. Ov (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Paul Moore Ph.D. (Advisor); Steven Cady Ph.D. (Other); Curtis Blankespoor Ph.D. (Committee Member); Robert Huber Ph.D. (Committee Member); Daniel Pavuk Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Biology; Ecology; Parasitology

  • 13. Strasburg, Miranda Community Matters: The Impact of Environmental Factors on Host-Parasite Interactions in Aquatic Systems

    Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2021, Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology

    Biotic interactions within ecological communities, including host-parasite interactions, are affected by environmental conditions. Shifts in environmental factors have led to rises in parasitic infections across wildlife taxa. Given the significance of parasites on population and community regulation and to wildlife and human diseases, understanding how the influence of parasites change across environmental gradients is of upmost importance. The objective of my dissertation was to evaluate which environmental factors are important for host-parasite interactions in an anuran-trematode system. Many trematodes use amphibians as hosts and their effects on host survival depend largely on infection load and can be regulated by abiotic and biotic environmental conditions. I hypothesized that abiotic and biotic environmental factors determine the probability and intensity of trematode infections in anuran hosts and the importance of trematodes in the community. To test my hypothesis, I conducted laboratory and mesocosm experiments to examine the interactive effects of trematode parasites and pesticides (i.e., abiotic factors), predators, or competitors (i.e., biotic factors) on host behavior, body condition, and survival. Pesticide and predator exposure did not substantially impact behavior in tadpoles, but the behavioral responses of tadpoles to trematodes varied depending on environmental context. In the laboratory, trematode exposure did not significantly influence tadpole behavior, while in mesocosms, trematode presence reduced tadpole activity. In addition, the laboratory experiment confirmed that tadpole activity influenced trematode transmission; there was a negative relationship between transmission and individual tadpole activity. Trematodes, generally, had negative effects on their hosts, but the extent of their effects was impacted by food web structure. In communities with abundant food resources resulting from reductions in the abundance of tadpole competitors, (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Michelle Boone (Advisor); María González (Committee Member); Jing Zhang (Committee Member); Ann Rypstra (Committee Member); Pieter Johnson (Committee Member) Subjects: Ecology

  • 14. Bade, Andrew The Behavioral Ecology of Walleye (Sander vitreus): Phenotypic and Environmental Variation Influence Reproductive Behaviors and Exploitation

    Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology

    Many migratory animals time reproduction using environmental cues (e.g., photoperiod) that signal favorable conditions for offspring (e.g., food availability). However, environmental change can decouple these cues from the conditions relevant to offspring success. In turn, variation in reproductive behaviors may be critical to population persistence in a changing environment. For example, while natal homing can lead to valuable local adaptations in a stable environment, straying to new breeding sites can buffer against environmental change. Among exploited species, knowledge of reproductive behavior, such as spawn timing (phenology) and spawning site selection, has proven useful to fisheries management by influencing angling dynamics, estimates of biological reference points, and stock delineations. Thus, a well-developed understanding of reproductive phenology, breeding site selection, and fishery dynamics could help agencies effectively conserve and manage fisheries in ecosystems experiencing environmental change. Accordingly, my dissertation research sought to better understand the reproductive behaviors and angling dynamics of Lake Erie's walleye population. In collaboration with other researchers and agency biologists, I used acoustic telemetry, creel surveys, environmental monitoring data, and quantitative techniques to discern the spawning behaviors and angling dynamics of this population. We assessed the timing of residency in spawning sites, focusing on how environmental cues and individual characteristics drive observed variation (Chapter 2), developed a quantitative framework to estimate the frequencies of each potential spawning site selection strategy (Chapter 3), demonstrated sex based-differences in spawning behavior and male-biased walleye harvest during the spawning season (Chapter 4), and modeled the impact of fishery characteristics and angler behaviors on recreational catch outcomes (Chapter 5). Each chapter generated new insights to the (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Stuart Ludsin (Advisor); Elizabeth Marschall (Committee Member); Suzanne Gray (Committee Member); Janice Aski (Committee Member); Christopher Vandergoot (Committee Member); Thomas Binder (Committee Member); Christopher Tonra (Committee Member) Subjects: Aquatic Sciences; Ecology; Freshwater Ecology; Natural Resource Management; Wildlife Management

  • 15. Scarasso, Marco The influence of environmental drivers and biological invasion on intraspecific variation in crayfish behavior

    Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2021, Environment and Natural Resources

    Environmental heterogeneity in stream conditions and anthropogenic stressors, such as species introductions, can lead to intraspecific variation in traits of stream-dwelling crayfish. The rusty crayfish, Faxonius rusticus, and virile crayfish, Faxonius virilis, are distributed across a wide geographic range largely due to introductions outside of the native ranges. Previous research on these two species have demonstrated significant intraspecific variation in behavior traits across populations of both species. In this study I investigated: 1) whether behavioral differences across populations of the rusty crayfish are associated with their invasion status (e.g. native vs non-native), and 2) what environmental drivers (predation risk, resource availability, and climate) are associated with variation in behavior of both rusty and virile crayfish. I predicted that selection during the invasion process would result in non-native rusty crayfish being bolder, more active, and foraging more than native rusty crayfish, and that there would be less variance in behavior in non-native crayfish than native crayfish. I predicted that crayfish behavioral traits would be predictably associated with differences in predation risk, resource availability, and climate across populations. Furthermore, I predicted that crayfish from sites with lower predation pressure, sites with poor resource availability, and colder sites would be more bold, active and forage more than crayfish from sites with higher predation pressure, sites with abundant resource availability, and warmer sites respectively. To test whether behavior varied as a function of invasion status and environmental drivers, I quantified behavioral differences across multiple populations of rusty and virile crayfish from streams across the Midwest. Furthermore, at each stream, I measured predation pressure, macroinvertebrate resource availability, benthic algal resource availability, stream temperature, and crayfish density. I f (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Lauren Pintor (Advisor); Mažeika Sullivan (Committee Member); Lindsey Reisinger (Committee Member); Robert Gates (Committee Member) Subjects: Aquatic Sciences; Behavioral Sciences; Ecology; Environmental Science

  • 16. Tapp, Danielle DORSAL RAPHE PROJECTIONS TO THE MESOCORTICOLIMBIC SYSTEM MODULATE CORE ASPECTS OF APPETITIVE LEARNING AND RESPONDING

    Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2021, Psychology

    Learning about reward predictive cues is an essential component of motivated behaviors in everyday life. This process is disrupted in psychological diseases such as depression and substance use. Identifying the neural circuits that control this process is key to developing treatments for these diseases. The mesocorticolimbic dopamine system plays a strong role in cue learning and responding, however, other brain regions interact with the dopamine system to drive differences in behavior. The dorsal raphe (DRN) has recently been found to interact with the mesocorticolimbic system at the cell bodies in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and primary projection site nucleus accumbens (NAc). The goal of this project was to establish how excitation of DRN projections to the VTA and DRN projections to the NAc influence learning about reward predictive cues and responding for rewards. We first determined that excitation of DRN to VTA projections enhanced contextual cue learning for drug rewards compared to control subjects. Excitation of DRN to VTA projections is alone reinforcing. DRN to NAc projections enhanced contextual learning for drug rewards. However, DRN to NAc projection excitation alone was found to be aversive. These effects were not explained by an enhanced capacity to learn about contextual information in either group. We next determined how these circuits influenced drug-induced suppression of reward sensitivity. DRN to VTA projection activation did not alter amphetamine's ability to suppress reward sensitivity, but did not enhance it. DRN to VTA projection excitation alone did not appear to suppress reward sensitivity. Surprisingly, assessment of reward sensitivity in the DRN to NAc condition was not possible as circuit activation ablated operant responding. This data suggested that DRN to NAc projections may uniquely influence the ability of animals to respond for rewards. In our last series of experiments, we tested the influence of DRN projections on instrum (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Matthew McMurray (Committee Chair); Anna Radke (Committee Member); Jennifer Quinn (Committee Member); Haifei Shi (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Psychology; Behavioral Sciences; Neurobiology; Neurosciences

  • 17. Hamrick, Neil Predator Inspection and Social Information Usage in the Sexually Dimorphic Livebearing Fish Xiphophorus helleri

    Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2021, Biological Sciences (Arts and Sciences)

    Social information and predator inspection are both important, well-known components of antipredator strategies in fishes. Less well-documented, however, are factors influencing variation in these behaviors. I used the species Xiphophorus helleri, a sexually dimorphic fish in the family Poeciliidae, to answer questions relating to how sex, social context, and the level of predation threat in an individual's original environment contribute to variation in both proclivity to perform inspections of predators and in proclivity to use social information about predation. I also examined how the level of predation threat in an individual's original environment influences female mate preference for males shown either performing or not performing a predator inspection. In the first chapter, I compared proclivity to make use of social information about predation between fish from high-predation sites and low-predation sites, between male and female fish, and between fish in shoals of varying sex compositions. I detected a strong influence of predation regime on proclivity to use social information, with fish from high-predation areas using observations of shoalmates to increase antipredator responses more than fish from low-predation areas. I also detected differences in risk- taking behavior absent any information about predation threat, with fish from high- predation areas showing more risk-averse behavior. I did not detect any influence of sex or shoal sex composition on an individual's proclivity to use social information about predation. In the second chapter, I examined the effect of predation regime on female mate preference for males shown either performing or not performing a predator inspection via video playback. I found a preference for males that did not inspect in females from high- predation sites, and no preference for either type of male in females from low-predation sites. I also found a positive relationship between body size and preference for inspector ma (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Molly Morris Dr. (Advisor); Donald Miles Dr. (Committee Member); Ronaldo Vigo Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Animal Sciences; Aquatic Sciences; Behavioral Sciences; Biology; Ecology; Evolution and Development; Freshwater Ecology; Zoology

  • 18. Winans, Madeline Measuring the effect of facility relocation on the welfare of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus)

    Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2021, Animal Sciences

    Although animal welfare science has developed into a comprehensive field, there remains a lack of evidence-based assessments for many species. Marine mammals are generally an understudied group of species, and although these animals are regularly transported between zoological facilities, their welfare at all stages of these processes is rarely a research focus. In this study, The Ohio State University's Center for Human-Animal Interactions Research and Education partnered with Columbus Zoo and Aquarium to conduct a long-term welfare assessment of a population of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) throughout facility relocation. With measurement of animal behavior, as well as both hair and salivary cortisol concentrations, we aimed to assess the effect of transport and relocation to a novel environment on the welfare of this population of sea lions. Data were collected for 24 months prior to relocation (baseline phase) and for 8 months following relocation (acclimation phase) for the longitudinal study, and for 4 days pre-transport and 4 days post-transport for the shorter-term study. We found that the sea lions spent 21.3% more time swimming (P = 0.0022), 30.0% less time resting hauled out of the water (P < 0.0001) and had elevated hair cortisol concentrations during acclimation to their new facility compared to baseline data derived pre-transport. We also found there was no change in salivary cortisol during transport, but a significant elevation occurred post-transport (P < 0.0001). These findings indicate there was some effect of transport and relocation on this population of sea lions' behavior and cortisol concentrations, although additional confounding factors, such as breeding season and influence of medication, may be impacting these results. These findings offer the first documentation of an evaluation of the transport and relocation effects on marine mammal welfare and provide a foundation for future research progressing the field of marine mam (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Kelly George Dr. (Advisor); Kim Cole Dr. (Committee Member); Mark Flint Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Animal Sciences; Animals; Behavioral Sciences; Physiology; Welfare; Zoology

  • 19. Fischer, Brittany Development and Implementation of a Longitudinal Welfare Approach of Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

    Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2020, Animal Sciences

    Animal welfare science is an expanding focus in zoological institutions throughout the United States and the world. In 2017 the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) established a new accreditation standard requiring all member organizations to have a formal approach to assess animal welfare. As a result, the Animal Programs Department at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium sought partnership with the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) Center for Human-Animal Interactions Research & Education (CHAIRE) at The Ohio State University to develop an approach for the animals within their department using a focal species, the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). A longitudinal approach, using a combination of behavioral observations and physiological measurements, was developed to enhance the Five Domains Animal Welfare Model. Data collection extended for one-year, divided into six 60-d periods, to evaluate long-term cortisol production and behavioral observations of the cheetahs in response to changing environmental factors. Species and individual histories including nutritional, environmental, and medical information, were acquired and combined with behavioral observations and a less-invasive measure of hair cortisol production for a holistic view of welfare. Behavioral outputs were recorded using scan sampling for a total of 150 observations per period. Individual cheetah hair samples were collected at the beginning of each period. Species and individual histories were incorporated into welfare assessments by use of ZIMS Species 360, a record keeping database, interviews with staff members, and medical records. Participation in a cheetah run activity (p < 0.01), housing occupancy (p = 0.01), and period (p < 0.01) were found to influence all behavioral categories. Stereotypic behavior also differed within individual cheetahs throughout the study (p < 0.01). No difference of hair cortisol was found for the population, but further analysis resulted in diff (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Kelly George Dr. (Advisor); Kim Cole Dr. (Committee Member); Mark Flint Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Animal Sciences

  • 20. Culligan, Casey Helping Animals, Helping Ourselves: Reciprocal Benefits of Prosocial Behaviors Directed Toward Animals

    Psy. D., Antioch University, 2019, Antioch New England: Clinical Psychology

    This is a dissertation project on the reciprocal benefits—to volunteers and animals—of volunteering at animal shelters, rescues, and sanctuaries. I have provided a brief literature review on the relationship between prosociality and helper/recipient wellbeing, highlighting the current scarcity of research on the human enactment of prosocial behavior with animal recipients of help. I then further supported the need for continued research in this regard by examining the emerging body of research on the suggested wellbeing-benefits of human–animal interaction. An ecopsychological framework was utilized to emphasize the potential therapeutic affects (to both humans and animals) of engaging in prosocial behaviors directed toward animals. To explore the subjective experiences and meaning making of animal shelter/rescue/sanctuary volunteers a qualitative IPA, methodology was utilized. Semi-structured interviews were held with five participant–volunteers on a one-on-one basis, and discussions were largely focused on the wellbeing-benefits they have given and gained from their service work directed toward animals in need, as well as the challenges encountered by both humans and animals involved. Through thematic analysis, I endeavored to capture the essence of the phenomenon at hand, and multiple measures were taken to best ensure its overall rigor, credibility, and transferability. Findings of the research included a range of participant-perceived benefits gained through their service work including awareness of their own self-efficacy, feeling internally fulfilled, developing a heightened sense of resilience, and connecting to others. Participants additionally identified a range of beneficial impacts to their animal counterparts which are detailed in full. Implications of the research topic were explored on individual, systemic, and theoretical levels, and future directions for research and practice were identified.
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    Committee: Martha Straus Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Barbara Belcher-Timme Psy.D. (Committee Member); Maureen Sanford Psy.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology