The effects of feeding strategy on subcutaneous, perirenal adipose tissue and ribeye (longissimus dorsi) muscle fatty acid profiles were evaluated from 60 bison (Bison bison) bulls from Western Canada. Treatments included Forage Fed (n=19); short term concentrate feeding, <90 Day (n=9); mixed forage and concentrate feeding, 50:50 Forage:Grain (n=20); and Feedlot Finishing (n=12), and were analyzed for interactions and main effects between treatment and tissue type. Saturated fatty acids were found in larger (P<0.05) proportions within perirenal tissue for all treatments. Polyunsaturated fatty acids were concentrated (P<0.05) in the intramuscular tissue. Polyunsaturated fatty acid content was greater (P<0.05) in Forage Fed and 50:50 Forage:Grain than in <90 Day or Feedlot Finishing treatments. The polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio was greatest (P<0.05) for Forage Fed followed by 50:50 Forage:Grain, with <90 Day and Feedlot Finishing treatments having the lowest ratio. Linoleic acid content within intramuscular tissue was greatest (P<0.05) in the 50:50 Forage:Grain followed by the <90 Day treatment, with the Forage Fed group being intermediate, and the Feedlot Finishing being the lowest (P<0.05). Subcutaneous tissue contained more (P<0.05) conjugated linoleic c-9, t-11 acid than did intramuscular tissue. The conjugated linoleic c-9, t-11 acid content of intramuscular tissue was greater (P<0.05) in the Forage Fed and <90 Day treatments than in the 50:50 Forage:Grain and Feedlot Finishing treatments. Alpha-linolenic acid content was greatest (P<0.05) in intramuscular tissue of Forage Fed bison than the other treatments. Total omega-3 fatty acid concentration was greater (P<0.05), in the intramuscular tissue of Forage Fed bison, followed by <90 Day and 50:50 Forage:Grain being similar (P>0.05) with Feedlot Finishing having the lowest (P<0.05) content. Eicosapentaenoic, docosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acid were all found in the greatest (P<0.05) proportion in the Forage Fed, and least (P<0.05) in the Feedlot Finishing treatment. </p> <p>The total omega-6 and arachidonic fatty acid content of intramuscular tissue was greater (P<0.05) in the Forage Fed and 50:50 Forage:Grain than in the <90 Day or Feedlot Finishing treatments. The omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio was greatest (P<0.05) for the 50:50 Forage:Grain followed by <90 Day with Feedlot Finishing being intermediate, and Forage Fed bison having the lowest (P<0.05) ratio. </p><p>Feedlot bison were compared to beef (<i>Bos taurus</i>) steers (n=4) and sheep wethers (<i>Ovis aries</i>) (n=3). Sheep had lower (P<0.05) saturated fatty acid content than did bison or beef in intramuscular tissue. Polyunsaturated fatty acid content of intramuscular tissue was greater (P<0.05) in bison than in beef or sheep. The ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acids was greater (P<0.05) for bison than for beef or sheep. The omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio was lower (P<0.05) for the bison than the beef, while sheep were intermediate (P<0.05).</p><p>Forage Fed bison compared to forage fed sheep wethers (n=3) showed that the ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acids was greater (P<0.05) in bison than sheep. The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids was similar (P>0.05) for both species.</p><p>Forage Fed bison yielded the greatest proportion of beneficial fatty acids amongst the bison treatments. Comparison of species under feedlot and forage finishing systems indicated bison to have a more desirable fatty acid profile than did beef or sheep finished under their respective systems.

Texte remanié de: Ph. D. thesis--University of Calgary, 2001. / Bibliogr. p. 113-128.

Thesis (PhD)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2008. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Robert A. Garrott. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1955. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-125).

In one of the first reintroductions of a semi-wild population of bison (Bison bison) east of the Mississippi River, The Nature Conservancy reintroduced bison to the Nachusa Grasslands in northern Illinois in October 2014. Given the novelty of such efforts, questions remain regarding how human activity and prairie management affect bison habitat selection. My objective was to quantify bison habitat selection during 2014-16 to address literature gaps while investigating seasonal and annual changes. In October 2014, The Nature Conservancy collared 7 female bison with Lotek Iridium TrackM 3D and 4D collars programmed to take hourly locations. I randomly selected 1 bison location each hour to represent herd location and divided the resulting locations by season. Using resource selection functions, I compared the influence of land cover type, fire management, and concentrated human activity on habitat selection across seasons and at 2 scales: patch and enclosure. Land cover was consistently the best-fit model across seasons and scales with the exception of Winter 2016 at the enclosure scale. Bison strongly selected for partial restorations but showed no strong seasonal land cover selection trends. Bison selected for recently-burned prairie with the exception of Summer 2015 at the enclosure scale. At the patch scale, bison selected for areas closer to disturbed areas but did not show a strong trend at the enclosure scale. With a better understanding of how bison grazing is influenced by restoration management, wildlife managers can make better-informed decisions regarding bison restoration and public use.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Montana, 2007. / Title from title screen. Description based on contents viewed Oct. 2, 2007. "Part of a joint effort between Yellowstone National Park, a unit of the National Park Service, and the Rocky Mountain Cooperative Ecosystems Study Unit (RM-CESU)."--Pref. Includes bibliographical references (p. 135-145).

Ma thèse visait à identifier des mécanismes comportementaux permettant d’expliquer les décisions durant l’approvisionnement des animaux, de même que leur répartition spatiale. J’ai construit des modèles de sélection de parcelles d’alimentation testant l’influence de la mémoire de l’expérience passée, de la dynamique de groupe et de la densité de la population sur la décision d’un animal de revenir dans des sites d’alimentation déjà visités ou d’explorer de nouveaux sites. Mes analyses sont basées sur des données de déplacements de bisons (Bison bison) sauvages et sur leur taux de prise d’énergie dans des prairies naturelles. Les bisons choisissaient les prairies sur la base de leur connectivité, leur distance, leur taille et la profitabilité (c.-à-d., taux instantané potentiel d’acquisition d’énergie digestible) de la végétation qu’elles offrent. La probabilité de choisir une prairie déjà visitée augmentait : 1) après avoir visité une prairie ayant une profitabilité plus faible que les autres récemment visitées, 2) lorsque les autres membres du groupe l’avaient déjà visitée, et 3) lorsque la densité de population était relativement faible. Les décisions prises par les bisons avaient une valeur adaptative puisqu’elles aboutissent à l’utilisation de prairies plus profitables. J’ai également identifié les patrons d’utilisation de l’espace qui émergent de ces comportements en examinant la dynamique temporelle de l’utilisation de l’espace par des individus simulés et des vrais bisons. L’utilisation de l’expérience passée lors du choix de parcelles par des individus simulés entraînait une restriction de la répartition de la population dans les environnements virtuels. De la même façon, l’aire utilisée par chaque bison en milieu naturel et par l’ensemble des membres de la population était plus petite lorsque les animaux choisissaient plus fortement des prairies déjà visitées. Mes résultats démontrent que l’influence de la fidélité au site sur la répartition des animaux peut être aussi importante, voire plus importante, que la simple recherche des parcelles les plus profitables de l’environnement. En conséquence, les efforts visant à prévoir la répartition animale doivent prendre en compte le comportement de fidélité au site basé sur l’expérience passée des animaux, leur comportement social et l’influence de la densité des individus sur ces comportements. / In this thesis, I develop a mechanistic understanding of patch-scale foraging behavior and its effects on animal distribution. I build patch selection models to test how past experience, group dynamics, and population density influence an animal’s decision to return to previously visited sites or explore. I parameterized models using an extensive data set on the movements of wild bison (Bison bison) and their expected mean intake rate of digestible energy of meadows within their range. Bison chose previously visited meadows more often than random while taking into account connectivity, distance, profitability, and size of available meadows. The probability of choosing a previously visited meadow also increased: 1) after visiting a meadow with a lower profitability than recent past experience, 2) when other group members also had previously visited the meadow, and 3) with decreasing population density. I also demonstrate that the decisions bison made had adaptive value as they resulted in the use of more profitable meadows than available options. Finally, I illustrate the emergent space use patterns of these behaviors by using simulation and by examining temporal dynamics in the space use of bison. In comparison to random movement, using memory to incorporate past experience into patch choice decisions resulted in restricted population distribution in simulated landscapes. Likewise, for bison, the area of space used by individuals and the population was smaller when individuals more strongly chose previously visited meadows. My findings suggest that site fidelity behavior is a strong evolutionary force shaping animal distribution. I conclude that efforts to forecast animal distribution, including range dynamics, must take into account site fidelity behavior based on an animal’s past experience as well as its interaction with memory, sociality, and density-dependent processes. This study provides a novel link between memory capabilities of animals, foraging ecology, sociality, density-dependence, and animal distribution.

Cette étude visait à expliquer les variations spatiales de l'effort d'approvisionnement du bison des plaines. J’ai caractérisé les cratères d'alimentation des bisons dans la neige et j’ai suivi des bisons et des loups munis de colliers émetteurs en hiver. Les bisons s’alimentaient davantage dans les prés où le couvert de neige était mince et peu dense, de même que dans les parcelles les plus profitables (énergie digestible/temps de manipulation) du paysage. La cooccurrence spatiale entre les loups et les bisons indique que le prédateur gagne le jeu spatial. Aussi, les bisons laissaient plus de végétation hautement profitable dans les grands prés que dans les petits, une décision concordant avec la notion que les bisons se déplacent fréquemment afin d'éviter que les prédateurs connaissent leurs localisations. L'étude de l'approvisionnement du bison dans son milieu naturel révèle comment des patrons spatiaux d'herbivorie émergent dans un paysage caractérisé par plusieurs niveaux d’hétérogénéité. / The aim of this study was to explain spatial variation in the feeding effort of plains bison. I characterized feeding craters of bison in snow, and I radio-tracked bison and wolves in winter. Bison foraged more intensively in meadows with shallow and light snow, and in the most profitable (digestible energy / handling time) patches available in the landscape. Bison and wolves intensively used the same meadows, a co-occurrence indicating that wolves are ahead in the spatial game they play with bison. Also, bison left more vegetation of higher-than-average profitability in large than in small meadows. This decision is consistent with the notion that bison move frequently to prevent wolves from knowing their location. The assessment of bison foraging in a natural setting reveals how spatial patterns of herbivory emerge in landscapes characterized by multiple levels of heterogeneity.

Master of Science / Food Science Institute / Elizabeth A. E. Boyle / The market for bison meat products is increasing as a result of consumer interest in meat from animals that are primarily grass fed. Quality attributes of a bison meat snack containing cranberry and apple pieces and formed into a bar or bite were evaluated during 18 weeks of storage in a 40°C accelerated shelf life cabinet to simulate an ambient shelf life of 18 months. The products were formulated at a commercial facility; bars were packaged into a vacuum package, while bites were packaged in a sealed bag with an oxygen absorber. External color, pH, sensory attributes, Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF), water activity (a[subscript]w), and yeast and mold populations were determined. External color, pH, and a[subscript]w were evaluated on weeks 0, 3, 5, 12, 14, and 18 of accelerated storage. Sensory attributes, WBSF shear force, and yeast and mold populations were evaluated on weeks 0, 3, 5, 12, and 18. At week 0 and week 18, external L* for the bars and bites were similar (P>0.05); however, trained panelists observed both products becoming visually darker (P<0.05) by weeks 3 and 12 for bars and bites, respectively. For bars and bites, a* values remained constant (P>0.05) through week 5 and 12, respectively, and then became less red (P<0.05) by week 14 for bars and bites. Bars continued to become less red (P<0.05) by week 18. Bar a[subscript]w remained constant (P>0.05) from week 0 through week 18, while bites a[subscript]w remained constant through week 5, and then declined (P<0.05) to a mean a[subscript]w of 0.83 by week 18. Bar pH remained constant (P>0.05) through week 5, and then declined (P<0.05) to 4.32 at week 18. Bites pH declined (P<0.05) from 4.63 at week 0 to 4.22 at week 18. Yeast and mold populations were non-detectable throughout storage for both products. Panelists found that bar bite and tenderness remained similar (P>0.05) from 4.63 at week 0 through week 18. Bites became softer and more tender (P<0.05) from week 0 to week 3, and then remained similar (P>0.05) through week 18. Bars and bites WBSF remained similar (P>0.05) from week 0 through week 18. Bar sweetness and fruit flavor intensity declined (P<0.05) and bar and bite off-flavors increased (P<0.05) by the end of storage. Changing product size from bars to bites and using a vacuum bag versus a sealed bag with an oxygen absorber influenced product characteristics during accelerated storage. The recommended shelf life for bars and bites would be equivalent to 5 months at ambient temperature based on 5 weeks at accelerated storage at 40°C.

OMCCp is a new generation (not yet released) of the OpenModelica Compiler-Compiler parser generator which contains an LALR parser generator implemented in the MetaModelica language with parsing tables generated by the tools Flex and GNU Bison. It also contains very good error handling and is integrated with the MetaModelica semantics specification language.   The main benefit with this master thesis project is the development of new version of OMCCp with complete support for an extended Modelica grammar for a complete OMCCp-based Modelica parser. The implemented parser has been tested and the results have been analyzed. This is a new enhanced generation OMCCp with improvements made from the previous version. This version support Modelica as well as the language extensions for MetaModelica, ParModelica, and optimization problem specification. Moreover, the generated parsers are about three times faster than those from the old OMCCp.