Previous studies have indicated that concurrent multimodal stimulation can interfere with prenatal perceptual learning. However, the nature and extent of this interference is not well understood. This study further assessed this issue by exposing three groups of bobwhite quail embryos to (a) no unusual prenatal stimulation, (b) a bobwhite maternal call, or (c) a maternal call + light compound in the period prior to hatching. Experiments differed in terms of the types of stimuli presented during postnatal preference tests (Exp 1 = familiar call vs. unfamiliar call; Exp 2 = familiar compound vs. unfamiliar compound; Exp 3 = familiar compound verses unfamiliar call; Exp 4 = familiar call vs. unfamiliar compound). Embryos receiving no supplemental stimulation showed no preference between stimulus events in all testing conditions. Embryos receiving exposure to a unimodal call preferred the familiar call over the unfamiliar call regardless of the presence or absence of patterned light during testing. Embryos receiving concurrent audio-visual exposure showed no preference between stimulus events in Exp 1 and Exp 4, but did prefer the familiar call when it was paired with light during testing (Exp 2 and 3). These findings suggest that concurrent multimodal stimulation does not interfere with prenatal perceptual learning by overwhelming the young organism's limited attentional capacities. Rather, multimodal biases what information is attended to during exposure and subsequent testing. Results are discussed within an attentional-bias framework, which maintains that young organisms tend to initially process non-redundant compound events as integrative units rather than processing the components of the compound separately. / Master of Science

The fact that sensory modalities do not become functional at the same time raises the question of how sensory systems and their particular experiential histories might influence one another. Few studies have addressed how modified stimulation to earlier-emerging modalities might influence the functioning of relatively later-developing modalities. Previous findings have shown that enhanced prenatal tactile and vestibular (proximal) stimulation extended and delayed normal patterns of auditory and visual responsiveness to species-typical maternal cues in bobwhite quail respectively. Although these results were attributed to the increased amount of sensory stimulation, these results may be a function of when prenatal augmented proximal exposure took place. To address this issue the present study exposed groups of bobwhite quail embryos to equivalent amounts of augmented tactile and vestibular stimulation either at a time when a later-emerging modality (auditory or visual) was beginning to functionally emerge or when it had already functionally emerged. Results indicate that differences in the timing of augmented tactile and vestibular stimulation led to differences in subsequent auditory and visual responsiveness. Embryos were unable to learn a maternal call prior to hatching when enhanced proximal stimulation coincided with auditory functional emergence implicating a deficit in auditory functioning, but did learn a maternal call when enhanced proximal stimulation occurred after auditory functional emergence. Augmented proximal stimulation that coincided with visual functional emergence did not appear to influence normal visual responsiveness, but when proximal stimulation occurred after visual emergence, chicks displayed an accelerated approach response to species-typical visual cues. These findings support the view that the timing of enhanced stimulation to earlier-emerging modalities is important, and have meaningful implications for intersensory theory and research. / Ph. D.

Early perceptual learning capacity has been shown to correspond with the relative status of emergent sensory systems throughout prenatal and postnatal development. It has also been shown that young infants can learn perceptual information during perinatal development. However, the exact nature of the relationship between prenatal and postnatal perceptual development and the role of early experience on learning ability have yet to be examined. The present study examined how auditory learning capacity in bobwhite quail chicks is affected by the interrelationship between the developing auditory and visual systems in late prenatal/early postnatal development. Chicks were provided with auditory information during the period immediately prior to or the period following hatching. In addition, visual experience was either provided or attenuated during both the prenatal and postnatal periods. Findings revealed that chicks postnatally exposed to 10 min/hr of maternal auditory stimulation in lighted conditions required 72 hr exposure to the call in order to learn that bobwhite maternal call (Experiments 1A and 1B). Control chicks who experienced the prenatal egg-opening procedure demonstrated no naive preference for two individual variants of the bobwhite maternal assembly call (Experiment 2). However, embryos who received 10 min/hr of prenatal visual stimulation, or who were reared in prenatal darkness successfully learned a maternal call with only 24 hr of postnatal exposure (Experiments 3A and 3C). Embryos who received prenatal visual and postnatal darkened rearing conditions (a mismatch between prenatal and postnatal experience) showed deficits in postnatal auditory learning (Experiment 3B). Embryos who were exposed to 10 min/hr of prenatal maternal auditory stimulation and 10 min/hr of nonconcurrent visual stimulation remembered the maternal call into later ages of postnatal development than in previous studies when reared in lighted or darkened postnatal conditions (Experiments 4A and 4B). However, when all prenatal and postnatal visual experience were both removed from embryos' and chicks' environments, deficits in prenatal auditory learning and postnatal memory were observed (Experiment 4C). These results indicate that prenatal and postnatal learning in bobwhite quail occur differently, that mismatches in prenatal and postnatal experience interfere with postnatal auditory learning, and that prenatal learning and postnatal memory are affected by the amount of visual stimulation present within chicks' environmental milieu. In the broader scheme, these results provide further evidence that the auditory and visual systems are linked during early development and support an ecological perspective of learning and memory. / Ph. D.

Prenatal sensory stimulation can have facilitative or interfering effects upon subsequent perceptual learning and development in bobwhite quail. Exposure to moderate amounts of unimodal prenatal sensory stimulation has been shown to accelerate early intersensory responsiveness, while exposure to concurrent prenatal bimodal sensory stimulation has been shown to interfere with perceptual learning and development. An immediate mechanism that may underlie this developmental intersensory interference is the arousal level of the organism associated with exposure to prenatal bimodal stimulation. Concurrent bimodal stimulation is known to elicit significantly higher levels of behavioral arousal and heart rate in bobwhite quail embryos. This study investigated the possibility that increased arousal associated with prenatal bimodal stimulation could have enduring effects upon subsequent postnatal behavioral organization and perceptual abilities in bobwhite quail. Subjects were exposed to one of three prenatal stimulation regimes: (a) concurrent bimodal (auditory/visual) stimulation, (b) unimodal auditory stimulation, or (c) no supplemental stimulation. Chicks exposed to concurrent prenatal bimodal stimulation demonstrated significantly greater levels of behavioral activity as well as decreased social behavior in the open-field when compared to unimodal auditory subjects and controls. Additionally, prenatal bimodal exposure may have led to a failure to utilize multimodal maternal cues in determining species-specific perceptual preferences in the days following hatching. All exposure groups demonstrated postnatal auditory learning of a maternal call, thus no interference effect was found for concurrent prenatal bimodal stimulation on postnatal auditory learning. These results suggest that concurrent prenatal bimodal stimulation has enduring effects upon postnatal behavioral arousal that may impact perceptual responsiveness of bobwhite quail in the days following hatching. / Ph. D.

Elevated yolk progesterone has been shown to impair prenatal, but facilitate postnatal auditory learning in bobwhite quail chicks. Elevated yolk testosterone has facilitated prenatal learning, but its effects on postnatal auditory learning in quail are unknown. Either testosterone or an oil vehicle was injected into bobwhite quail eggs prior to incubation. Control eggs were unmanipulated. Following hatching, chicks were exposed to a conspecific maternal call (A or B) for 240 min. At 48 hr, chicks were tested for their preference for the familiarized vs. novel call. All groups demonstrated a preference for the familiar call (p < .05), but minimal between group difference were found. Contrary to previous research, elevated yolk testosterone neither facilitated nor impaired postnatal auditory learning in bobwhite quail chicks. Further research will examine underlying mechanisms responsible for differential effects and explore if similar systems are involved in other species-typical processes such as social motivation. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The impact of the relative richness or poverty of the external environment on development has been demonstrated in a variety of species and for a number of physical and cognitive processes. However, a dichotomy exists in the present literature, wherein the physical and social environments are compartmentalized. The present study investigated the potential longitudinal interaction between the social and physical environments on early cognitive development and emotional reactivity. Bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) were exposed to different part-time combinations of social and physical enrichment over the first 96 hours following hatch. Developmental trajectories were explored using repeated non-identical maze tasks. The experiment was inconclusive as to the effects of enrichment; however a distinct trend arose as a main effect of age. Chicks were significantly less willing to explore and solve the maze at 72 and 96 hours. Potential explanations concerning experience and physiological maturation are discussed along with sources of variability.

The global decline of pollinators, insects and animals that assist in pollination and fertilizing plants, poses a great risk to global food supply. This study investigates if people have preferences for a program to abate decline in a region along the East Coast of the United States. A survey is used to investigate these preferences and connections to the region to understand if individual connections can explain preferences. The majority of people were found to not have preferences to help increase pollinator abundance. Additionally, measures of connection to the region were found to be insignificant in explain individual preferences. / Master of Science

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agronomy / Walter H. Fick / Sericea lespedeza [Lespedeza cuneata (Dumont) G. Don] is a rangeland weed of the tallgrass prairie of Kansas. Experiments were carried out during the 2001-2003 growing seasons (June-November) to examine the relationship between sericea lespedeza and other rangeland species, wildlife use and dispersal of sericea lespedeza propagules, and the relationship between sericea lespedeza stubble height and utilization by livestock. Sericea lespedeza cover was positively correlated with violet lespedeza (r=0.25) [Lespedeza violacea (L.) Pers.], heath aster (Aster ericoides L.) (r=0.23) and total forb cover (r=0.56). Sericea lespedeza composition was negatively correlated with big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman.) (r=-0.27) and sideoats grama [Bouteloua curtipendula (Michx. Torr.)] (r=-0.27) composition and positively correlated with western ragweed (Ambrosia psilostachya D.C.) (r=0.21) and violet lespedeza (r=0.36) composition. Sericea lespedeza density was inversely related to forb species richness on all sites. On half the sites, there was also an inverse relationship between grass species richness and sericea lespedeza density. Grazed sites had less difference in grass species richness between high and low levels of sericea lespedeza densities. There was no evidence of an ecological threshold to the detriment of species richness with increasing sericea lespedeza density. Cattle digestive processes did not affect sericea lespedeza germination. Quail digestive processes enhanced germination of the few seeds that were excreted. Quail diet selection was investigated with a field study. Five out of 49 crops collected contained seed classified as sericea lespedeza. None of these seeds germinated in the greenhouse. Both cattle and quail could potentially disperse sericea lespedeza seed, but voluntary consumption appears to be low for both species, at least during November when other food is available. An height-weight table estimating percent utilization for various grazed and ungrazed heights of sericea lespedeza was constructed. Coefficient of determination values were greater than 0.85 between plant height and weight, indicating that the heightweight method was appropriate for estimating sericea lespedeza utilization. Using additional regression analysis, a chart for estimating forage from percent of plants grazed was constructed.

The consequences of early embryonic insults and how they affect subsequent life reflects the emerging concept of "fetal programming". The aim of this project is to study the effects of embryonic insults as they subsequently manifest themselves in adults, with emphasis on the heart and vasculature. My experiments establish that fetal programming operates on the bobwhite quail inducing similar changes as those observed in mammalians and other birds. The quail's fast development provides reliable data in a short period of time than other avian models (e.g. domestic chicken). Data on quail showed a correlation between egg mass and hatchling mass; where small eggs produce small hatchlings but a high mortality made it impractical as a stressor for this study. Hypoxia was used as a stressor during embryonic incubation, where it induced a low hatching weight in quail that was not observable in adult birds. Morphological measurements demonstrated an increased ventricular collagen content and reduced ventricular lumen in birds in adults incubated in hypoxia consistent with hypertension. The hematological analyzes showed few differences indicating organ remodeling instead of hematopoietic compensation. The assessment of vascular reactivity pointed out an impaired endothelium dependent relaxation commonly associated to hypertension in birds and mammals. Fetal programming could be a widespread response to an adverse prenatal environment in endotherms and the resulting data from this work contributes to our understanding of fetal programming in vertebrates and its long term consequences.

Soybean oil (SBO), menhaden fish oil (FO), chicken fat (CF) or hydrogenated soybean oil (HSBO) were incorporated at 5% of the total diet to study changes in the immunological status of both Japanese quail (JAP) and Bobwhite quail (BOB). The SBO diet, in which 66% of the total fatty acids were polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), was rich in linoleic acid (LA 18:2 n-6), alpha-linolenic acid (ALA 18:3 n-3) and low in saturated fatty acid (SFA). The FO diet which contained about 50% PUFA, had only 40% n-6 fatty acids and 8% n-3 PUFA. The trans fatty acid isomers and other monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) were high in the HSBO diet. The diet containing CF provided a relatively balanced fatty acid composition with 18% SFA, 31% MUFA and 50% PUFA. Plasma fatty acid and hepatic fatty acid profiles consistently reflected their respective dietary lipid treatments. There were no differences in the fatty acid profile between blood and liver within respective dietary treatments in the two species. Dietary fatty acids had no effect on antibody titers against sheep red blood cells (SRBC) at 1, 2 and 8 months following the start of dietary lipid treatment in JAP. However, female JAP fed FO had a significantly (p< 0.05) higher antibody production compared to the other dietary lipid treatments at 4 months following the start of fatty acids supplementation. BOB fed either FO or SBO diets had a higher immunoglobulin G production compared to birds fed the CF diet. The total antibody titer was significantly higher in BOB fed SBO compared to CF. Dietary fatty acids had a significant effect on cell-mediated immunity (CMI) as accessed by toe web thickness 24 hours post intradermal injection of phytohemagglutinin-P (PHA) in both JAP and BOB. In general, birds fed a FO diet had a significantly higher CMI response than those fed HSBO. A diet high in n-3 PUFA increased the index of cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity (CBH), while the high trans fatty acid isomers suppressed the CBH response. By observing a CBH response over a 72-hour period in JAP, it was concluded that quail fed CF or SBO had a different peak response time (12 hours post PHA challenge) and amplitude compared with those fed FO or HSBO (24 hours post PHA challenge). Phagocytic ability was not affected by dietary lipid treatments in BOB while the quail fed FO diet had a faster carbon clearance rate. The FO fed JAP had a significantly higher response (p< 0.05) to concanavalin A ensiformis (CONA) compared to HSBO fed birds. There was no difference in B lymphocyte proliferation stimulated by lipopolysacchride (LPS) in female JAP, whereas it was significantly higher in male JAP fed SBO compared to those fed FO and HSBO. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate/ionomycin calcium salt (PMA/ION) was used to nonspecifically stimulate cell proliferation by increasing chromosome mitosis. Dietary FO or HSBO suppressed cell proliferation stimulated by PMA/ION. However, JAP fed SBO or CF had a significantly higher PMA/ION stimulated lymphocyte proliferation compared those fed FO or HSBO. In male BOB, the FO fed birds had the highest response to all mitogens. In contrast, female BOB did not show any dietary effects by lymphocyte proliferation. Consistent with JAP, BOB fed HSBO had depressed lymphocytes proliferation in response to various mitogens stimulation. In general, female birds had a higher plasma total protein (PTP) and lower pack cell volume (PCV) compared to their males counterparts in both BOB and JAP. In summary, in in vivo experiments, feeding a diet high in menhaden fish oil that is rich in n-3 PUFA enhanced the CMI. There was a minimal effect on antibody production caused by feeding n-3 PUFA in JAP since a significant treatment effect was only found at one sampling period, while BOB were more sensitive to dietary lipid manipulation and had a higher antibody production with SBO or FO treatments. Dietary lipids exerted different effects in the two species in in vitro experiments. While both BOB and JAP fed FO had higher lymphocyte proliferation to CON A mitogen compared to those fed HSBO, only male BOB showed a higher proliferation to LPS. Feeding HSBO that contained a higher content of trans fatty acid isomers, MUFA, but lower PUFA content resulted in the lowest lymphocyte proliferation to various mitogens in both BOB and JAP. / Ph. D.