The diet of an animal plays a fundamental role in its ecology, and the consequence of a specific diet may be more pronounced in mammals with a specialised diet that are more reliant on a specific food type. This can have a dramatic effect on its activity patterns, home range size and the interaction with heterospecifics. Investigating the diet of specialist mammals and the subsequent effects it will have on their ecology is thus vital to the management and subsequent conservation of the species, and crucial to our understanding of how the animal can survive and reproduce. In this thesis I investigate the effect that the diet of the aardwolf, a highly specialised myrmecophage, has on its ecology. Aardwolves feed predominantly on one genus of termite, Trinervoides spp., and are thus extremely dependent on the abundance and distribution of this arthropod. I firstly investigated the effect of temperature and rainfall on arthropod abundance and diversity, and further investigated the variation of arthropod abundance and diversity across the four habitat types at study site. This is one of a few studies that have been conducted on arthropod abundance and diversity in an arid environment and the findings show that in an arid environment arthropods are mainly influenced by temperature rather than rainfall. This is in contrast to studies in temperate and forest habitats where rainfall is the most important abiotic factor determining the abundance and diversity of arthropod assemblages. Habitat type still plays a major role in the abundance and diversity of arthropods, and habitat types that are more complex and diverse have both a higher diversity, and abundance of arthropods than other habitats. Due to the absence of prey items during the colder months of the year I investigated the diet of aardwolves to see if they display a switch in diet. This included an investigation into the seasonal variation of diet from a detailed scat analysis, using a newly developed method to assess scat content. The analysis of scats revealed that, contrary to previous studies, aardwolves showed no switch in diet and continued to feed on Trinervitermes. Using the data from the scat analyses and the information from the abundance and diversity of arthropods at the study site I expanded the study to investigate the functional responses of the aardwolf to change in prey abundance at the locality. Aardwolves demonstrate a Type I functional response to changes in prey abundance, a response that is normally found in plankton feeders. The expected functional response for specialist animals would be Type II response, and I propose that the Type I response seen in aardwolves is probably as a result of a limited handling time which reduces time spent foraging. The abundance of termites thus had a clear effect on the diet of aardwolves, showing that they feed on fewer when they are unavailable, and as such I investigated the effect of termite densities on home range sizes. The number of termite mounds in a home range influenced the size of the home range, and aardwolves with larger home ranges had a lower density of termite mounds. In contrast to previous studies, large overlaps between neighbouring individuals were recorded and indeed three male aardwolves shared a common den. I propose that the reason behind the overlap of home ranges is that a higher prey abundance during my study period occurred and as a consequence aardwolves did not need to defend an area to protect this resource. T. trinervoides has thus played a keystone role in driving the biology of the aardwolf and shaping many aspects of its ecology. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2021. / South African Research Chair Initiative chair of Mammal Behavioural Ecology and Physiology / Zoology and Entomology / PhD / Unrestricted

Die zunehmende Praxisorientierung des Musikunterrichts, welche im Laufe der letzten Jahrzehnte mit dem allmählichen Paradigmenwechsel didaktischer Konzeptionen einherging, führte u.a. dazu, dass Improvisation als ein wesentlicher Teil der Musizierpraxis in den Lehrplan aufgenommen wurde. Was sich diesbezüglich in der Realität hinter den geschlossenen Türen der Musikräume abspielt, beabsichtigt diese Arbeit zu enthüllen. Unter der Forschungsfrage: "Welche Möglichkeiten der Realisierung und effizienten Vermittlung von Improvisation bietet der gymnasiale Musikunterricht und wie werden diese derzeit in der Praxis umgesetzt?" wird dabei zugleich die Bedeutung von Improvisation im Kontext des Musiklernens und –lehrens einbezogen. Um das Bild von einer Improvisationspraxis, wie sie an heutigen Gymnasien tatsächlich stattfindet, zu fundieren und auszubauen, werden die Erfahrungen und Meinungen von Lehrkräften auf Grundlage einer durchgeführten Befragung zusammengefasst und diskutiert.

Die zunehmende Praxisorientierung des Musikunterrichts, welche im Laufe der letzten Jahrzehnte mit dem allmählichen Paradigmenwechsel didaktischer Konzeptionen einherging, führte u.a. dazu, dass Improvisation als ein wesentlicher Teil der Musizierpraxis in den Lehrplan aufgenommen wurde. Was sich diesbezüglich in der Realität hinter den geschlossenen Türen der Musikräume abspielt, beabsichtigt diese Arbeit zu enthüllen. Unter der Forschungsfrage: "Welche Möglichkeiten der Realisierung und effizienten Vermittlung von Improvisation bietet der gymnasiale Musikunterricht und wie werden diese derzeit in der Praxis umgesetzt?" wird dabei zugleich die Bedeutung von Improvisation im Kontext des Musiklernens und –lehrens einbezogen. Um das Bild von einer Improvisationspraxis, wie sie an heutigen Gymnasien tatsächlich stattfindet, zu fundieren und auszubauen, werden die Erfahrungen und Meinungen von Lehrkräften auf Grundlage einer durchgeführten Befragung zusammengefasst und diskutiert.

Studying the reintroduction of hand-raised wolves may embrace several interests such as deepening knowledge on wolf biology and allowing a controlled release in isolated populations in need of genetic influx. Studies on hand-raised wild animals, showing successful reintroduction, suggested that young released wolves might be able to survive in the wild without previous fastidious training. Most of their survival behaviours would be instinctive. In this study, nine young wolves were reintroduced in Tver region (Russia) and followed in order to evaluate their fear of humans, their movement patterns, thanks to GPS-Argos collars fitted to three of the animals, and assess their diet via four methods of scats analysis. We analyzed 46 wolf scats collected from August 2010 to January 2011. We determined the frequency of occurrences of items per scats and per items, and used the Relative Estimated Bulk to estimate the biomass of prey species consumed. Statistics were conducted to test for significance of method comparisons. The results showed that half of the wolves remained near the enclosure weeks to months after release, occasionally leaving the vicinity. The individual wolves behaved differently, they adopted various movement patterns and had diverse home ranges (from 15 km2 to 40 km2). Released wolves preyed more on ungulates, especially moose and on other wild mammals such as mountain hare. They also sporadically hunted domestic animals and regularly consumed vegetal matter along with smaller animals as alternative prey. Finally, all scat-analysis methods significantly assessed (p < 0.01) the relative importance of the main food types.

Human-coyote conflict has intensified in Nova Scotia, following a fatal attack in Cape Breton Highlands National Park of Canada (CBHNPC) in October, 2009. This conflict has impacted people and coyotes across the province, and raised numerous questions about how humans and coyotes relate to one another and what steps we might take to avert future conflict. From 2011-2012, I used scat, remote camera, and snow tracking surveys to assess the degree of spatial overlap between human and coyote activity in CBHNPC. I found a negative correlation between hiker/biker and coyote activity in the summer and fall [r=-.830, n=14, p<.01]. In the winter, I found no correlation between human and coyote activity [r=.006, n=10], and a negative correlation between coyote and domestic dog activity [r=-.612, n=10, p<.05]. I discuss the implications of these research findings and the application of noninvasive survey methods in this, and potentially other, human-wildlife conflicts.

Fibrose du tissu adipeux humain: relations avec l'élasticité du tissu, des changements de poids et les comorbiditiés de l'obésité.Contexte Le remodelage de la matrice extracellulaire (MEC), e.g. la fibrose, est une altération pathologique du tissu adipeux sous-cutané (TAsc) dans l'obésité. La fibrose du TAsc est associée aux troubles métaboliques et à la perte de poids à la chirurgie bariatrique (CB). Un outil non-invasif a été développé pour évaluer l'élasticité du TAsc (la VS) et son lien avec les comorbidités de l'obésité.Hypothèses 1) La VS associée aux troubles métaboliques prédit la perte de poids et les améliorations cardiométaboliques à la CB; 2) La VS est liée avec les collagènes et avec d'autres caractères du TAsc; 3) la VS change avec le remodelage de la MEC du TAsc durant la perte de poids; 4) le développement de l'outil évaluant la VS est utile dans la pratique clinique. Méthodes Une étude clinque a été réalisée chez plus de 100 obèses candidats à la CB, avec les mesures transcriptomique, histologique et secretomique in vitro et ex vivo pour évaluer des altérations du TAsc. La validation de l'outil a été aussi réalisée. Résultats 1) La VS est associée à la fibrose du TAsc, aux paramètres biocliniques, aux anomalies cardiométaboliques chez les obèses morbides; 2) La VS pré-CB prédit la perte de poids d'un an à la CB; 3) Le TAsc subit un remodelage majeur durant la perte de poids, en particulier une augmentation des collagènes qui est lié à une élévation de la dégradation des collagènes, à une diminution du pontage de la MEC, non à un changement détectable de la VS. Ces observations suggèrent une adaptation adéquate de la MEC du TAsc durant la perte de poids. Conlusion : L’exploration du remodelage du TAsc (e.g. la fibrose et la VS) est un intérêt principal dans cette maladie complexe. / Context Extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling, e.g. fibrosis, is a hallmark pathological alteration of subcutaneous adipose tissue (scAT) in obesity. ScAT fibrosis associates with metabolic disorders and bariatric surgery (BS)-induced weight loss. ScAT fibrosis increases mechanical stress on adipocytes and induces fibro-inflammation. A non-invasive tool was recently developed to evaluate scAT stiffness, shear wave speed (SWS) and its link with obesity comorbidities. Hypotheses 1) SWS associates with metabolic disorders and predicts BS-induced weight loss and cardiometabolic improvements, 2) SWS is explained by collagen deposition and other structural features; 3) SWS changes with scAT ECM remodeling during weight loss; 4) developing a relevant tool to measure SWS is helpful in clinical practice.Methods We conducted a clinical study in more than 100 obese candidates for BS, combined with a series of in vitro and ex vivo transcriptomic, histological and secretomic measures of tissue alteration. Validation steps were realized to confirm the clinical use of the tool. Results 1) SWS associated with scAT fibrosis, various bioclinical parameters, cardiometabolic abnormalities at baseline in morbid obesity; 2) pre-BS SWS has a predictive role in one-year BS-induced weight loss; 3) scAT underwent major remodeling, particularly collagens accumulation, during BS-induced weight loss. This was related to increased collagen degradation, decreased cross-linking, but not with detectable change in SWS. These observations reflected an adequate ECM adaptation during fat mass loss. Conclusion Exploring scAT remodeling (e.g. fibrosis and stiffness) is of main interest in this complex disease.

No description available.

Greater sage-grouse populations have decreased steadily since European settlement in western North America. Reduced availability of brood-rearing habitat has been identified as a limiting factor for many populations. We used radio-telemetry to acquire locations of sage-grouse broods from 1998 to 2012 in Strawberry Valley, Utah. Using these locations and remotely-sensed imagery, we proceeded to 1) determine which features of brood-rearing habitat could be identified using widely available, fine-scale imagery 2) assess the scale at which sage-grouse selected brood-rearing habitat in our study area, and 3) create a predictive habitat model that could be applied across our large study area to identify areas of preferred brood-rearing habitat. We used AIC model selection to evaluate support for a list of variables derived from remotely-sensed imagery. We examined the relationship of explanatory variables at three scales (45, 200, and 795 meter radii). Our top model included 10 variables (percent shrub, percent grass, percent tree, percent paved road, percent riparian, meters of sage/tree edge, meters of riparian/tree edge, distance to tree, distance to transmission lines, and distance to permanent structures). Variables from each scale were represented in our top model with the majority of scale-sensitive variables suggesting selection at the larger (795 meter) scale. When applied to our study area our top model predicted 75% of naive brood locations suggesting reasonable success using this method and widely available NAIP (National Agricultural Imagery Program) imagery. We encourage application of this method to other sage-grouse populations and species of conservation concern. The northern river otter is a cryptic semi-aquatic predator that establishes and uses latrines. Highly used river otter latrines indicate otter "activity centers" since frequency of scat deposition is thought to be correlated to frequency of habitat use. We compared an indirect method (scat counts) and a direct method (remote cameras) of determining latrine utilization in order to assess the accuracy of the commonly used indirect method. To further compare these methods we used them to examine effects of anthropogenic disturbance on otters of the Provo River in Utah. We found that overall the direct and indirect methods were highly correlated. There was significant seasonal variation in the degree of correlation between the indirect and direct methods with correlation being significantly higher in the summer. We found similar results when using these methods to examine effects of anthropogenic disturbance. For each method the distance of the latrine to trails was significant in one of the top competing models. We suggest that space use of otters in our study area is being affected by anthropogenic disturbance as measured by distance to trails. We also suggest that scat counts should only be conducted during the summer when they correlate best with actual levels of otter activity.

No description available.

Användningen av sökhundar som hjälpmedel och verktyg inom naturvården är i Sverige hittills ett litet område med några få verksamma aktörer. Men precis som hos tull, polis och försvarsmakt kan hundarna implementeras i naturvårdsverksamheten som ett standardverktyg. Hunden har en unik förmåga att selektera dofter och vilja att samarbeta med människan. Dessa egenskaper kan utnyttjas för att effektivisera arbetet inom naturvården. Vi har gjort en sammanställning av aktörer i Sverige samt en litteraturstudie över forskningsområdet och jämfört dessa för att ge förslag till vidare användning av naturvårdssökhundar i Sverige. För flera av användningsområdena finns forskning som stödjer hundarnas effektivitet. Inom några användningsområden finns däremot ingen forskning, därför hade dessa behövt studeras närmare för att bekräfta hudarnas effektivitet. Flera potentiella nationella användningsområden för naturvårdssökhundar har identifierats, som spillningsinventering av fladdermöss, skadegörare som almsjuka, hotade arter, invasiva växter och däggdjur, läckor på avloppsledningar, nedlagda deponier och laboratorieanalyser. Vårt förslag för att underlätta framtida arbete både för kunder och aktörer, är en samlad databas där alla operativa aktörer inom naturvårdssökhund är inkluderade. / In Sweden the use of detection dogs as a tool in nature conservation has until now been a small field, with few practitioners. In the daily operations of customs, police and the armed forces, detection dogs are a natural part of the organization and the same could be possible in conservation work. The dog’s ability to select between scents and their willingness to work with humans make them unique, utilizing these traits can make conservation work more efficient. The Swedish practitioners are compiled, and the available research is reviewed, the practitioners are then compared to the international research, to suggest further implication in Sweden. There are some practitioners working with conservation detection dogs today, research supports the dog’s efficiency in some areas, but in some areas research is absent. These areas would need studies to confirm the dog’s efficiency. We suggest potential areas for implantation in Sweden, such as scat detection of bats, pests like elm decease, threatened species, invasive species, sewage leaks, disused landfills, and laboratory analyses. Our suggestion is a national database for all conservation detection dogs, to aid future work for both practitioners and customers.