Dataset Information

Fractal reorientation clocks: Linking animal behavior to statistical patterns of search.

ABSTRACT: The movement ecology framework depicts animal movement as the result of the combined effects of internal and external constraints on animal navigation and motion capacities. Nevertheless, there are still fundamental problems to understand how these modulations take place and how they might be translated into observed statistical properties of animal trajectories. Of particular interest, here, is the general idea of intermittence in animal movement. Intermittent locomotion assumes that animal movement is, in essence, discrete. The existence of abrupt interruptions in an otherwise continuous flow of movement allows for the possibility of reorientations, that is, to break down previous directional memories of the trajectory. In this study, we explore the potential links between intermittent locomotion, reorientation behavior, and search efficiency. By means of simulations we show that the incorporation of Lévy intermittence in an otherwise nonintermittent search strongly modifies encounter rates. The result is robust to different types of landscapes (i.e., target density and spatial distribution), and spatial dimensions (i.e., 2D, 3D). We propose that Lévy intermittence may come from reorientation mechanisms capable of organizing directional persistence on time (i.e., fractal reorientation clocks), and we rationalize that the explicit distinction between scanning and reorientation mechanisms is essential to make accurate statistical inferences from animal search behavior. Finally, we provide a statistical tool to judge the existence of episodic and strong reorientation behaviors capable of modifying relevant properties of stochastic searches, ultimately controlling the chances of finding unknown located items.

SUBMITTER: Bartumeus F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2614717 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Fractal reorientation clocks: Linking animal behavior to statistical patterns of search.

Bartumeus Frederic F Levin Simon A SA

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20081205 49

The movement ecology framework depicts animal movement as the result of the combined effects of internal and external constraints on animal navigation and motion capacities. Nevertheless, there are still fundamental problems to understand how these modulations take place and how they might be translated into observed statistical properties of animal trajectories. Of particular interest, here, is the general idea of intermittence in animal movement. Intermittent locomotion assumes that animal mov ...[more]

PMID: 19060198

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Project description:Farm animal welfare is a major concern for society and food production. To more accurately evaluate animal farming in general and to avoid exposing farm animals to poor welfare situations, it is necessary to understand not only their behavioral but also their cognitive needs and capacities. Thus, general knowledge of how farm animals perceive and interact with their environment is of major importance for a range of stakeholders, from citizens to politicians to cognitive ethologists to philosophers. This review aims to outline the current state of farm animal cognition research and focuses on ungulate livestock species, such as cattle, horses, pigs and small ruminants, and reflects upon a defined set of cognitive capacities (physical cognition: categorization, numerical ability, object permanence, reasoning, tool use; social cognition: individual discrimination and recognition, communication with humans, social learning, attribution of attention, prosociality, fairness). We identify a lack of information on certain aspects of physico-cognitive capacities in most farm animal species, such as numerosity discrimination and object permanence. This leads to further questions on how livestock comprehend their physical environment and understand causal relationships. Increasing our knowledge in this area will facilitate efforts to adjust husbandry systems and enrichment items to meet the needs and preferences of farm animals. Research in the socio-cognitive domain indicates that ungulate livestock possess sophisticated mental capacities, such as the discrimination between, and recognition of, conspecifics as well as human handlers using multiple modalities. Livestock also react to very subtle behavioral cues of conspecifics and humans. These socio-cognitive capacities can impact human-animal interactions during management practices and introduce ethical considerations on how to treat livestock in general. We emphasize the importance of gaining a better understanding of how livestock species interact with their physical and social environments, as this information can improve housing and management conditions and can be used to evaluate the use and treatment of animals during production.

Dataset Information

Fractal reorientation clocks: Linking animal behavior to statistical patterns of search.

Publications

Fractal reorientation clocks: Linking animal behavior to statistical patterns of search.

Similar Datasets

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