Advances in bio-telemetry technology have made it possible to automatically monitor and classify behavioural activities many animals, including domesticated species such as dairy cows. Automated classification has the potential improve health welfare monitoring processes part of a Precision Livestock Farming approach. Recent studies used accelerometers pedometers cows, but approaches often cannot discriminate accurately between biologically important behaviours feeding, lying standing or...

Traditional studies of animal navigation over both long and short distances have usually considered the orientation ability individual only, without reference to implications group membership. However, recent work has suggested that being in a can significantly improve an align toward reach target direction or point, even when all members limited navigational there are no leaders. This effect is known as "many-wrongs principle" since large number errors across suppressed by interactions...

The evacuation of crowds from buildings or vehicles is one example that highlights the importance understanding how individual-level interactions and decision-making combine lead to overall behaviour crowds. In particular, make evacuations safer, we need understand individuals movement decisions in Here, present an experiment with over 500 participants testing individual interactive virtual environment. Participants had choose between different exit routes under influence three types...

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout JournalEditorsTheme Sections 516:35-47 (2014) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10986 Habitat quality affects sound production and likely distance of detection on coral reefs Julius J. B. Piercy1,*, Edward A. Codling1,2, Adam Hill3, David Smith1, Stephen D. Simpson4 1School Biological Sciences, University Essex, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK...

We conducted a computer-based experiment with over 450 human participants and used Bayesian model selection approach to explore dynamic exit route choice mechanisms of individuals in simulated crowd evacuations. In contrast previous work, we explicitly the use time-dependent time-independent information decision-making. Our findings suggest that tended base their choices on information, such as differences queue lengths speeds at exits rather than widths or length. found weak support for...

A large number of empirical studies have attributed Lévy search patterns to the foraging movements animals. Typically, this is done by fitting a power‐law distribution with an exponent 1 < μ ≤ 3 observed step lengths. Most record animal's location at equally spaced time intervals, which are sometimes significantly longer than natural scale movements. The collected data thus represent subsample movement. In paper, effect subsampling on properties both and non‐Lévy simulated movement paths...

Abstract Le Quesne, W. J. F., and Codling, E. A. 2009. Managing mobile species with MPAs: the effects of mobility, larval dispersal, fishing mortality on closure size. – ICES Journal Marine Science, 66: 122–131. The use closed areas (marine protected areas, marine reserves, no-take zones) has been suggested as a possible solution to perceived global fisheries crisis. However, optimize design evaluate effectiveness we need understand interaction between adult mortality. In this paper, simple,...

Worldwide, there is a trend towards increased herd sizes, and the animal-to-stockman ratio increasing within beef dairy sectors; thus, time available to monitoring individual animals reducing. The behaviour of cows known change in hours prior parturition, for example, less ruminating eating activity level tail-raise events. These behaviours can be monitored non-invasively using animal-mounted sensors. Thus, behavioural traits are ideal variables prediction calving. This study explored...

Identifying where and how grazing animals are active is crucial for informed decision-making in livestock conservation management. Virtual fencing systems, which use animal-mounted location tracking sensors to automatically monitor manage the movement space-use of livestock, increasingly being used control as part Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) approaches. The virtual systems often able capture additional information beyond animal location, including activity levels environmental such...

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout JournalEditorsTheme Sections 279:215-224 (2004) - doi:10.3354/meps279215 Random walk models for movement and recruitment of reef fish larvae E. A. Codling1,4, N. Hill2,*, J. W. Pitchford3, S. D. Simpson3,5 1Department Applied Mathematics, University Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK 2Department Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, 3Department Biology, York,...

Random walks are used to model movement in a wide variety of contexts: from the cells undergoing chemotaxis migration animals. In two-dimensional biased random walk, diffusion about mean drift position is entirely dependent on moments angular distribution determine direction at each step. Here we consider using several different distributions and derive expressions for coefficients based either fixed or variable speed, use these generate probability density function long-time spatial...

Many animals, such as migrating shoals of fish, navigate in groups. Knowing the mechanisms involved animal navigation is important when it comes to explaining accuracy, dispersal patterns, population and evolutionary dynamics, consequently, design conservation strategies. When navigating toward a common target, animals could interact socially by sharing available information directly or indirectly, each individual itself aggregations may not disperse because all are moving same target. Here...

Abstract Altruistic behaviour is widespread and highly developed in humans can also be found some animal species. It has been suggested that altruistic tendencies depend on costs, benefits context. Here, we investigate the changes occurrence of helping a computer-based experiment simulates an evacuation from building exploring effect varying cost to help. Our findings illuminate number key mechanistic aspects human decision-making about whether help or not. In novel situation where it...

1. Understanding how to find targets with very limited information is a topic of interest in many disciplines. In ecology, such research has often focused on the development two movement models: i) L\'evy walk and; ii) composite correlated random and its associated area-restricted search behaviour. Although processes underlying these models differ, they can produce similar patterns. Due this similarity because their disparate formulation, current methods cannot reliably differentiate between...

Abstract Scientists feel discomfort when they are asked to create certainty, where none exists, for use as an alibi in policy‐making. Recently, the scientific literature has drawn attention some pitfalls of simulation‐based fisheries management‐strategy evaluation (MSE). For example, while estimates concerning central tendencies distributions simulation outcomes usually fairly robust because conditioned on ample data, tails (such probability falling below a critical biomass) conditional few...

Understanding how an individual animal is able to navigate through its environment a key question in movement ecology that can give insight into observed patterns and the mechanisms behind them. Efficiency of navigation important for behavioral processes at range different spatio-temporal scales, including foraging migration. Random walk models provide standard framework modeling navigation. Here we consider vector-weighted biased correlated random (BCRW) model directed (taxis), where...

Understanding evacuations of high-occupancy buildings presents a major challenge in fire safety science. The total time individuals require to exit building includes the it takes them respond an alarm and decide evacuate (pre-movement) walk along their chosen route (movement). Previous work has shown that variation pre-movement times is responsible for substantial evacuation delays, but few controlled experiments on this have been conducted. Here, we present virtual experiment investigates...