1,745 research outputs found
An evaluation of Te Rau Puawai workforce 100: Stakeholder perspectives
To evaluate the Te Rau Puawai programme, the Ministry of Health commissioned the
Maori and Psychology Research Unit of the University of Waikato in July 2001. The
overall aim of the evaluation was to provide the Ministry with a clearer understanding
of the programme including: the perceived critical success factors, the barriers if any
regarding Te Rau Puawai, the impact of the programme, the extent to which the
programme may be transferable, gaps in the programme, and suggested
improvements.
There are a number of stakeholders who do not have a direct role in the provision of
Te Rau Puawai. These people are not involved in the day to day running of Te Rau
Puawai (as do, for example, the coordinator, support team or academic mentors),
nevertheless they play an important role, contributing in a variety of ways to the
programme
Asymmetric visual input and route recapitulation in homing pigeons
Pigeons (Columba livia) display reliable homing behaviour, but their homing
routes from familiar release points are individually idiosyncratic and tightly
recapitulated, suggesting that learning plays a role in route establishment.
In light of the fact that routes are learned, and that both ascending and des-
cending visual pathways share visual inputs from each eye asymmetrically
to the brain hemispheres, we investigated how information from each eye con-
tributes to route establishment, and how information input is shared between
left and right neural systems. Using on-board global positioning system
loggers, we tested 12 pigeons’ route fidelity when switching from learning a
route with one eye to homing with the other, and back, in an A-B-A design.
Two groups of birds, trained first with the left or first with the right eye,
formed new idiosyncratic routes after switching eyes, but those that flew
first with the left eye formed these routes nearer to their original routes. This
confirms that vision plays a major role in homing from familiar sites and
exposes a behavioural consequence of neuroanatomical asymmetry whose
ontogeny is better understood than its functional significance
Predicting animal behaviour using deep learning: GPS data alone accurately predict diving in seabirds
1.:To prevent further global declines in biodiversity, identifying and understanding key habitats is crucial for successful conservation strategies. For example, globally, seabird populations are under threat and animal movement data can identify key at‐sea areas and provide valuable information on the state of marine ecosystems. To date, in order to locate these areas, studies have used global positioning system (GPS) to record position and are sometimes combined with time–depth recorder (TDR) devices to identify diving activity associated with foraging, a crucial aspect of at‐sea behaviour. However, the use of additional devices such as TDRs can be expensive, logistically difficult and may adversely affect the animal. Alternatively, behaviours may be resolved from measurements derived from the movement data alone. However, this behavioural analysis frequently lacks validation data for locations predicted as foraging (or other behaviours). 2.: Here, we address these issues using a combined GPS and TDR dataset from 108 individuals by training deep learning models to predict diving in European shags, common guillemots and razorbills. We validate our predictions using withheld data, producing quantitative assessment of predictive accuracy. The variables used to train these models are those recorded solely by the GPS device: variation in longitude and latitude, altitude and coverage ratio (proportion of possible fixes acquired within a set window of time). 3.: Different combinations of these variables were used to explore the qualities of different models, with the optimum models for all species predicting non‐diving and diving behaviour correctly over 94% and 80% of the time, respectively. We also demonstrate the superior predictive ability of these supervised deep learning models over other commonly used behavioural prediction methods such as hidden Markov models. 4.: Mapping these predictions provides useful insights into the foraging activity of a range of seabird species, highlighting important at sea locations. These models have the potential to be used to analyse historic GPS datasets and further our understanding of how environmental changes have affected these seabirds over time
Within-pair similarity in migration route and female winter foraging effort predict pair breeding performance in a monogamous seabird
In long-lived monogamous animals, pair bond strength and durability are usually associated with higher fitness. However, whether pairs maximise fitness during the non-breeding season by maintaining contact during the winter, or instead prioritise individual condition, is unclear. Using geolocators recording spatial (light) and behavioural (immersion) data, we tracked pairs of the long-term monogamous Atlantic puffin Fratercula arctica during the non-breeding season, to determine whether and how migratory strategies were related to future pair breeding performance, and whether within-pair similarity in migratory movements or individual behaviour best predicted future fitness. While pair members migrated separately, their routes were similar in the first part of the non-breeding season but diverged later on; nonetheless pairs showed synchrony in their return to the breeding colony in spring. Pairs following more similar routes bred earlier and had a higher breeding success the following spring. However, female (but not male) winter foraging effort was also a strong predictor of subsequent fitness, being associated with future timing of breeding and reproductive success. Overall, females had higher daily energy expenditure than males, especially in the late winter when their route diverged from their partner’s and they foraged more than males. Our study reveals that female winter foraging, probably linked to pre-breeding condition, may be more critical for fitness than maintaining the pair-bond outside of the breeding season. However, even without contact between mates, pairs can benefit from following similar migration routes and synchronise their returns, but the mechanisms linking these processes remain unclear
Within-pair similarity in migration route and female winter foraging effort predict pair breeding performance in a monogamous seabird
In long-lived monogamous animals, pair bond strength and durability are usually associated with higher fitness. However, whether pairs maximise fitness during the non-breeding season by maintaining contact during the winter or, instead, prioritise individual condition is unclear. Using geolocators recording spatial (light) and behavioural (immersion) data, we tracked pairs of the long-term monogamous Atlantic puffin Fratercula arctica during the non-breeding season to determine whether and how migratory strategies were related to future pair breeding performance and whether within-pair similarity in migratory movements or individual behaviour best predicted future fitness. While pair members migrated separately, their routes were similar in the first part of the non-breeding season but diverged later on; nonetheless, pairs showed synchrony in their return to the breeding colony in spring. Pairs following more similar routes bred earlier and had a higher breeding success the following spring. However, female (but not male) winter foraging effort was also a strong predictor of subsequent fitness, being associated with future timing of breeding and reproductive success. Overall, females had higher daily energy expenditure than males, especially in the late winter when their route diverged from their partner's and they foraged more than males. Our study reveals that female winter foraging, probably linked to pre-breeding condition, may be more critical for fitness than maintaining the pair bond outside of the breeding season. However, even without contact between mates, pairs can benefit from following similar migration routes and synchronise their returns, but the mechanisms linking these processes remain unclear
The diving behaviour of the Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus
The diving capabilities of the Procellariformes remain the least understood component of avian diving physiology. Due to their relatively small size, shearwaters may have high oxygen consumption rates during diving relative to their available oxygen stores. Dive performance in this group should be strongly limited by the trade‐off between oxygen consumption and oxygen stores, and shearwaters could be a good model group for testing predictions of dive theory. Many earlier measurements of shearwater dive behaviour relied on observations from the surface or potentially biased technology, and it is only recently that diving behaviour has been observed using electronic recorders for many of the clades within the family. The diving behaviour of Manx Shearwaters Puffinus puffinus breeding in Wales, UK, was studied on a large sample of birds using time–depth–temperature recorders deployed on chick‐rearing shearwaters in July and August over 3 years (2009–2011). Light availability apparently limited diving as dives only occurred between 04:00 and 19:00 h GMT. All individuals routinely dived deeper than traditionally assumed, to a mean maximum depth of 31 m and occasionally down to nearly 55 m. We compiled all available data for a comparison of the dive depth across shearwater species. There was a positive allometric relationship between maximum dive depth and body mass across Puffinus and Ardenna shearwater species, as expected, but only if samples of fewer than two individuals were excluded. The large intra‐specific range in maximum dive depth in our study illustrates that apparent diversity in diving performance across species must be interpreted cautiously
PREFERENCE FOR TOP- VS. SIDE-BINDING IN FLUORINATED ETHYLENE· · · CO2 COMPLEXES
The weakly bound complexes between 1-fluoroethylene (FE), 1,1-difluoroethylene (DFE), and 1,1,2-trifluoroethylene (TFE) and carbon dioxide have been investigated using reduced bandwidth chirped-pulse (CP) and resonant-cavity Fourier-transform microwave (FTMW) spectroscopy. In FECO, two distinct planar isomers are observed, corresponding to the CO interacting with the CHF end of the FE (side-binding) or roughly parallel to the C=C bond (top-binding). Both structures contain a C--HO contact between one FE hydrogen atom and CO. In DFECO, only a top-binding configuration is possible, consistent with the observed structure. Finally, although both top- and side-binding orientations are possible for TFECO, only the side-binding conformation has been observed. The C--HO distances in the four species vary from \AA\ to \AA, while the observed FC distances are much more consistent, varying by only about \AA\ across the series. Ab initio calculations at the MP2/6-311++G(2d,2p) level have provided exceptionally accurate estimates of the rotational constants of these CO complexes, although the energy ordering is, in several cases, inconsistent with the observed geometries
- …