SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF NEONATAL WOLF CANIS LUPUS VOCALIZATIONS

ABSTRACT

Timber wolf Canis lupus pups vocalize within hours of birth. In this report we examine aspects of the acoustical structure of these vocalizations. We installed an unobtrusive monitoring system in a den excavated by a group of pack-reared timber wolves at the Dalhousie Animal Behavior Field Station in order to observe and record at close range the activities of a female wolf with her litter of pups. We obtained audio and video recordings from birth through the first six postnatal weeks, after which time the pups emerged from the den. The audio recordings were analyzed spectrographically and the vocalizations were classified according to gross spectral type, duration, presence and rate of frequency modulation, and spectral bandwidth. Joint differences in at least two dimensions were necessary to classify vocalizations. The most common sounds, present as early as day one, were harmonically structured, with fundamental frequencies that decreased with age. Other vocalizations, which were rare and resembled recognizable adult sound types, were not apparent until after the second postnatal week.     

Automatic identification of rainfall in acoustic recordings

The rainfall regime is one of the main abiotic components that can cause modifications in the breeding activity of animal species. It has a direct effect on the environmental conditions, and acts as a modifier of the landscape and soundscape. Variations in water quality and acidity, flooding, erosion, and sound distortion are usually related with the presence of rain. Thereby, ecological studies in populations and communities would benefit from improvements in the estimation of rainfall patterns throughout space and time.In this paper, a method for automatic detection of rainfall in forests by using acoustic recordings is proposed. This approach is based on the estimation of the mean value and signal to noise ratio of the power spectral density in the frequency band in which the sound of the raindrops falling over the vegetation layers of the forest is more prominent (i.e. 600–1200 Hz). The results of this method were compared with human auditory identification and data provided by a pluviometer. We achieved a correlation of 95.23% between the data provided by the pluviometer and the predictions of a regression model. Furthermore, we attained a general accuracy between 92.90% and 99.98% when identifying different intensity levels of rainfall on recordings.Nowadays, passive monitoring recorders have been extensively used to study of acoustic-based breeding processes of several animal species. Our method uses the signals acquired by these recorders in order to identify and quantify rainfall events in short and long time spans. The proposed approach will automatically provide information about the rainfall patterns experienced by target species based on audio recordings.     

What Makes Vocalisation Frequency an Unreliable Signal of Body Size in Birds? A Study on Black Swans

In many animal species, the frequency (pitch) of vocalisations correlates negatively with body size and may thus signal competitive ability. However, this relationship is absent in other species. Understanding why this difference exists across species may help to explain some of the diversity of vocal communication systems. We assessed whether vocalisation frequency signals body size in black swans (Cygnus atratus), and how this is affected by (i) variation in frequency within individuals and (ii) size variation across individuals. Frequency was correlated with body size and mass, with slopes close to the allometry expected if the birds were maximising sound radiation, but the explained variation in frequency was low. Within‐individual variation in vocalisation frequency was greater in male than female swans, and the reliability of frequency as a signal of size in males was correspondingly lower. A review of the literature on the relationship between the frequency of avian vocalisations and body size also showed smaller effect sizes for more variable vocalisations (birdsongs), than for simpler vocalisations. Vocalisation frequency was more reliably correlated with body size when the sexes were pooled (creating a larger range of variation in size) than when the relationship was examined for either sex separately, although male and female data followed the same allometric line. These results show that variation in frequency within individuals and low variation in size across individuals reduce the reliability of vocalisation frequency as a signal of body size, which helps to understand differences among species in the signal value of vocalisation frequency.     

Effective pre-processing of long term noisy audio recordings: An aid to clinical monitoring

Nowadays, great attention is devoted to minimizing the discomfort caused by connection of patients to sensors for long-term monitoring of physiological parameters. Hence, the need for contact-less monitoring systems is increasingly recognized in clinical investigation. To this aim, audio signals recorded by ambient microphones are an appealing and increasing field of research: in the biomedical field, application of contact-less audio recording of long duration may concern obstructive apnoea syndrome, preterm newborns in Intensive Care Units, daily monitoring in occupational dysphonia, speech therapy, Parkinson and Alzheimer disease, monitoring of psychiatric and autistic subjects, etc. However, a significant amount of ambient noise is inevitably included in the records.Especially in the case of recordings that take a long time, manual extraction of clinically useful information from a whole record is a time-consuming operator-dependent task, the length of a whole recording (even several hours) being prohibitive both for perceptual analysis made by listening to it and for visual inspection of signal patterns. Moreover, objective measures of signal characteristics may serve clinicians as a common ground for diagnosis. Hence, automatic methods are needed to speed up and objectify the analysis task.The present work describes a new, automatic, fast and reliable method for extracting “voiced candidates” from audio recordings of long duration for both clinical and home applications.To demonstrate its effectiveness, the method is compared to existing software tools commonly used in biomedical applications using synthetic signals.     

Automatic recording of individual oestrus vocalisation in group-housed dairy cattle: development of a cattle call monitor

Oestrus detection remains a problem in the dairy cattle industry. Therefore, automatic detection systems have been developed to detect specific behavioural changes at oestrus. Vocal behaviour has not been considered in such automatic oestrus detection systems in cattle, though the vocalisation rate is known to increase during oestrus. The main challenge in using vocalisation to detect oestrus is correctly identifying the calling individual when animals are moving freely in large groups, as oestrus needs to be detected at an individual level. Therefore, we aimed to automate vocalisation recording and caller identification in group-housed dairy cows. This paper first presents the details of such a system and then presents the results of a pilot study validating its functionality, in which the automatic detection of calls from individual heifers was compared to video-based assessment of these calls by a trained human observer, a technique that has, until now, been considered the ‘gold standard’. We developed a collar-based cattle call monitor (CCM) with structure-borne and airborne sound microphones and a recording unit and developed a postprocessing algorithm to identify the caller by matching the information from both microphones. Five group-housed heifers, each in the perioestrus or oestrus period, were equipped with a CCM prototype for 5 days. The recorded audio data were subsequently analysed and compared with audiovisual recordings. Overall, 1404 vocalisations from the focus heifers and 721 vocalisations from group mates were obtained. Vocalisations during collar changes or malfunctions of the CCM were omitted from the evaluation. The results showed that the CCM had a sensitivity of 87% and a specificity of 94%. The negative and positive predictive values were 80% and 96%, respectively. These results show that the detection of individual vocalisations and the correct identification of callers are possible, even in freely moving group-housed cattle. The results are promising for the future use of vocalisation in automatic oestrus detection systems.     

The behaviour of broiler chickens and its modification by lameness

The behaviour of six replicates of broilers obtained from commercial farms, fed ad-libitum and housed on 23-h light:1-h dark schedule at 20 lx was observed using scan sampling. Comparisons were made between sound birds and those of varying degrees of lameness between 39 and 49 days of age. Sound broilers averaged 76% of their time lying and this increased significantly to 86% in lame birds (gait score 3). Lying also increased with age. Although sound broilers spent only a minor part of the day on their feet, they spent significantly more time standing idle (7%), standing preening (3.5%) and standing eating (4.7%) than lame birds. Walking declined with age, but occupied an average 3.3% of the time of a slaughter-weight broiler. Again, lameness significantly reduced this to a minimal 1.5% in the worst affected birds. Sound birds predominantly chose the usual standing posture for eating, whereas, lame birds lay down to eat for almost half their feeding time. Detailed observations using video records revealed that lameness altered the feeding strategy of broilers. Whereas sound birds fed over 50 times in 24 h, the number of visits to the feeder was reduced with increasing lameness to an average of around 30 in the lamest broilers. However, meal duration was adjusted to give no overall differences in time spent feeding per day. Time spent drinking was also the same for all birds, averaging 3% of the day. The alterations of the time budget, in particular the reductions in activities performed whilst standing, and the different feeding strategies adopted, are consistent with lameness imposing a cost on the affected broilers to the detriment of their welfare.     

Acoustic detection and acoustic habitat characterisation of the critically endangered white-bellied heron (Ardea insignis) in Bhutan

1. Growing developmental activities, such as hydropower construction, farm roads, and other human activities, are affecting the critically endangered white-bellied heron (WBH). Out of a known global population of 60, 28 individuals inhabit the river basin area and freshwater lakes and ponds of Bhutan. Several constraints impede continuous monitoring of endangered species, such as the isolated and cryptic nature of the species and the remoteness of its habitat; to date, there are no long-term reference data or techniques implemented for continuous monitoring of this species.
2. In this study, we designed acoustic detection and habitat characterisation methods using long-duration recordings from three habitat areas in Bhutan. Acoustic indices were extracted and used to implement a species-specific call detector and to generate habitat soundscape representations. Using WBH calls annotated in month-long recordings from a known site, a novel indices-based detector was implemented and tested. A total of 960 hr of continuous audio recordings from three habitats in Bhutan were analysed.
3. We found that a species call detector implemented using a combination of acoustic indices (that includes measures of spectral and temporal entropy and different angles of spectral ridges) has a correct detection rate of 81%. Additionally, visual inspection of the species’ acoustic habitat using long-duration false-colour spectrograms enabled qualitative assessment of acoustic habitat structure and other dominant acoustic events.
4. This study proposes a combined approach of species acoustic detection and habitat soundscape analysis for holistic acoustic monitoring of endangered species. As a direct outcome of this work, we documented acoustic reference data on the critically endangered WBH from multiple habitat areas and have analysed its temporal vocalisation patterns across sites.

     

基于语谱图特征信息分割提取的声景观中鸟类生物多样性分析

声学手段是监测和研究生态系统生物活动规律、评价生态系统健康状况的一种新方法,声景观生态学也是景观生态学的一个新兴研究领域。声景指数是描述复杂的音频数据生态学特征的有效方法,但是,单一的声景指数并不能有效的指示物种的真实丰度。在充分挖掘音频文件时频结构特征的基础上,将遥感领域常用的面向对象图像分割技术引入语谱图分割,并提出了适合于自然界鸟类生物多样性提取的知识规则和斑块统计分析方法。研究实验在杭州植物园的不同区域布点采集音频数据,研究结果表明:鸟类的多样性与地物景观类型和人类活动影响程度密切相关,鸟类叫声的中心频率集中分布在2.5—4.5k Hz之间,最低频率分布在0.67—2.1k Hz之间,最高频率分布在7.6—8.9k Hz之间,人类活动较多的区域,鸟类活动较少且叫声更短促。此外,该方法提取的斑块面积周长比参数,可以定量的反映鸟类叫声的婉转程度。     

A role for strain differences in waveforms of ultrasonic vocalizations during male-female interaction

Male mice emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) towards females during male-female interaction. It has been reported that USVs of adult male mice have the capability of attracting females. Although the waveform pattern of USVs is affected by genetic background, differences among strains with respect to USV and the effects of these differences on courtship behavior have not been analyzed fully. We analyzed USV patterns, as well as actual social behavior during USV recording, in 13 inbred mouse strains, which included laboratory and wild-derived strains. Significant effects of strain were observed for the frequency of USV emission, duration, and frequency of the waveform category. Principal component (PC) analysis showed that PC1 was related to frequency and duration, and PC2-4 were related to each waveform. In the comparison of USV patterns and behaviors among strains, wild-derived KJR mice displayed the highest scores for PC2-4, and female mice paired with KJR males did not emit rejection-related click sounds. It is assumed that the waveforms emitted by KJR males have a positive effect in male-female interaction. Therefore, we extracted waveforms in PC2-4 from the USV recordings of KJR mice to produce a sound file, "HIGH2-4". As a negative control, another sound file ("LOW2-4") was created by extracting waveforms in PC2-4 from strains with low scores for these components. In the playback experiments using these sound files, female mice were attracted to the speaker that played HIGH2-4 but not the speaker that played LOW2-4. These results highlight the role of strain differences in the waveforms of male USVs during male-female interaction. The results indicated that female mice use male USVs as information when selecting a suitable mate.     

Rookognise: Acoustic detection and identification of individual rooks in field recordings using multi-task neural networks

Individual-level monitoring is essential in many behavioural and bioacoustics studies. Collecting and annotating those data is costly in terms of human effort, but necessary prior to conducting analysis. In particular, many studies on bird vocalisations also involve manipulating the animals or human presence during observations, which may bias vocal production. Autonomous recording units can be used to collect large amounts of data without human supervision, largely removing those sources of bias. Deep learning can further facilitate the annotation of large amounts of data, for instance to detect vocalisations, identify the species, or recognise the vocalisation types in recordings. Acoustic individual identification, however, has so far largely remained limited to a single vocalisation type for a given species. This has limited the use of those techniques for automated data collection on raw recordings, where many individuals can produce vocalisations of varying complexity, potentially overlapping one another, with the additional presence of unknown and varying background noise. This paper aims at bridging this gap by developing a system to identify individual animals in those difficult conditions. Our system leverages a combination of multi-scale information integration, multi-channel audio and multi-task learning. The multi-task learning paradigm is based the overall task into four sub-tasks, three of which are auxiliary tasks: the detection and segmentation of vocalisations against other noises, the classification of individuals vocalising at any point during a sample, and the sexing of detected vocalisations. The fourth task is the overall identification of individuals. To test our approach, we recorded a captive group of rooks, a Eurasian social corvid with a diverse vocal repertoire. We used a multi-microphone array and collected a large scale dataset of time-stamped and identified vocalisations recorded, and found the system to work reliably for the defined tasks. To our knowledge, the system is the first to acoustically identify individuals regardless of the vocalisation produced. Our system can readily assist data collection and individual monitoring of groups of animals in both outdoor and indoor settings, even across long periods of time, and regardless of a species’ vocal complexity. All data and code used in this article is available online.     

Partial muting leads to age‐dependent modification of motor patterns underlying crystallized zebra finch song

The crystallized structure of adult zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) song is modifiable if sensory feedback is altered during sound production. Such song plasticity has been studied by examining acoustic modifications to the motif; however, the underlying changes to the vocal motor patterns of these acoustic modifications have not been addressed. Adult birds in two age categories (young = 90–120 days or middle aged 150–250 days) that sang crystallized song were used in the experiment. Vocal motor patterns were monitored by recording respiratory air sac pressure before, during, and after song plasticity was induced by partial or complete reduction of phonation (i.e., “partial muting”). Birds were recorded until changes in air sac pressure patterns underlying the song structure were observed (up to 160 days). Young adult birds were more likely to insert shorter duration (<125 ms) expiratory pulses (EPs) into the motif than middle‐aged adults. These shorter duration EPs were produced with a unique pressure pattern relative to the intact song, and therefore appeared to be generated by novel motor gestures. Stuttering (atypical repetition of an EP) was observed when these novel EPs were inserted into the motif, regardless of age. The EP of the distance call, which is also a learned vocalization in zebra finches, showed a similar reduction in duration if EPs were also shortened in the song. The emergence of shorter duration EPs was not related to sound production, or nonspecific effects of the surgical procedure, which suggests an age‐dependent neural process for song plasticity. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Neurobiol, 2004     

Partial muting leads to age-dependent modification of motor patterns underlying crystallized zebra finch song

The crystallized structure of adult zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) song is modifiable if sensory feedback is altered during sound production. Such song plasticity has been studied by examining acoustic modifications to the motif; however, the underlying changes to the vocal motor patterns of these acoustic modifications have not been addressed. Adult birds in two age categories (young=90-120 days or middle aged 150-250 days) that sang crystallized song were used in the experiment. Vocal motor patterns were monitored by recording respiratory air sac pressure before, during, and after song plasticity was induced by partial or complete reduction of phonation (i.e., "partial muting"). Birds were recorded until changes in air sac pressure patterns underlying the song structure were observed (up to 160 days). Young adult birds were more likely to insert shorter duration (<125 ms) expiratory pulses (EPs) into the motif than middle-aged adults. These shorter duration EPs were produced with a unique pressure pattern relative to the intact song, and therefore appeared to be generated by novel motor gestures. Stuttering (atypical repetition of an EP) was observed when these novel EPs were inserted into the motif, regardless of age. The EP of the distance call, which is also a learned vocalization in zebra finches, showed a similar reduction in duration if EPs were also shortened in the song. The emergence of shorter duration EPs was not related to sound production, or nonspecific effects of the surgical procedure, which suggests an age-dependent neural process for song plasticity.     

Temporally adaptive acoustic sampling to maximize detection across a suite of focal wildlife species

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The effect of faba bean extrusion on the growth performance,nutrient utilization,metabolizable energy,excretion of sialic acids and meat quality of broiler chickens

Soybean meal in broiler chicken diets can partly be replaced by faba bean seeds. Unfortunately, high levels of antinutritional factors and resistant starch found in these seeds can have a detrimental impact on both broiler chickens’ performance and nutrient digestibility. It is, however, possible to increase the usefulness of faba bean for broiler nutrition by a technological process known as extrusion. In this study, the authors made and attempt to investigate the effect of different forms of faba bean seeds (raw or extruded) on broiler chicken performance, nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy values (AME_N), nutrient utilization and meat quality, as well as on the excretion of total and free sialic acids. In the trial, the total of 160 1-day-old male broiler chicks of the Ross 308 strain were used. Experimental birds were randomly assigned to two dietary treatments, each containing 10 replication (floor pens); one replication included nine birds. The first group contained 300 g/kg diet of raw faba bean seeds, whereas the second group – 300 g/kg diet of extruded faba bean seeds. The applied extrusion process was found to exert a positive impact and led to a decrease in phytic phosphorus, H, NDF, ADF and resistant starch content in studied faba bean seeds. Experimental birds fed diets containing extruded faba bean seeds were characterized by a lower feed intake (2299 g) and feed conversion ratios (FCRs) (1.52 g/g) in comparison with the other group (feed intake 2466 g; FCR 1.61 g/g). Extrusion of faba bean seeds improved dry matter retention, dietary AME_N value, apparent ileal digestibility of dry matter and starch, as well as most amino acids. In addition, the above-mentioned process resulted in a decrease in the excretion of total and free sialic acids. Extruded faba bean seeds failed to have a significant impact on broiler meat quality. It was concluded that application of extrusion can increase the use of faba bean seeds in broiler chicken nutrition.     

Does Foraging Performance Change with Age in Female Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor)?

Age-related changes in breeding performance are likely to be mediated through changes in parental foraging performance. We investigated the relationship of foraging performance with age in female little penguins at Phillip Island, Australia, during the guard phase of the 2005 breeding season. Foraging parameters were recorded with accelerometers for birds grouped into three age-classes: (1) young, (2) middle age and (3) old females. We found the diving behaviour of middle-aged birds differed from young and old birds. The dive duration of middle age females was shorter than that of young and old birds while their dive effort (measure for dive and post-dive duration relation) was lower than that of young ones, suggesting middle-aged birds were in better physical condition than other ones. There was no difference in prey pursuit frequency or duration between age classes, but in the hunting tactic. Females pursued more prey around and after reaching the maximum depth of dives the more experienced they were (old > middle age > young), an energy saving hunting tactic by probably taking advantage of up-thrust momentum. We suggest middle age penguins forage better than young or old ones because good physical condition and foraging experience could act simultaneously.     

Immunoglobulin (Ig)-containing plasma cells in the Harderian gland in broiler and native chickens of Bangladesh

The distribution and frequency of immunoglobulin (Ig)-containing plasma cells, their variations due to sex, and the mode of secretion of Ig cells into the duct system of the Harderian gland was investigated in broiler and native chickens of both sexes in Bangladesh. The Harderian gland is covered by a capsule, and the connective tissue septa divide the gland into numerous unequal-sized numerous lobes and lobules. The Ig-containing plasma cells were located in the interstitial space, interacinar space, apical part of the lobule, and lumina of the lobules of the Harderian gland in both broiler and native chickens. The population of these Ig-containing plasma cells varied in between broiler and native chickens, and also between male and female broiler and native chickens. In the broiler, the number of IgM-containing plasma cells was higher; in contrast, in the native chickens, the population of IgA-containing plasma cells was larger. In the broiler, there were more IgA- and IgG-containing plasma cells in the male; in contrast, there were more IgM-containing plasma cells in female. In native chickens the frequency of IgA-containing plasma cells was greater in the female than male. When the data for broiler and native birds were compared, it was found that there were significantly more IgA- and IgG-containing plasma cells in the native male and female chickens than in the broiler males and females. The secretory Igs were located in the lumina of acini and the duct system of the Harderian gland. In the present study Ig-containing plasma cells were observed to be released in the lumina of the lobules of Harderian gland by the breakdown of acinar tissues in broilers, and by holocrine mode of secretion in the native chicken. These results suggested that the Harderian gland, even though it is not a lymphoid organ as a whole, but acts as an immunopotent organ in chickens, and that the gland in native chicken contains more Ig-containing plasma cells due to their scavenging.     

Introgression of the avian naked neck gene assisted by DNA fingerprints

Theoretical predictions suggest that DNA markers can be useful tools for genomic selection in gene introgression programmes. An experiment was carried out to evaluate the efficiency of using multi-locus DNA markers in an introgression programme designed to transfer the naked neck gene from a donor to a recipient chicken line. The donor line was a commercial egg layer chicken stock heterozygous at the naked neck locus (Na/na⁺), while the recipients were from a Cornish broiler line. These two lines differ markedly in their average body weight, a quantitative trait that can also represent the comprehensive differences between the genomes of the two lines involved. Three groups of naked neck BC₁ individuals were selected according to the following criteria: (i) low band-sharing with their donor grandsires evaluated by multi-locus DNA markers, (ii) high body weight at six weeks of age, and (iii) selection at random as a control group. Birds from each of these groups were mated at random to individuals from the heavier Cornish line to produce three groups of BC₂ individuals whose body weights were recorded weekly from three to seven weeks of age. Results indicated that BC₂ birds obtained from BC₁ parents selected for band-sharing levels and those selected for body weight, performed equally well at 4–7 weeks of age; both were 3.1–3.9% heavier than birds from the randomly selected group. The additional genome recovery of the heavier broiler line, obtained by DNA markers, was found to be in agreement with theoretically predicted values.     

鸡瘦蛋白受体(OBR)基因内含子8单核苷酸多态性与体脂性状的相关研究

以东北农业大学高低脂双向选择系的第 6世代肉鸡为材料 ,鸡 7周龄时测定体重和腹脂重等屠体性状。根据鸡瘦蛋白受体基因内含子 8的序列 (GenBank登陆号 :AF2 2 2 783 )设计引物 ,用直接测序的方法检测多态性位点 ,用PCR SSCP的方法进行基因型分析 ,建立适合的统计模型对多态性位点产生的基因型与生长和体组成性状进行相关分析。结果表明 ,在第 50 0和 659位碱基同时发生了T—C、G—A突变。经最小二乘分析 ,3种基因型在腹脂重和腹脂率上差异显著 (P <0 0 5) ,BB型个体腹脂重和腹脂率显著高于AB型 (P <0 0 5) ,极显著地高于AA型个体 (P <0 0 1) ;3种基因型在肝重上差异显著 (P <0 0 5) ,且AA基因型个体的肝重显著低于AB和BB基因型个体。初步推断OBR基因可能是影响鸡脂肪性状的主效基因或与主效基因连锁 ,推测可以利用这个多态位点对鸡的体脂性状进行标记辅助选择     

Animal Sound Identifier (ASI): software for automated identification of vocal animals

Automated audio recording offers a powerful tool for acoustic monitoring schemes of bird, bat, frog and other vocal organisms, but the lack of automated species identification methods has made it difficult to fully utilise such data. We developed Animal Sound Identifier (ASI), a MATLAB software that performs probabilistic classification of species occurrences from field recordings. Unlike most previous approaches, ASI locates training data directly from the field recordings and thus avoids the need of pre‐defined reference libraries. We apply ASI to a case study on Amazonian birds, in which we classify the vocalisations of 14 species in 194 504 one‐minute audio segments using in total two weeks of expert time to construct, parameterise, and validate the classification models. We compare the classification performance of ASI (with training templates extracted automatically from field data) to that of monitoR (with training templates extracted manually from the Xeno‐Canto database), the results showing ASI to have substantially higher recall and precision rates.