Effects of magnetic field and solar radiation on body axis alignment in water buffalo

Bc. Radim Sedláček

Diplomová práce

Abstract:

Water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) has a great importance for communities living in remote parts of Central Sulawesi. Water buffalo are highly susceptible to thermal stress and hence should be allowed to perform wallowing behaviour which was not always a practice followed by the farmers in Central Sulawesi, the locality of our research. Therefore, our aim was to analyse the effects influencing behaviour of buffalo and local Donggala cattle (Bos taurus) with emphasis on solar radiation and the geomagnetic field of the Earth. Data were collected using scan sampling method for 39 days. Changes in behaviour of each buffalo (n = 6) and cattle (n = 5) were recorded every 10 minutes, 8 hours per day. Parallel, perpendicular or oblique orientation of long body axis relative to incident solar radiation was recorded as well as the direction each individual was facing according to compass orientation that was classified into eight 45° arcs relative to magnetic north. Buffalo showed significant preference for parallel orientation (P < 0.0001) whilst cattle oriented significantly more often perpendicular relative to the sun (P < 0.0001). Buffalo significantly preferred parallel orientation in morning (P < 0.0001) as well as in the afternoon (P < 0.05) compared to midday period when the sun was directly over their head and thus prevented them from employment of solar orientation. Parallel orientation was more likely to be employed by both species, as the dry bulb temperatures increased while proportion of perpendicular orientation in cattle decreased with increasing ambient temperature. Cattle further exhibited significant preference for perpendicular orientation in morning (P < 0.0001), presumably to gain energy from the solar radiation after cold night. Both species significantly preferred magnetic alignment towards the south (cattle: P < 0.05; buffalo: P < 0.0001) and the east (cattle: P < 0.01; buffalo: P < 0.001). Cattle also showed a high frequency of orientation due north and buffalo further shown significant preference for west alignment (P < 0.001). Further investigation is required to test the influence of daily activities on solar orientation and magnetic alignment in ruminants

Keywords

ungulates, Bubalus, cattle, thermoregulatory behaviour, heat adaptations

Jazyk práce: angličtina

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 27. 4. 2017

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Vedoucí: Ing. Tamara Fedorova, Ph.D.
• Oponent: Petr Obleser, Ing.

Česká zemědělská univerzita v Praze

Fakulta tropického zemědělství

Magisterský studijní program / obor:
Tropické zemědělství / Wildlife Management in Tropics and Subtropics