| 1. |
- Håkansson, Gisela, et al.
(författare)
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Communication in Humans and Other Animals
- 2013
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Communication is a basic behaviour, found across animal species. Human language is often thought of as a unique system, which separates humans from other animals. This textbook serves as a guide to different types of communication, and suggests that each is unique in its own way: human verbal and nonverbal communication, communication in nonhuman primates, in dogs and in birds. Research questions and findings from different perspectives are summarized and integrated to show students similarities and differences in the rich diversity of communicative behaviours. A core topic is how young individuals proceed from not being able to communicate to reaching a state of competent communicators, and the role of the adults in this developmental process. Evolutionary aspects are also taken into consideration, and ideas about the evolution of human language are examined. The cross-disciplinary nature of the book makes it useful for courses in linguistics, biology, sociology and psychology, but it is also valuable reading for anyone interested in understanding communicative behaviour.
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| 2. |
- Håkansson, Jennie, et al.
(författare)
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A longitudinal study of antipredator behaviour in four successive generations of two populations of captive red junglefowl
- 2008
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Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 114:3-4, s. 409-418
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Conservation breeding and reintroduction into the wild can only be an effective management tool if behaviours essential for a life in the wild are maintained in captivity. The aim of this study was to investigate how a protected captive environment influences antipredator behaviour over generations. The red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) was used as a case study. Birds from two different captive populations were followed over four generations. In the last three generations, all birds were hatched and reared in the same indoor settings. Antipredator behaviour was measured in each generation in a standardised test where the birds were exposed to a simulated predator attack. The test was divided into three parts: pre-exposure period, exposure and post-exposure periods. There was an interaction effect between Population and generation (F-3.129 = 4.84, P < 0.01) on behaviour during the pre-exposure period, suggesting that the birds "baseline" agitation level may have been altered differently in the two populations. Population differences were also found during the post-exposure period but the populations tended to become more similar over successive generations in their behaviour after the exposure. Furthermore, there were significant effects of generation (H (d.f. = 1, N = 137) = 10.94, P < 0.05) as well as population (H (d.f. = 1, N = 137) = 5.17, P < 0.05) on the immediate reaction to the simulated predator attack. In conclusion, over four successive generations, the two populations altered their antipredator behaviour and tended to become more similar. This study shows that antipredator behaviour may change over generations in a captive environment. This is likely to be one of the most crucial factors for successful reintroduction into the wild and hence, it is a very important aspect to consider for conservation breeding.
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| 3. |
- Håkansson, Jennie, et al.
(författare)
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Behavioural and morphological variation between captive populations of red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) - possible implications for conservation
- 2005
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Ingår i: Biological Conservation. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3207. ; 122:3, s. 431-439
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The escalating threats to ecosystems worldwide have lead to a need for efficient methods to breed animals in captivity and to prepare captive-born animals for release back to the wild. However, life in captivity may lead to modifications in the animal’s behaviour mainly by genetic changes, including behavioural adaptations such as reduced predator responses. Such modifications may seriously affect survival after a reintroduction. The present study was a first screening of behavioural and morphological variation between different captive populations in standardized test situations using red junglefowl as a model species. The birds were tested in three different test situations in order to measure anti-predatory behaviour, social behaviour and exploratory behaviour. The results of this study clearly show that there are behavioural differences between the captive populations which potentially can be crucial for the animals in a reintroduction situation. However, the extent to which these differences are due to genetic changes caused by small breeding populations or adaptations to the different captive environments is not yet known, although morphological differences found suggest that genetic variation may cause some of the behavioural differences as well. The differences found imply that life in captivity can affect an animal’s behaviour and even though the red junglefowl is merely used as a model here, this suggests that these aspects may be important to consider also in other species where reintroduction is a more central motive for keeping the animals in captivity.
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| 4. |
- Håkansson, Jennie, 1976-
(författare)
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Behavioural aspects of conservation breeding : Red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) as a case study
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Ett stort antal utrotningshotade djurarter ingår idag i bevarandeprogram världen över. Små populationer hålls då i skyddade miljöer, exempelvis i djurparker, och i många fall är målet att återintroducera djur till naturen. Dessvärre är det vanligt att det uppstår problem när djur återintroduceras vilket kan bero på beteendemässiga anpassningar som uppkommit under tiden i fångenskap. Syftet med den här studien var därför att undersöka beteendemässiga aspekter på bevarandeavel och försöka ta reda på om och hur djur påverkas beteendemässigt av att hållas i skyddade fångenskapsmiljöer. I projektet användes röda djungelhöns (Gallus gallus) som en fallstudie. En granskning av beteendevariation mellan olika populationer av röda djungelhöns i fångenskap konstaterade skillnader i antipredatorbeteende, socialt beteende och födosöksbeteende. Vid en genetisk studie av samma populationer upptäcktes dessutom ett samband mellan genetisk diversitet och beteendevariation som potentiellt kan vara intressant ur ett bevarandeperspektiv. Socialt beteende, födosöksbeteende och olika aspekter av rädsla studerades vidare i populationer med olika bakgrund som fick växa upp tillsammans i en grupp. Resultaten visade att populationerna bara skilde sig åt i rädslebeteenden vilket antyder att denna typ av beteende i större utsträckning påverkas av långvarig avel i en viss fångenskapsmiljö medan socialt beteende och födosöksbeteende istället kan bero på den omedelbara sociala eller fysiska miljön. Antipredatorbeteende studerades också i en longitudinell studie av två populationer över fyra generationer och det visade sig att populationerna blev mer lika varandra ju längre tiden gick då de hölls under likadana miljöförhållanden. Det verkar alltså som om antipredatorbeteende kan förändras av avel i en viss miljö efter bara ett fåtal generationer. Utöver detta studerades även dagliga beteendemönster i olika djurparksmiljöer samt dygnsrytm av galanden hos både vilda populationer och djurparkspopulationer inom artens naturliga utbredningsområde. Resultaten tyder på att sådana beteendemönster inte påverkas nämnvärt av att djur hålls i fångenskap. Fallstudien som presenteras här är ett av de första försöken att, ur ett bevarandeperspektiv, studera hur fångenskapsmiljöer kan påverka djurs beteende och resultaten talar för att dessa aspekter är viktiga att ta hänsyn till vid planering av bevarandeavel.
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| 5. |
- Håkansson, Jennie, 1976-
(författare)
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Behavioural differences and genetic relationships between four captive populations of red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) : possible implications for conservation
- 2005
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Conservation of species is to a large extent carried out by zoos where animals are kept in small populations under protected conditions. The ultimate goal of such ex situ conservation programs is to eventually reintroduce the animals into natural habitats to provide support for the survival of the species. However, reintroduction has encountered considerable difficulty in the past, often due to behavioural deficiencies. Maintaining animals in captivity may lead to behavioural modifications as a result of adaptation to the captive environment, altered selection pressures and loss of genetic variation. The overall aim of this thesis was to study behavioural and genetic aspects of ex situ conservation and investigate whether maintenance of smal1 populations in captivity causes modifications which can affect the survival and reproduction capacity of the animals in a hypothetical reintroduction situation. Throughout the project the red junglefowl (Callus gallus) is used as a model for ex situ conservation populations. In Paper I, the behavioural variation between four captive populations of red junglefowl was studied. The birds were tested in different test situations; anti-predatory behaviour test, social behaviour test and exploratory and sociality test. The results showed clear behavioural differences between the populations, some of which are relevant from a conservation perspective. In Paper 11, the genetic relationships between the populations were examined by microsatellite analysis and possible correlations with the results of Paper I were investigated. The results showed that the populations were genetically differentiated and that all populations had lost a considerable amount of their assumed original genetic variation. Furthermore, the genetic variation of each population fo11owed the same pattern as behavioural variation ranks. The populations which had the highest genetic variation were also the ones showing the most behavioural variation in most behavioural variables. The results of Papers I and II imply that maintenance in captivity can affect an animal behaviourally as well as genetically. Even though the red junglefowl is merely used as a model here, the studies suggest that these issues are important to consider also in species where reintroduction is a more central motive for keeping the animals in captivity.
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| 6. |
- Håkansson, Jennie, et al.
(författare)
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Behavioural differences between two captive populations of red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) with different genetic background, raised under identical conditions
- 2007
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Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 102:1-2, s. 24-38
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ex situ conservation of threatened species may lead to behavioural adaptation, which can affect success of reintroduction attempts. In previous studies, we investigated the effects of captivity on the behaviour of red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus) and found that captive populations differed behaviourally as well as genetically. The aim of the present study was to compare the behaviour of two of the previously studied populations, raised under identical conditions. Eggs were collected from birds at Copenhagen zoo (Cop) and Götala research station (Got) and were incubated and hatched together. Twenty-eight birds (16 Got and 12 Cop) were reared together and tested in eight different behavioural tests, measuring different aspects of fear-related behaviours as well as exploratory and social behaviours. The study revealed several differences in fear-related behaviours between the populations but none in exploratory or social behaviours. In general, one of the populations (Cop) showed more intense fear behaviours than the other (Got), which instead were less fearful in their behaviours. This indicates that breeding animals in captivity may lead to behavioural modifications, which can affect the outcome of reintroductions. The results further suggest that fear-related behaviours are dependent on the genetic background of the animals while social behaviours may be more influenced by the social environment. Since fear-related behaviours, such as predator avoidance and fear of humans, are essential for a life in the wild, these aspects are crucial for the breeding of animals in captivity for conservation purposes.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Håkansson, Jennie, et al.
(författare)
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Genetic relationships between captive populations of red junglefown (Gallus gallus) determined by microsatellite analysis - possible implications for conservation
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Animals are often kept in captivity for conservation purposes. However, maintenance in captivity can affect the animals by, for example, altered selection pressures, adaptations to the captive environment and loss of genetic variation. This may cause behavioural modifications which could explain some of the difficulty which reintroductions have encountered in the past. The aim of the present study was to examine the genetic relationships between four captive populations of red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) which have been shown to behave differently in test situations (Håkansson and Jensen, 2005). We also intended to explore possible correlations between genetic relationships and the behavioural differences found. For this investigation, we used 21 microsatellite markers distributed throughout the genome. In accordance with our hypothesis, the results showed that the populations were genetically differentiated. For example, across all populations, FST equalled to 0.304 which indicates strong population differentiation and in the assignment test, all individuals were correctly assigned to their population of origin. Regarding genetic variation, it was evident that the populations had lost a considerable amount of their assumed original genetic variation. Genetic diversity within populations as measured by He spanned from 0.34 to 0.48. Interestingly, the ranking of genetic variation within each population followed the same pattern as the ranking of behavioural variation. The study indicates that keeping animals in captivity can lead to major changes in genotype and behaviour even though the motive is maintenance rather than domestication. This may affect the animals' ability to cope with new situations and these issues are therefore very important to consider when breeding animals in captivity for conservation purposes.
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| 10. |
- Väisänen, Johanna, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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Social interactions in Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus) and White Leghorn layers in stable groups and after re-grouping
- 2005
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Ingår i: British Poultry Science. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0007-1668 .- 1466-1799. ; 46:2, s. 156-168
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1. Although social behaviour is a major factor affecting the coping of poultry in production environments little is known about how it has been affected by intensive selection processes in fowl. We attempted to clarify selection effects on overall repertoire and occurrence of different social behaviours as well as on aggressive responses to re-grouping with unfamiliar birds by comparing high-producing White Leghorn layers to wild type Red Junglefowl.2. In the first experiment we observed 8 stable mixed sex groups/breed each consisting of four 24-week-old birds previously familiar to each other. During 9 consecutive days, a wide range of social signals, sexual and aggressive interactions as well as spacing behaviour and activity were recorded over a 12-h photoperiod.3. In the second experiment, starting at 19 weeks of age, 16 single sex groups of three birds from each breed were formed by mixing unfamiliar individuals. Aggressive behaviours were recorded 0, 5, 24 and 48 h after re-grouping.4. Results from the stable groups indicated that the repertoire of social behaviours has been preserved during selection with few changes in frequencies and intensities. However, Leghorns showed a more cohesive spacing pattern than junglefowl.5. In the second experiment, aggressive activity was higher immediately and after 24 h following re-grouping in Leghorns, but there was a drop in the aggressiveness at 5 h to the same level as junglefowl. We suggest that this may indicate poorer social learning capacity with a weaker ability to cope with group disruptions compared to the ancestral breed.
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