Male-to-female aggression in cage-housed common pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) during the breeding season was not related to male plasma testosterone level

1. The aim of this study was to investigate if male-to-female aggression of common pheasants in the course of the breeding season was related to the concentration of plasma testosterone and/or other biochemical plasma indicators in male pheasants housed in breeding cages. The influence of season on the concentration of testosterone and biochemical indicators was also investigated.

2. Males were divided into non-aggressive and aggressive groups during the breeding season based on ethological evaluation. At the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the breeding season, a blood sample was taken from all males on the same day and the concentration of selected biochemical indicators and the total circulating testosterone in the plasma were determined.

3. Male-to-female aggression during the breeding season of pheasants was not influenced by the total plasma testosterone of males.

4. The concentration of total plasma testosterone in males decreased gradually during the breeding season.

5. Male-to-female aggression of pheasants did not have a significant effect on any of the assessed biochemical indicators.

6. The influence of the breeding season affected the activities of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase as well as the concentrations of glucose, magnesium, potassium and chloride in the blood plasma of cage-housed male pheasants.     

UV‐light and dietary vitamin D and their effects on ionized calcium and 25‐OH‐D plasma concentrations in captive gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua)

In this study, the effect of ultraviolet (UV) light and dietary vitamin D on calcium metabolism in permanently indoor‐housed gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua ) was investigated. The study consisted of three periods, each completed with blood samples to analyse plasma concentrations of 25‐OH‐D, 1,25‐(OH)₂‐D, ionized (iCa) and total calcium (tCa). During the first study period (D), animals were housed under routine conditions without UV‐light and fed a diet of different fish species, supplemented with 1,000 IU vitamin D per animal and day. The following study period (Baseline) of 28‐day duration consisted of the same diet without any vitamin D supplementation and without UV‐light. During the study period (UVB) artificial UV‐light was added for 3 weeks. The vitamin D content of fish was measured by high‐performance liquid chromatography. It varied between fish species and between facilities, ranging from no measurable content in capelin (Mallotus villosus ) to 7,340 IU vitamin D/kg original matter (OM) in herring (Clupea spp). The average dietary vitamin D content was 311 IU/kg OM at facility 1 and 6,325 IU/kg OM at facility 2, resulting in a vitamin D intake per animal and day without supplementation of 130 IU (25.5 IU/kg body weight BW) and 2,454 IU (438.2 IU/kg BW) respectively. The supplementation of vitamin D elevated significantly the plasma concentrations of 25‐OH‐D by an intraindividual difference of 15 (range ?2 to 59) nmol/L and tCa by 0.1 (0.0–0.3) mmol/L only at facility 2. The exposure to UV‐light raised the blood concentrations of tCa at facility 2 by 0.15 (0.1–0.2) mmol/L, and of iCa and tCa for females at facility 1 by 0.23 (0.13–0.41) mmol/L and 1.8 (1.1–2.5) mmol/L respectively. No significant influence of the study periods (D) and (UVB) was found for the concentrations of 1,25‐(OH)₂‐D at both facilities.     

Gas and short‐chain fatty acid production from feeds commonly fed to red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) and incubated with rumen inoculum from red deer and sheep

Efficient red deer supplementary feeding depends on estimations of the nutritive value of offered feeds, frequently estimated with the use of equations derived from domestic ruminants. The aim of this study was to compare the 24‐hour in vitro true dry matter degradability (ivTD₂₄), in vitro gas production (GP) kinetic parameters, GP in 24 hr of incubation (GAS₂₄) and short‐chain fatty acid (SCFA) and microbial biomass (MBS) produced after 24‐hour incubation of feeds in inoculum prepared from sheep and red deer rumen fluid. Eleven feeds, frequently consumed by red deer in Slovenia, which occur either naturally (two fresh grasses, chestnut fruits and common and sessile oak acorns) or are fed as winter supplemental feeds (two grass hays, two grass silages, apple pomace, fresh sugar beetroot), were investigated. The in vitro GP kinetic parameters, GAS₂₄ and ivTD₂₄, did not differ between animal species. Amounts of SCFAs were greater (p < 0.05) when feeds were incubated in sheep inoculum, while molar proportions of acetic and propionic acids did not differ. Molar proportions of butyric acid produced during incubation of high fibre feeds did not differ between animal species, but were higher (p < 0.05) when feeds high in starch or sugar were incubated in red deer inoculum. Greater production of SCFA by sheep rumen microbes suggests better coverage of host animal with energy precursors, while greater production of MBS by red deer rumen microbes suggests better coverage of host animal with protein. Results also suggest that rumens of sheep and red deer are inhabited by different microbial communities, which did not affect the extent of in vitro GP and degradation of feeds used in the present experiment. However, the possibility exists that the divergent nutrient use could be a consequence of different priming by different feeds of the donor animal diets.     

Food intake and energy expenditure in growing cats with and without a predisposition to overweight

Overweight and obesity are multifactorial diseases caused by an imbalance in energy metabolism. An underlying genetic predisposition is often a factor in these conditions. In the cat breeding family of the Institute of Animal Nutrition at the Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, a segregating overweight phenotype with a genetic contribution was observed. From this breeding family, 26 kittens were followed from birth up to 8 months of age. During this time, food intake was measured using an automatic feeding station, and energy expenditure was investigated using indirect calorimetry at the ages of 4 and 6 months. Dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DEXA) was performed and blood glucose, leptin and insulin were measured at the ages of 4, 6 and 8 months. The kittens were also weighed daily for the first 2 weeks of life, every second day until weaning and once per week until 8 months of age. The body condition score (BCS) was evaluated monthly between 2 and 8 months of age. The main finding of this study is that a predisposition to overweight is connected to a higher food intake early in life, with no significant alterations in energy expenditure. The leptin blood levels were related to body fat percentage, and insulin sensitivity did not seem to be affected.     

Sex‐dependent responses of perch to changes in water clarity and temperature

Rising temperatures and decreasing water transparency of lakes have strong wide ranging effects on fish. Fish responses to various changes in the environment are usually species‐dependent, but responses may also vary within species. In general, large individuals are considered to be more sensitive to environmental variation due to higher energy demand, than smaller individuals. Similarly, large individuals require more food to maintain bodily functions and are thus more sensitive to resource and food scarcity. These size‐specific responses to environmental gradients are also sex‐dependent in species that exhibit sexual size dimorphism (SSD). We studied in enclosures with short‐term experiments how rising temperatures and decreasing water transparency regulate the feeding rates of female and male European perch (Perca fluviatilis L.). To explore experimental results, we calculated perch SSD in nine lakes with varying environmental conditions using previously collected field data. The results of the experiments revealed that the combined effect of water transparency and temperature on the feeding rate of fish is gender‐dependent: feeding rate of females decreased more than that of males. The experimental results were also supported by field data that revealed a negative relation between water transparency and the magnitude of SSD in perch. Our results suggest that rising temperatures and decreasing water transparency may potentially decrease fish size in a sex‐dependent manner. As female size is one of the main demographic traits determining the reproductive success of a fish population, changing environments may have unexpected and far‐reaching consequences on fish population dynamics.     

Associations of fish with various types of littoral habitats in reservoirs

Fish associations with different types of littoral habitats were studied in four canyon‐shaped reservoirs in the Czech Republic in years 2010 and 2011 by gillnets. Two to three habitats per reservoir–beaches (former meadows), stump fields (former forest) and rubble slopes–were defined and sampled along the longitudinal axis of reservoirs. Effects of reservoir, habitat and locality (position along longitudinal axis) on fish biomass, abundance and species structure were tested for juvenile and adult fish separately. Hierarchical analysis of variance revealed that habitats differed significantly in fish biomass and abundance. Redundancy analysis showed that analysed environmental variables had significant influence on fish community structure. Most variability in community structure was explained by reservoir and then by combination of habitat and slope steepness. Locality position had the smallest influence on community structure. For both adult and juvenile fish total abundance and biomass, the most inhabited habitat was beaches; rubble slopes were the least inhabited. Habitat associations differed among species. Among adults, bream Abramis brama, white bream Blicca bjoerkna and roach Rutilus rutilus were associated with beaches and stump fields, whereas perch Perca fluviatilis, ruffe Gymnocephalus cernuus, asp Aspius aspius and pike Esox lucius were associated with rubble slopes. Bream, white bream, bleak Alburnus alburnus, roach, ruffe and pikeperch Sander lucioperca were associated with beaches among juveniles, whereas the only juvenile associated with rubble slopes was perch. We showed that most common species are associated with distinct habitats and also that utilisation of various littoral habitats differs in general.     

Littoral spawning habitats of three southern Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus L.) populations

Abstract Arctic charr populations in southern latitudes are nonmigratory, with all life‐stages limited to freshwater lakes and in‐ or out‐flowing tributaries. Although many of these populations are reported to also spawn in lake littorals, little is known about the physical characteristics of putative spawning grounds. A total of 23 discrete spawning sites within three Irish lakes were located by fyke netting of spawning adults and snorkelling in littoral habitats. Spawning sites were found to be long, narrow strips running parallel to the shore at a maximum depth of 124 cm. Spawning sites were limited to areas of coarse mineral substrate with an adequate (c. 8 cm) depth of clean interstitial spaces. In individual lakes, combined areas of spawning sites made up 0.4–0.7% of available littoral. Egg densities varied considerably between sites (33–900·eggs m^?2) and were significantly correlated with gradient and width of spawning sites. No evidence of redd digging was found. The shallow, localised and restricted nature of spawning grounds makes such populations vulnerable to anthropogenically induced postoviposition changes in surface water level, eutrophication processes such as increased lake sedimentation and elevated nutrient status.