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Simple Summary: Habitat design influences every aspect of welfare for captive animals, including the sensory milieu, opportunities to forage for food, the ability to make choices about where to engage in species-typical behaviors, and the opportunity to regulate proximity to other animals sharing a space. Moving a group of animals from one designed space to another provides an opportunity to observe how their behavior is shaped by habitat design features. In this study, we observed the behavior of ten king penguins as they were transferred back and forth between two habitats at the Detroit Zoo. The Penguinarium, although state of the art for its time, opened in 1968 and offered less space and complexity than the naturalistic, expansive Polk Penguin Conservation Center (PPCC), which opened in 2016. These penguins spent more time swimming when they had access to the substantially larger pool of the PPCC. They also engaged in more positive social behaviors, such as species-typical displays and allopreening, and fewer aggressive behaviors in the PPCC. The results support a positive connection between the design of the PPCC and improved welfare for these king penguins. Zoos and aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums embrace animal welfare as a foundational principle of habitat design. Modern habitats are designed to provide animals with choices and agency over their environment, and to encourage species-appropriate behavior and space use. In 2016, the Detroit Zoological Society opened the Polk Penguin Conservation Center, a 3065.80 m2 facility that features a naturalistic design. The building was designed to optimize animal welfare by incorporating various substrates, nesting sites, and a 1234 kL pool with elements of underwater complexity. The facility houses a mixed-species group of penguins that were previously housed in a smaller habitat that opened in 1968. Between 2015 and 2022, we opportunistically monitored the behavior of ten king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) as they moved back and forth between the two buildings while additional modifications were made to the new habitat. We collected 695 h of behavioral observations and 10,416 h of data from flipper-mounted time–depth recorders. We found that the king penguins spent less time engaged in aggression and more time engaged in swimming and positive social behaviors in the redesigned space. They also spent less time in proximity to other species of penguins and more time alone. These behavioral trends suggest that increased space and environmental complexity had positive welfare benefits for these penguins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of species' responses to microclimatic conditions have increased our understanding of their habitat requirements and possible responses to climate warming. However, little is known about the role of microclimate for insects inhabiting hollow trees.We explored the relationship between tree characteristics and microclimate, and analysed how the microclimate in tree‐hollows affects the occurrence and body size of an endangered beetle species, Osmoderma eremita.We placed temperature data‐loggers in wood mould (= loose material in tree‐hollows) and surveyed O. eremita in 47 hollows in oak pastures in south‐eastern Sweden. We found that tree characteristics previously known to be associated with occurrence of beetle species confined to tree‐hollows (larger diameters, more wood mould, entrances higher up, and not directed upwards) tend to decrease moisture and moisture variation, while their effects on temperature and temperature fluctuations differ during different seasons. This indicates that microclimatic conditions are important for beetles in hollow trees, and many specialised species seem to avoid conditions that are too moist.O. eremita occurred more frequently in trees with a warmer and more stable microclimate, while adult body size decreased with a warmer microclimate. A positive effect of a warmer microclimate was expected, since the study was done near the northern margin of the species' range.O. eremita is confined to living in hollow trees, which may be due to the microclimate there being more stable in comparison to both the ambient climate and the microclimate in standing and downed dead wood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research looked at the choices that children make in the classroom when offered manual and technological options to measure scientific variables. Over 170 school children were involved in science lessons designed in collaboration with school teachers and the research team as part of the planned curriculum. We found that approximately 25% of the students chose the manual measuring options, compared with 75% who chose the technological options. During the focus group interviews (n = 62) carried out immediately after the class, we found that some children who had selected the technological option had done so due to perceptions of the tool's novelty and "accuracy." Some later regretted their choice, reasoning that "real" scientists did not use technology, that it would have been more challenging to measure manually, and therefore that they would have "felt more like scientists" had they selected the manual option. Perceptions of ease of use sometimes lowered children's intent to use the technology option. Similarly, students who chose the manual option alluded to the inauthenticity of the technology option: this is not "what scientists do." Consequently, students who had selected the manual option were also more likely to describe feeling "like a scientist" when carrying out the measurements. The possible implications of the findings, in terms of a possible inversion of the technology acceptance model for students in the science classroom, are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Home ranges in animals can be estimated by different methods like minimum convex polygons, characteristic hulls or kernels while correlative ecological niche models (ENMs) are commonly employed for forecasting species' ranges. However, ENMs can also model the distribution of individuals if environmental very high spatial resolution data are available. Indeed, remote sensing (RS) can provide images with pixel sizes of few centimetres. Here, we modelled the distribution of individual lizards (Podarcis bocagei) combining aerial‐like photographs recorded with a compact camera and a matrix of temperature/humidity data‐loggers to obtain several environmental layers with very high spatial resolution. We recorded lizards' positions in a 20 × 20 m mesocosm with a high precision GPS device (~10 cm of error), multiple times per day throughout the whole period of daily activity. We built an orthophoto map (pixels of 20 cm2) from camera pictures, a digital surface model, and a land‐cover supervised classification map. We recreated climate‐like variables by combining data‐logger data. For each individual, we calculated the distance to males and females, excluding the focal lizard. We computed individual realized niche models with Bioclim, GAM, GLM, Maxent and random forest. Models attained a very high evaluation score in most cases. The most contributing variables were related to microclimate (isothermality, minimum temperature and humidity) and distance to conspecifics. Our very high spatial resolution models provided robust information on how space is used by each lizard. Correlative models can identify the most suitable areas inside the home range, similar to core areas estimated from kernel algorithms, but allowed better statistical inference. Overall, RS tools generated high‐quality environmental data, and when combined with ENMs, improved the robustness of the predictions on spatial patterns of small terrestrial animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The use of externally fitted motion sensors to animal subjects has the potential for allowing researchers to investigate subtle changes in animal movement that may occur with the onset of specific diseases. However, it is crucial to consider whether or not the use of such technology has an effect on the variables measured. Here, we examine the effect of a body harness data logging device on the locomotive patterns of female Merino sheep, Ovis aries. We extracted locomotion variables typical of motion sensor data (stride frequency, stride length, gait type, speed, and limb velocity) from high-definition video collected under controlled conditions. We found no significant difference between the variables measured in the harnessed and unharnessed conditions. Overall, our experiment demonstrates that data-loggers carried on a harness do not adversely affect sheep locomotion, and extended periods of habituation post-instalment of devices should ensure consistency and accuracy of data in future experiments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In many fish and reptiles, gastric digestion is responsible for the complete breakdown of prey items into semi-liquid chyme. The responses of the stomach to feeding and to periods of fasting are, however, unknown for many lower vertebrates. We inserted data loggers into the stomachs of free-swimming captive adult blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) to quantify gastric pH, motility and temperature during fasting and following ingestion of food. Gastric acid secretion was continuous, even during long periods of fasting, with a mean pH of 1.66±0.40 (±1 SD) when the stomach was empty. Stomach contractions were greater following meals of mackerel than for those of squid. Gastric motility following feeding on mackerel, was positively influenced by ambient temperature, and followed a quadratic relationship with meal size, with maximum motility occurring after meals of 0.8–1.0% body weight. Diel changes in gastric motility were apparent, and were most likely caused by diel changes in ambient temperature. Gastric digestion in blacktip reef sharks is affected by both biotic and abiotic variables. We hypothesize that behavioral strategies adopted by sharks in the field may be an attempt to optimize digestion by selecting for appropriate environmental conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Vertebrates differ in their regulation of gastric acid secretion during periods of fasting, yet it is unknown why these differences occur. Elasmobranch fishes are the earliest known vertebrates to develop an acid secreting stomach and as such may make a good comparative model for determining the causative factors behind these differences. We measured gastric pH and temperature continuously during periods of fasting in captive free-swimming nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum) using autonomous pH/temperature data-loggers. All nurse sharks secreted strong gastric acids (minimum pH 0.4) after feeding; however, for most of the sharks, pH increased to 8.2–8.7, 2–3 days after feeding. Half of the sharks also exhibited periodic oscillations in pH when the stomach was empty that ranged from 1.1 to 8.7 (acid secretion ceased for 11.3±4.3 h day−1). This is in contrast to the gastric pH changes observed from leopard sharks (Triakis semifasciata) in a previous study, where the stomach remains acidic during fasting. The leopard shark is a relatively active, more frequently feeding predator, and continuous acid secretion may increase digestive efficiency. In contrast, the nurse shark is less active and is thought to feed less frequently. Periodic cessation of acid secretion may be an energy conserving mechanism used by animals that feed infrequently and experience extended periods of fasting. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper describes the “Deformometric Kit” (DK), which is both a methodological approach and an equipment conceived, designed and made at DEISTAF (University of Florence). The DK''s main purpose is to carry out measurements and monitoring of the deformation dynamics of wooden objects. The monitoring can take place in virtually any environment, for any desired duration (minutes, hours, weeks, years, and so on). The measurement can be carried out mainly, but not exclusively, in connection with fluctuations of ambient temperature and relative humidity. The DK provides a reliable and accurate record (a first step towards understanding) of the behaviour of original panel paintings placed in their usual exhibition location, enabling curatorial staff and researchers to (a) obtain information about the behaviour of individual supports, in order to evaluate the impact of climate on their conservation state, help to make decisions for future restoration interventions; and (b) provide reference data for calibrating and validating numeric models. It can also provide data on the deformation of a panel while it is handled and transported, enabling an evaluation of stresses to which it is subjected during this operation. The device consists of two displacement transducers, which are fixed (in a low-impact, reversible way) to the back face of the panel, perpendicular to the grain, at different distances from the panel''s surface. The two transducers not only measure the in-plane shrinkage/swelling of the panel, but since they are located at different distances, their measurements can also be combined with simple geometrical calculations to indicate the amount of distortion (cupping) which the panel undergoes. This paper explains the geometrical principles on which the DK is based, as well as its construction. Some examples of the data which have been obtained during actual monitoring by the DK are also included. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]