The study of ecology and horses involves examining the interactions between horses and their environments, including both natural and managed ecosystems. This field explores how horses influence and are influenced by various ecological factors such as vegetation, soil, water sources, and other animal species. Research in this area may address topics such as the grazing behavior of horses, their impact on plant communities, and the role of horses in nutrient cycling within ecosystems. Additionally, studies may investigate the effects of environmental changes and human activities on horse populations and their habitats. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that analyze the ecological roles of horses, their interactions with ecosystems, and the implications for conservation and land management.
Flegal AR, Gallon C, Hibdon S, Kuspa ZE, Laporte LF.Analyses of lead concentration and isotopic composition of recent and archived samples of the lace lichen (Ramalina menziesii) chronicle more than a century of atmospheric lead contamination in central California. The contamination extends back to our oldest sample from 1892, when lead levels in lichen from the northern reach of the San Francisco Bay estuary were 9-12 microg/g and their isotopic composition corresponded to those of high lead emissions from the Selby smelter (e.g., (206)Pb/(207)Pb = 1.165) that were killing horses in adjacent fields at that time. By the mid-1950s lead isotopic ...
Haile J, Froese DG, Macphee RD, Roberts RG, Arnold LJ, Reyes AV, Rasmussen M, Nielsen R, Brook BW, Robinson S, Demuro M, Gilbert MT, Munch K....Causes of late Quaternary extinctions of large mammals ("megafauna") continue to be debated, especially for continental losses, because spatial and temporal patterns of extinction are poorly known. Accurate latest appearance dates (LADs) for such taxa are critical for interpreting the process of extinction. The extinction of woolly mammoth and horse in northwestern North America is currently placed at 15,000-13,000 calendar years before present (yr BP), based on LADs from dating surveys of macrofossils (bones and teeth). Advantages of using macrofossils to estimate when a species became extinc...
The Journal of heredityNovember 27, 2009
Volume 101, Issue 2 133-143 doi: 10.1093/jhered/esp101
Gonzales E, Hamrick JL, Smouse PE, Trapnell DW, Peakall R.We examined spatial genetic structure (SGS) in Enterolobium cyclocarpum (the Guanacaste tree), a dominant tree of Central American dry forests in 4 sites in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica. In disturbed dry forest sites (e.g., pastures), E. cyclocarpum is primarily dispersed by cattle and horses, whose movements are restricted by pasture boundaries. The study sites varied in tree densities and disturbance. Allozyme analyses of adult trees demonstrated significant levels of SGS in 3 of 4 sites. SGS was primarily due to clusters of young adults located along seasonal streams, rocky areas, and in...
Ostermann-Kelm SD, Atwill EA, Rubin ES, Hendrickson LE, Boyce WM.Free-ranging horses (Equus caballus) in North America are considered to be feral animals since they are descendents of non-native domestic horses introduced to the continent. We conducted a study in a southern California desert to understand how feral horse movements and horse feces impacted this arid ecosystem. We evaluated five parameters susceptible to horse trampling: soil strength, vegetation cover, percent of nonnative vegetation, plant species diversity, and macroinvertebrate abundance. We also tested whether or not plant cover and species diversity were affected by the presence of hors...
Eronen JT, Evans AR, Fortelius M, Jernvall J.One of the classic examples of faunal turnover in the fossil record is the Miocene transition from faunas dominated by anchitheriine horses with low-crowned molar teeth to faunas with hipparionine horses characterized by high-crowned teeth. The spread of hipparionine horses is associated with increased seasonality and the expansion of open habitats. It is generally accepted that anchitheriine horses did not display an evolutionary increase in tooth crown height prior to their extinction. Nevertheless, to test whether anchitheriines showed any changes interpretable as adaptation to local condit...
Thirstrup JP, Bach LA, Loeschcke V, Pertoldi C.In this study, we performed a population viability analysis on 3 domestic horse breeds (Equus caballus) of Danish origin, namely, the Frederiksborg, the Knabstrupper, and the Jutland breeds. Because of their small population sizes, these breeds are considered endangered. The Vortex software simulation package was used for the population viability analysis. First, we investigated the future viability of these breeds based on present demographic and environmental parameters. Second, a sensitivity analysis revealed the most important variables for the viability of these breeds. Third, we examined...
Cameron EZ, Setsaas TH, Linklater WL.In many mammals, females form close social bonds with members of their group, usually between kin. Studies of social bonds and their fitness benefits have not been investigated outside primates, and are confounded by the relatedness between individuals in primate groups. Bonds may arise from kin selection and inclusive fitness rather than through direct benefits of association. However, female equids live in long-term social groups with unrelated members. We present 4 years of behavioral data, which demonstrate that social integration between unrelated females increases both foal birth rates a...
Vetter J.Bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) is the fifth most distributed common weed species of the world. Its ecological distribution is very wide, and the plant can grow and spread successfully on many types of soil. The cover of P. aquilinum is--in some cases--remarkable (e.g., in the United Kingdom). Bracken fern contains different poisonous agents: some cyanogen glycosides, factors (agents) of antithiamine character (thermolabile thiaminase and thermostable other compounds) and factors of carcinogenic activity (first of all ptaquiloside). This paper summarises and reviews different toxicological ...
Henry S, Richard-Yris MA, Tordjman S, Hausberger M.The neonatal period in humans and in most mammals is characterized by intense mother-young interactions favoring pair bonding and the adaptation of neonates to their new environment. However, in many post-delivery procedures, human babies commonly experience combined maternal separation and intense handling for about one hour post-birth. Currently, the effects of such disturbances on later attachment and on the development of newborns are still debated: clearly, further investigations are required. As animals present good models for controlled experimentation, we chose domestic horses to inves...
Bartsch S, Bauer B, Wiemann A, Clausen PH, Steuber S.Host feeding patterns of engorged sibling species of the Culicoides obsoletus and Culicoides pulicaris groups captured during three nights on two selected farms maintaining either cattle, sheep, horses, and pigs (Seedorf, Brandenburg) or cattle, sheep, moufflons, and red and fallow deer (Paulinenaue, Brandenburg) were determined by polymerase chain reaction amplification using conserved primers and sets of species-specific primers derived from vertebrates mitochondrial cytochrome b. Out of a total of 177 blood meals analysed, 115 (65%) tested positive for a blood meal from vertebrates. 63.5% (...
Bourjade M, de Boyer des Roches A, Hausberger M.Adults play an important role in regulating the social behaviour of young individuals. However, a few pioneer studies suggest that, more than the mere presence of adults, their proportions in social groups affect the social development of young. Here, we hypothesized that aggression rates and social cohesion were correlated to adult-young ratios. Our biological model was naturally-formed groups of Przewalski horses, Equus f. przewalskii, varying in composition. Results: We investigated the social interactions and spatial relationships of 12 one- and two-year-old Przewalski horses belonging to ...
Grange S, Duncan P, Gaillard JM.We investigated density dependence on the demographic parameters of a population of Camargue horses (Equus caballus), individually monitored and unmanaged for eight years. We also analysed the contributions of individual demographic parameters to changes in the population growth rates. The decrease in resources caused a loss of body condition. Adult male survival was not affected, but the survival of foals and adult females decreased with increasing density. Prime-aged females maintained high reproductive performance at high density, and their survival decreased. The higher survival of adult m...
Madejón P, Domínguez MT, Murillo JM.Pasture established on polluted soil may pose a risk to grazing livestock creating a requirement for mechanical management which may affect biodiversity and expend energy. The risk associated with managing pasture by grazing horses (non-edible livestock) is being assessed in the Guadiamar Valley (SW Spain), where soils are polluted with trace elements following a major pollution incident. Soil pollution does not affect biomass production or floristic composition of pasture, although both variables influence trace element accumulation in herbage. Element concentrations in herbage are below maxi...
Hanggi EB, Ingersoll JF.Three horses (Equus caballus) with a history of performing cognitive tasks including discrimination learning, categorization, and concept use were tested to evaluate their long-term memory (LTM) in three experiments. In addition, use of LCD multi-displays for stimulus presentation was incorporated into cognition testing protocol for the first time with horses. Experiment 1 tested LTM for discrimination learning that originally occurred 6 years earlier. Five sets of stimuli were used and the two horses tested showed no decrement in performance on four of the sets; however, both horses did score...
Lambert MS, Ozbay G, Richards GP.We evaluated the quality of seawater and ribbed mussels (Gukensia demissa) at six sites along the West Coast of Assateague Island National Seashore (ASIS), a barrier island popular with tourists and fishermen. Parameters evaluated were summertime temperature, pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen, total phosphorus, total ammonia nitrogen, and nitrite levels for seawater and total heterotrophic plate counts and total Vibrionaceae levels for the ribbed mussels. Approximately 150 feral horses (Equus caballus) are located on ASIS and, combined with agricultural runoff from animals and croplands, local wi...
Traversa D, Otranto D.Dogs, cats, and horses are popular pets in many countries of the World and they have lived in close proximity with human beings for thousands of years. The effect of pet ownership on human health is well known and there is significant merit in preserving the health and welfare of these animals. Some infections caused by parasitic nematodes and arthropods of dogs, cats, and horses are now spreading in several areas of the world. This is the case of canine spirocercosis, feline aelurostrongylosis, and equine gastro-intestinal and nasal nematode and botfly infections. These diseases affect animal...
Gray ME.Infanticide by adult males occurs in a variety of species. While infanticidal attacks have been documented in several equid species in captivity, it has never been witnessed in free-roaming feral horses. I report an infanticide attempt by a free-living feral stallion on a recently born female foal. The stallion picked up the foal by the shoulders, tossed it around twice and bit in on the neck several times. The dam of the foal charged the stallion and successfully protected her foal from additional attacks. The foal survived the attack and later weaned successfully. The stallion recently took ...
Pavlinov IIa, Nanova OG, Spasskaia NN.Interrelations between some forms of group variation (FGVs) (age, sex, geographic, inter-species, differences among breeds) of 12 to 15 measurable skull traits are studied in 6 mammal species (pine marten, polar fox, Przewalskii horse, and 3 jird species) by means of dispersion analysis (model III, MANOVA). The above FGVs are considered as factors in the MANOVA, and skull traits are considered as dependent variables. To obtaine commeasurables estimates for the FGVs, each of them is assessed numerically as a portion of its dispersion in the entire morphological disparity defined for each charac...
Törn A, Tolvanen A, Norokorpi Y, Tervo R, Siikamäki P.Nature-based tourism in protected areas has increased and diversified dramatically during the last decades. Different recreational activities have a range of impacts on natural environments. This paper reports results from a comparison of the impacts of hiking, cross-country skiing and horse riding on trail characteristics and vegetation in northern Finland. Widths and depths of existing trails, and vegetation on trails and in the neighbouring forests were monitored in two research sites during 2001 and 2002. Trail characteristics and vegetation were clearly related to the recreational activit...
Forrester NL, Kenney JL, Deardorff E, Wang E, Weaver SC.The incidence of Western Equine Encephalitis (WEE) in humans and equids peaked during the mid-20th century and has declined to fewer than 1-2 human cases annually during the past 20 years. Using the mouse model, changes in WEE virus (WEEV) virulence were investigated as a potential explanation for the decline in the number of cases. Evaluation of 10 WEEV strains representing a variety of isolation locations, hosts, and all decades from the 1940's to the 1990's yielded no evidence of a decline in virulence. These results suggest that ecological factors affecting human and equine exposure should...
Arlt D, Forslund P, Jeppsson T, Pärt T.To assess population persistence of species living in heterogeneous landscapes, the effects of habitat on reproduction and survival have to be investigated. Results: We used a matrix population model to estimate habitat-specific population growth rates for a population of northern wheatears Oenanthe oenanthe breeding in farmland consisting of a mosaic of distinct habitat (land use) types. Based on extensive long-term data on reproduction and survival, habitats characterised by tall field layers (spring- and autumn-sown crop fields, ungrazed grasslands) displayed negative stochastic population ...
Abaturov BD, Dmitriev IA, Jargalsaikhan L, Omarov KZ.The amount of phytomass removed by a complex of livestock (horses, cattle, sheep, and goats) and wild ungulates (Mongolian gazelle Procapra gutturosa Pall.) grazing in plain and mountain pastures of eastern Mongolia has been estimated by taking account of feces deposited by these animals. The results show that at an animal density of up to 30 head/km2, the total annual amount of feces reaches 140 kg/ha (dry weight), with the greater part (up to 90 kg/ha) being deposited by horses. The contribution of Mongolian gazelles in some pastures reaches 20-40 kg/ha per year. Decomposition of feces proce...
Morley PS, Traub-Dargatz JL, Benedict KM, Saville WJ, Voelker LD, Wagner BA.Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) is a serious and often fatal neurologic disease of horses, but few studies have investigated risk factors. Objective: To evaluate operation- and individual-level factors associated with likelihood of the occurrence of EPM. Methods: Data were collected as part of a study of the US equine industry from 1,178 operations representing 83.9% of horses and 51.6% of operations with > or =3 horses in 28 states. Methods: Probability-based sampling was used to enroll representative operations in a cross-sectional study. Interviews were conducted to collect info...
Bartolome J, Penuelas J, Filella I, Llusia J, Broncano MJ, Plaixats J.Plants usually emit large amount and varieties of volatiles after being damaged by herbivores. However, analytical methods for measuring herbivore-induced volatiles do not normally monitor the whole range of volatiles and the response to large herbivores such as large mammals is much less studied than the response to other herbivores such as insects. In this paper we present the results of using a highly sensitive proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) technique that allows simultaneous monitoring of leaf volatiles in the pptv range. The resulting mass scans in air over Mediterran...
Chen J, Weng Q, Chao J, Hu D, Taya K.In China, the first Przewalski's horse (Equus przewalskii) group was released in Kalamaili Ungulate Protected Area in Xinjiang, in August 2001. The objective of this study was to investigate reproduction and development of released Przewalski's horses in Xinjiang, China from 2002 to 2006. Twenty-four descendants were naturally born, average reproduction rate was 38.7%, and average survival rate of foals was 69.1% in this interim. Frequent alternation of the leading stallion and infertility in female horses due to environmental factors were main causes for the low reproduction rate. The infant ...
Miraglia N, Costantini M, Polidori M, Meineri G, Peiretti PG.In the Molise region (Italy), some autochthonous populations are still bred and, between them, some wild horses named 'Pentro horses.' The breeding area is a natural pasture. It is 2200 ha extended including a broad plane surrounded by wooden hills. The aim of this research was to determine the nutritional characteristics of this area over a 2-year period to improve the management of the herd and to define the stocking rate in relation to the forage production in terms of production and quality. The forage samples were collected over two successive years during the grazing period (May to Octob...
Journal of medical entomologyFebruary 21, 2008
Volume 45, Issue 1 115-124 doi: 10.1603/0022-2585(2008)45[115:hdcfah]2.0.co;2
Gerry AC, Nawaey TM, Sanghrajka PB, Wisniewska J, Hullinger P.Hematophagous Diptera landing on a horse were removed by vacuum, and their numbers were related to a paired carbon dioxide-baited suction trap at three locations in southern California where West Nile virus activity was high during the preceding year. Insects collected from the horse included mosquitoes (nine species), biting midges (Culicoides sonorensis Wirth & Jones), and black flies (Simulium bivittatum Malloch). Mosquitoes were predominantly collected from the head, crest, withers, neck, chest, and shoulders of the horse, whereas biting midges and black flies were predominantly collected ...
Hutchinson GW, Abba SA, Mfitilodze MW.Longevity in faeces, migration to and survival on herbage of mixed strongyle infective larvae (approximately 70% cyathostomes: 30% large strongyles) from experimentally deposited horse faeces was studied in the dry tropical region of North Queensland for up to 2 years. Larvae were recovered from faeces deposited during hot dry weather for a maximum of 12 weeks, up to 32 weeks in cool conditions, but less than 8 weeks in hot wet summer. Translation to herbage was mainly limited to the hot wet season (December-March), except when unseasonal winter rainfall of 40-50 mm per month in July and Augus...
Evans JP, Meckstroth S, Garai J.Rhizomatous growth and associated physiological integration can allow a clonal dune species to potentially compensate for the selective removal of leaves associated with herbivory. is a rhizomatous clonal plant species that is abundant in the coastal dune environments of the southeastern United States that are inhabited by large feral horse populations. has been shown to integrate resources among ramets within extensive clones as an adaptation to resource heterogeneity in sandy soils. In this study, we hypothesized that clonal integration is a mechanism that promotes persistence in these co...
Uzans AJ, Lucas Z, McLeod BA, Frasier TR.For small, isolated populations 2 common conservation concerns relate to genetic threats: inbreeding and negative consequences associated with loss of genetic diversity due to drift. Mitigating these threats often involves conservation actions that can be controversial, such as translocations or captive breeding programs. Although such actions have been successful in some situations, in others they have had undesirable outcomes. Here, we estimated the effective population size (N e ) of the Sable Island horses to assess the risk to this population of these genetic threats. We found surprising ...
Walden-Schreiner C, Leung YF, Kuhn T, Newburger T.Monitoring the behavior of pack animals in protected areas informs management about use patterns and the potential associated negative impacts. However, systematic assessments of behavior are uncommon due to methodological and logistical constraints. This study integrated behavior mapping with GPS tracking, and applied behavior change point analysis, as an approach to monitor the behaviors of pack animals during overnight periods. The integrated approach identified multiple grazing patterns (i.e., locally intense grazing, ambulatory grazing) not feasible through a single methodology alone. Mon...
Garrido P, Edenius L, Mikusiński G, Skarin A, Jansson A, Thulin CG.Large herbivores play key roles in terrestrial ecosystems. Continuous defaunation processes have produced cascade effects on plant community composition, vegetation structure, and even climate. Wood-pastures were created by traditional management practices that have maintained open structures and biodiversity for millennia. In Europe, despite the broad recognition of their biological importance, such landscapes are declining due to land-use changes. This calls for finding urgent solutions for wood-pasture conservation. To test whether introducing an ecological replacement of an extinct wild ho...
Machado G, Weiblen C, Escobar LE.Pythium insidiosum is a widespread pathogen that causes pythiosis, a disease with severe health consequences in horses and humans worldwide. Latin America hosts one of the largest, but scattered, horse herds, making it critical to identify areas at high risk of pythiosis transmission to help guide surveillance in areas with disease transmission risk. We utilized ecological niche modelling and epidemiological data to reconstruct the ecological conditions for pathogen circulation to identify areas with potential risk of pythiosis in Brazil and Uruguay. We surveyed 338 horse farm locations in sou...
Nuñez CM, Adelman JS, Rubenstein DI.Adoption of nongenetic offspring occurs in a variety of species but is rare in equids. We report a case of adoption by a free-ranging, feral mare Equus caballus and compare the maternal care received by her genetic offspring (born 1995) to that of her adopted offspring (born 1996) for the first 30 weeks of development. We compare five measures of care: (1) total time spent suckling, (2) mare aggression during suckling, (3) number of mare-terminated suckling bouts, (4) contact maintenance, and (5) mare-foal distance. For most behaviors, we detected no difference in the mare's treatment of the t...
Thomassen EE, Sigsgaard EE, Jensen MR, Olsen K, Hansen MDD, Svenning JC, Thomsen PF.Trophic rewilding is increasingly applied in restoration efforts, with the aim of reintroducing the ecological functions provided by large-bodied mammals and thereby promote self-regulating, biodiverse ecosystems. However, empirical evidence for the effects of megafauna introductions on the abundance and richness of other organisms such as plants and invertebrates, and the mechanisms involved still need strengthening. In this study, we use environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of dung from co-existing feral cattle and horses to assess the seasonal variation in plant diet and dung-associated a...
Berger J, Kock M, Cunningham C, Dodson N.Twenty-three (9 male, 14 female) wild horses (Equus caballus) in the Great Basin Desert were immobilized by ground techniques with succinylcholine chloride during 1,950 person-hr. Induction (means = 2.09 +/- 0.59 min) and recovery (means = 12.4 +/- 5.0 min) were rapid and most animals were returned in less than 10 min to original bands. Dosages ranged from 0.66-0.77 mg/kg body weight and neither abortions nor band changes in group membership resulted. However, a few concerted efforts up to 24 hr were needed to return some animals to original bands and three non-drug related mortalities occurre...
Nelson DM, Gardner IA, Chiles RF, Balasuriya UB, Eldridge BF, Scott TW, Reisen WK, Maclachlan NJ.Jamestown Canyon (JC) and Saint Louis encephalitis (SLE) viruses are mosquito-transmitted viruses that have long been present in California. The objective of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of these two viruses in horses prior to the introduction of West Nile (WN) virus. Approximately 15% of serum samples collected in 1998 from 425 horses on 44 equine operations horses throughout California had serum antibodies to JC virus, whereas antibodies were not detected to SLE virus. The results indicate that horses in California were commonly infected prior to 1998 with mosquito-transmit...
Lazzerini N, Coulon A, Simon L, Marchina C, Noost B, Lepetz S, Zazzo A.Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope time series performed in continuously growing tissues (hair, tooth enamel) are commonly used to reconstruct the dietary history of modern and ancient animals. Predicting the effects of altitudinal mobility on animal δ C and δ N values remains difficult as several variables such as temperature, water availability or soil type can contribute to the isotope composition. Modern references adapted to the region of interest are therefore essential. Methods: Between June 2015 and July 2018, six free-ranging domestic horses living in the Mongolian Altaï were fitte...
Allombert J, Vianney A, Laugier C, Petry S, Hébert L.Taylorella equigenitalis is the causative agent of contagious equine metritis, a sexually-transmitted infection of Equidae characterised in infected mares by abundant mucopurulent vaginal discharge and a variable degree of vaginitis, cervicitis or endometritis, usually resulting in temporary infertility. The second species of the Taylorella genus, Taylorella asinigenitalis, is considered non-pathogenic, although mares experimentally infected with this bacterium can develop clinical signs of endometritis. To date, little is understood about the basic molecular virulence and persistence mechanis...
Gregersen T, Wild TA, Havmøller LW, Møller PR, Lenau TA, Wikelski M, Havmøller RW.Wildlife tracking devices are key in obtaining detailed insights on movement, animal migration, natal dispersal, home-ranges, resource use and group dynamics of free-roaming animals. Despite a wide use of such devices, tracking for entire lifetimes is still a considerable challenge for most animals, mainly due to technological limitations. Deploying battery powered wildlife tags on smaller animals is limited by the mass of the devices. Micro-sized devices with solar panels sometimes solve this challenge, however, nocturnal species or animals living under low light conditions render solar cells...
Rho JR, Srygley RB, Choe JC.We investigated mutual grooming by Jeju pony (Equus caballus) foals to determine whether male foals preferentially interact with potential future sexual partners or competitors. We predicted that relative to female foals, male foals would exchange grooming more frequently with young mares and that in general, foals would mutually groom more frequently with the opposite sex rather than the same sex. Observing 53 foals between April and October 1998, we recorded 113 mutual grooming events. Male foals exchanged grooming with yearling mares more frequently than with their mother, while female foal...
Herd RP, Stinner BR, Purrington FF.Environmental consequences of treating horses with recommended dosages of ivermectin paste were studied in two controlled experiments with 29 horses in Ohio. In 1988, dung dispersal rates were measured by changes in dry weight over time of 48 copromes (300 g) formed from feces taken from four treatment and four control horses 3 days post ivermectin treatment. There was delayed dispersal of copromes from horses treated with ivermectin in June, resulting in significantly heavier ivermectin copromes compared with those of control horses by September. There was no difference in ivermectin or contr...
Zhang K, Zhou R, Huang H, Ma W, Qi Y, Li B, Zhang D, Li K, Chu H.The aim of this study was to identify the aggregation sites and transmission characteristics of Gasterophilus pecorum, the dominant pathogen of endangered equines in desert steppe. Therefore, we tested with a four-arm olfactometer the olfactory response of the G. pecorum adults to the odors that have a great impact on their life cycle, and also investigated the occurrence sites of the adults in the area where the Przewalski's horse (Equus przewalskii) roam frequently during the peak period of G. pecorum infection. The results of four-directional olfactory test showed that the fresh horse feces...
Yang F, Shao Q, Jiang Z.Using the Yellow-River-Source National Park (YRSNP) as a study site, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing and line transect method was used to investigate the number of wild herbivorous animals and livestock, including the kiang () and Tibetan gazelle (). A downscaling algorithm was used to generate the forage yield data in YRSNP based on a 30-m spatial resolution. On this basis, we estimated the forage-livestock balance, which included both wild animals and livestock, and analyzed the effects of functional zone planning in national parks on the forage-livestock balance in YRSNP. Th...
Morley PS, Traub-Dargatz JL, Benedict KM, Saville WJ, Voelker LD, Wagner BA.Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) is a serious and often fatal neurologic disease of horses, but few studies have investigated risk factors. Objective: To evaluate operation- and individual-level factors associated with likelihood of the occurrence of EPM. Methods: Data were collected as part of a study of the US equine industry from 1,178 operations representing 83.9% of horses and 51.6% of operations with > or =3 horses in 28 states. Methods: Probability-based sampling was used to enroll representative operations in a cross-sectional study. Interviews were conducted to collect info...
De Stoppelaire GH, Gillespie TW, Brock JC, Tobin GA.The effects of grazing by feral horses on vegetation and dune topography at Assateague Island National Seashore were investigated using color-infrared imagery, lidar surveys, and field measurements. Five pairs of fenced and unfenced plots (300 m2) established in 1993 on sand flats and small dunes with similar elevation, topography, and vegetation cover were used for this study. Color-infrared imagery from 1998 and field measurements from 2001 indicated that there was a significant difference in vegetation cover between the fenced and unfenced plot-pairs over the study period. Fenced plots cont...
Mundis SJ, Harrison S, Pelley D, Durand S, Ryan SJ.Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) is a mosquito-borne virus that affects humans and horses, with a high case fatality rate in both species. The virus can be transmitted by several mosquito species and maintained in multiple reservoir hosts, making EEEV dynamics difficult to anticipate. In this study, we identified spatial and temporal factors that precede EEEV detection using sentinel chicken surveillance data from Orange County, Florida, from 2003 to 2017. We first examined the land cover and mosquito species composition associated with sentinel chicken sites. We then fit distributed l...
Krueger K, Gruentjens T, Hempel E.Wolves returned to Germany in 2000, leading to fear in German horse owners that their horses could be in danger of wolf attacks or panic-like escapes from pastures when sighting wolves. However, reports from southern European countries indicate that wolf predation on horses diminishes with increasing presence of wildlife. Therefore, we conducted a long-term, filed observation between January 2015 and July 2022 on 13 non breeding riding horses, mares and geldings, kept permanently on two pastures within the range of wildlife and a stable wolf pack with annual offspring. Wildlife cameras at the ...
Prado JL, Alberdi MT.The contemporary South American mammalian communities were determined by the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama and by the profound climatic oscillations during the Pleistocene. Horses and gomphotheres were 2 very conspicuous groups of immigrant mammals from North America that arrived in South America during the Pleistocene. The present study compiles updated data on the phylogeny, systematics and ecology of both groups in South America. The horses in South America are represented by 2 genera, Hippidion and Equus, as are the gomphotheres, represented by Cuvieronius and Stegomastodon. Both gene...
Tang L, Gao Y, Yan L, Jia H, Chu H, Ma X, He L, Wang X, Li K, Hu D, Zhang D.The gut microbiome offers important ecological benefits to the host; however, our understanding of the functional microbiome in relation to wildlife adaptation, especially for translocated endangered species, is lagging. In this study, we adopted a comparative metagenomics approach to test whether the microbiome diverges for translocated and resident species with different adaptive potentials. The composition and function of the microbiome of sympatric Przewalski's horses and Asiatic wild asses in desert steppe were compared for the first time using the metagenomic shotgun sequencing approach....
Nauwelaerts S, Zarski L, Aerts P, Clayton H.Animals switch gaits according to locomotor speed. In terrestrial locomotion, gaits have been defined according to footfall patterns or differences in center of mass (COM) motion, which characterizes mechanisms that are more general and more predictive than footfall patterns. This has generated different variables designed primarily to evaluate steady-speed locomotion, which is easier to standardize in laboratory conditions. However, in the ecology of an animal, steady-state conditions are rare and the ability to accelerate, decelerate and turn is essential. Currently, there are no data availa...
Ning T, Ling Y, Hu S, Ardalan A, Li J, Mitra B, Chaudhuri TK, Guan W, Zhao Q, Ma Y, Savolainen P, Zhang Y.Despite decades of research, the horse domestication scenario in East Asia remains poorly understood. The study identified 16 haplogroups with fine-scale phylogenetic resolution using mitochondrial genomes of 317 horse samples. The time to the most recent common ancestor of the 16 haplogroups ranges from [0.8-3.1] thousand years ago (KYA) to [7.9-27.1] KYA. With combined analyses of the mitochondrial control region for 35 extant Przewalski's horses, 3544 modern and 203 ancient horses across the world, researchers provide evidence for that East Asian prevalent haplogroups Q and R were indigenou...
Turner JW, Rutberg AT.There are only two nonlethal approaches with which to manage wildlife populations: remove excess individuals or decrease reproductive rates. In the case of wild horse management, the latter has already been shown to be a more humane and less costly approach. Contraception has been known for many years to be effective in wild horses with regard to both fertility and population alteration. Field testing under real-world management situations is a critical aspect of wildlife contraception assessment. Field testing also requires documentation to justify eventual large-scale use of fertility contro...
Leonardi M, Boschin F, Giampoudakis K, Beyer RM, Krapp M, Bendrey R, Sommer R, Boscato P, Manica A, Nogues-Bravo D, Orlando L.Wild horses thrived across Eurasia until the Last Glacial Maximum to collapse after the beginning of the Holocene. The interplay of climate change, species adaptability to different environments, and human domestication in horse history is still lacking coherent continental-scale analysis integrating different lines of evidence. We assembled temporal and geographical information on 3070 horse occurrences across Eurasia, frequency data for 1120 archeological layers in Europe, and matched them to paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental simulations for the Late Quaternary. Climate controlled the dis...
