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Changes in group behaviour in response to a preferred environment reflect positive affect
When observed in their preferred environments, animals display behavioural changes, such as an increase in resting or a reduction in agonism, suggestive of positive affect and improved welfare. However, most studies focus on the behaviour of individuals or, at most, pairs of animals; even though in...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Nature Publishing Group UK
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10310767/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37386060 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-37763-0 |
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author | Kleinhappel, Tanja K. Pike, Thomas W. Burman, Oliver H. P. |
author_facet | Kleinhappel, Tanja K. Pike, Thomas W. Burman, Oliver H. P. |
author_sort | Kleinhappel, Tanja K. |
collection | PubMed |
description | When observed in their preferred environments, animals display behavioural changes, such as an increase in resting or a reduction in agonism, suggestive of positive affect and improved welfare. However, most studies focus on the behaviour of individuals or, at most, pairs of animals; even though in group-living animals beneficial environmental changes may impact on how the group behaves as a whole. In this study, we investigated whether experiencing a preferred visual environment affected the shoaling behaviour of zebrafish (Danio rerio) groups. We first confirmed a group preference for an image of gravel placed underneath the base of a tank compared to a plain white image. Second, we observed replicated groups either with or without the preferred (gravel) image present to determine if a visually enriched and preferred environment could elicit changes in shoaling behaviour. We found a significant interaction between the observation time and test condition, with differences in shoaling behaviour reflective of increased relaxation emerging gradually over time in the gravel condition. The findings of this study reveal that experiencing a preferred environment can alter group behaviour, making such holistic changes valuable as potential indicators of positive welfare. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10310767 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Nature Publishing Group UK |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-103107672023-07-01 Changes in group behaviour in response to a preferred environment reflect positive affect Kleinhappel, Tanja K. Pike, Thomas W. Burman, Oliver H. P. Sci Rep Article When observed in their preferred environments, animals display behavioural changes, such as an increase in resting or a reduction in agonism, suggestive of positive affect and improved welfare. However, most studies focus on the behaviour of individuals or, at most, pairs of animals; even though in group-living animals beneficial environmental changes may impact on how the group behaves as a whole. In this study, we investigated whether experiencing a preferred visual environment affected the shoaling behaviour of zebrafish (Danio rerio) groups. We first confirmed a group preference for an image of gravel placed underneath the base of a tank compared to a plain white image. Second, we observed replicated groups either with or without the preferred (gravel) image present to determine if a visually enriched and preferred environment could elicit changes in shoaling behaviour. We found a significant interaction between the observation time and test condition, with differences in shoaling behaviour reflective of increased relaxation emerging gradually over time in the gravel condition. The findings of this study reveal that experiencing a preferred environment can alter group behaviour, making such holistic changes valuable as potential indicators of positive welfare. Nature Publishing Group UK 2023-06-29 /pmc/articles/PMC10310767/ /pubmed/37386060 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-37763-0 Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . |
spellingShingle | Article Kleinhappel, Tanja K. Pike, Thomas W. Burman, Oliver H. P. Changes in group behaviour in response to a preferred environment reflect positive affect |
title | Changes in group behaviour in response to a preferred environment reflect positive affect |
title_full | Changes in group behaviour in response to a preferred environment reflect positive affect |
title_fullStr | Changes in group behaviour in response to a preferred environment reflect positive affect |
title_full_unstemmed | Changes in group behaviour in response to a preferred environment reflect positive affect |
title_short | Changes in group behaviour in response to a preferred environment reflect positive affect |
title_sort | changes in group behaviour in response to a preferred environment reflect positive affect |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10310767/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37386060 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-37763-0 |
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