Feed Patch Research Articles

Z-Shaped Dielectric Resonator Antenna for Ultrawideband Applications

A new dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) is introduced for ultrawideband applications. Three methods of a Z-shaped dielectric resonator, a bevel feeding patch, and an air gap between the DR and the ground plane are used to obtain an ultrawideband impedance bandwidth. The effective dielectric constant and the -factor can be reduced by introducing the air gap. The bevel-shaped feeding mechanism provides a smooth impedance transition from one resonant mode to another. Furthermore, the results show that by applying a Z-shaped DRA, the electric field inside the dielectric is reformed over the desired bandwidth leading to improve the matching. A comprehensive parametric study is carried out using CST to optimize the bandwidth of the proposed antenna. The measurement results demonstrate that the proposed DRA provides an ultra bandwidth of about 120%, ranging from 2.5 GHz to 10.3 GHz for the reflection coefficient less than .

Sex-specific aggression and sex ratio in wintering finch flocks: serins and siskins differ

Males are dominant over females in many bird species. This may lead to male monopolisation of resources whenever food is scarce or clumped and secondarily to lower female survival rates. As a result of the consequent male-biased sex ratio in the adult population, competition may arise either (1) between males and females, as males attempt to exclude females from feeding patches, or (2) between males because females do not pose a competitive threat. We recorded agonistic interactions between males and females in wintering foraging flocks of serins (Serinus serinus) and siskins (Carduelis spinus) to test for inter-specific differences. Most of the aggressive interactions in serins were between males and females, whereas in siskins they were between males. We also compared sex ratios for each species during the winter, determined from separate trapping efforts over an 11-year period, to test whether the direction of aggression by males (i.e. male/male; male/female) relates to variations in female survival rates. The proportion of females was smaller in winter than in autumn for serins, but differences in siskins were negligible. Results are interpreted in relation to the social organization displayed by both species studied.

Recent progress in the study of behavior and management in grazing cattle

Recent progress in studies concerning behavior of, and management for, grazing cattle are reviewed. Since 1950, much study has been conducted on 'How', 'When', 'Where' and 'How long' regarding grazing. After the 1980s, grazing ecology introduced the concept of hierarchy at different spatial and temporal scales, and since then grazing behavior has been investigated on the foraging hierarchy of large grazing herbivores: bite, feeding station (FS), patch, feeding site, camp and home range. From the sequence of activities, FS is grouped within a feeding patch, and movement of grazing cattle has been studied between FSs, feeding patches, feeding sites and between camps. Grazing behavior and production relates closely with defoliation, and grazing management should control both grazing behavior and vegetation according to three rules: planning, operational and adaptation rules. Planning rules relate the stocking rate of cattle; operational rules relate to defoliation; and adaptation rules vary with regional situations. Recent studies on grazing have been carried out in the fields of animal diversity and welfare. Future studies in this field should be conducted on the ecology, neurophysiology and psychology of grazing. Nonlinear analysis will also be significant in this field. Grazing cattle production should also utilize supplementation by roughage and/or grains.

Resource Defence or Exploded Lek? – A Question of Perspective

AbstractIt becomes increasingly obvious that animal mating systems cannot be classified into distinct categories, but transitions between mating system classes are continuous. Positioning a certain mating system at this continuum is often not straightforward, however. Depending on which characteristic is considered, a mating system may end up at very different positions on this gradient. Here, we explore the potential conflict between mating system classifications that may arise when they are based on different criteria by investigating the mating system of the cichlid fish Simochromis pleurospilus in which males defend small patches of homogeneously distributed food resources (turf algae) vigorously against food competitors, but they allow specific females to use them. We hypothesized that male defence may generate high‐quality feeding patches serving to attract females, and hence male territoriality constitutes a form of courtship. Our field data show that males selectively allow approximately one‐third of the visiting females to feed on their territory and that females preferentially feed in male territories and usually sample several territories successively. As males protect food patches against other algae grazers and guard females from harassment by food competitors, females gain nutritional benefits from visiting male territories. Hence, males appear to generate essential resources for females, which is the key feature of resource‐defence mating systems, although the distributions of resources and of males and females are characteristics of an exploded lek.

CPW-fed dielectric resonator antenna for ultra-wideband applications

A new dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) is introduced for ultra-wideband applications.In this structure, the DRA consists of three factors: a compact circular-shaped dielectric resonator, a crescent patch, and a CPW feed ground. With the electromagnetic coupling between the feeding patch and the dielectric resonator, a broadband impedance bandwidth is achieved. Measured results demonstrate that the proposed DRA has a wide bandwidth from 1.6 to 15 GHz, and the measured return losses are less than −10 dB in this band. The experimental and numerical results are carried out showing a good agreement. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 52:2709–2712, 2010; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25567

Planar UHF RFID Tag Antenna With Open Stub Feed for Metallic Objects

An open stub feed planar patch antenna is proposed for UHF RFID tag mountable on metallic objects. Compared to conventional short stub feed patch antenna used for UHF RFID tag, the open stub feed patch antenna has planar structure which can decrease the manufacturing cost of the tags. Moreover, the open stub feed makes the impedance of the patch antenna be tuned in a large scale for conjugate impedance matching. Modeling and simulation results are presented which are in good agreement with the measurement data. Finally, differences between the open stub feed patch antenna and the short stub feed patch antenna for UHF RFID tag are discussed.

Plant feeding patches: patterns of use by associating <i>Callimico goeldii, Saguinus labiatus</i>, and <i>S. fuscicollis</i>

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Differences in grazing behavior of horses and cattle at the feeding station scale on woodland pasture

In this study, grazing behavior of mares and cows was compared on woodland pastures, in the context of foraging hierarchy. A horse-group (12 native Hokkaido horses) and a cattle-group (5 Hereford cows) were grazed on the woodland pastures of 13.3 ha and 5.8 ha, respectively. They grazed mainly on Sasa nipponica. Grazing behavior at a feeding station (FS) scale was recorded for three focal animals in each group. Mares took one bite per FS at a high percentage of FSs (24.3%) and cows took one, two and three bites per FS at high percentage (20.3%, 19.2% and 15.4%, respectively). Although feeding patch (FP) scale for both animals could be defined as a group of FSs, the length of FP and grazing behavior at FP scale were similar for both animals. The number of steps taken between two adjacent FSs or FPs for mares was larger than that for cows. The results suggested that both horses and cattle had similar foraging hierarchy from bite to FP scale but grazing behavior of horses at the FS scale was different from that of cattle, suggesting that grazing behavior of large herbivores has greater similarity in larger foraging hierarchies.

Scale and selection of habitat and resources: Tibetan argali (Ovis ammon hodgsoni) in high-altitude rangelands

Processes of habitat selection occur at multiple spatiotemporal scales, where large-scale selection is often determined by predation risk and landscape features, and finer scale selection by resource abundance and quality. To determine whether this hierarchy exists in relatively homogenous systems, we investigated patterns of habitat (landscape topography) and resource (feeding patch and plant group) selection by a medium-sized ungulate, the Tibetan argali ( Ovis ammon hodgsoni Blyth, 1840), in the high-altitude rangelands of the Indian Trans-Himalaya. We ran ecological niche factor analyses to explore habitat selection, bias-reduced logistic regression to analyze the selection of feeding patches, fuzzy correspondence analysis for vegetation categories, and microhistological analyses for the selection of plant groups. For springs and summers of 2005–2007, argali preferred an intermediate range of altitude, slope, and forage abundance. Selection of feeding patch was mainly determined by forage quality, not biomass, selecting graminoids and forbs, in particular. The avoidance of habitat with high forage abundance could indicate a trade-off between forage quality and quantity; a pattern consistent at the feeding-patch scale. Our results provide evidence that the hierarchical pattern of habitat selection probably also occurs in relatively homogeneous systems.

Paper birch (Betula papyrifera) shoot selection by moose (Alces alces) following a forest-cleaning experiment

In order to maximize food intake per harvesting effort and minimize energy expenditures required to move between feeding patches in nature, herbivores such as moose (Alces alces L.) generally select large plant shoots when browsing in winter. To determine moose preferences for shoots of different morphologies, an experiment was conducted in northern British Columbia in which shoots from birches cut at different times of the growing season were fed in 2 consecutive years to eight human-habituated moose in cafeteria-style feeding trials. The results indicate that moose preferred smaller winter shoots of birches regardless of when the parent plant was cut and also appeared to reject larger shoots containing sylleptic branches. It is argued that the preferences for smaller shoots by moose detected in these trials should be observable under natural conditions, but are generally only supported by literature from some parts of Scandinavia. The findings underscore the importance that factors such as mouth filling per harvesting effort, snow depth and consistency, predators and browse patch distribution must have on foraging decisions made by moose while browsing in the wild. Implications of the findings include the significance of cutting time on the size of shoots produced by birch after cutting, how this affects moose browsing birch and, subsequently, how managers can theoretically use cutting time as a tool in forest cleaning operations to direct the foraging efforts of moose towards or away from forest plantations.

Stacked patch antenna with folded patch feed for ultra-wideband application

A new stacked patch antenna with a folded patch feed is presented for ultra-wideband (UWB) application. The bandwidth is obtained by a stacked patch fed with a folded patch feed, and the size reduction is realised through the use of shorting wall. The antenna occupies a compact dimension of 0.340λ g ×0.340× g ×0.227× g (where λ g is the guided wavelength of the centre operating frequency). The design achieves an impedance bandwidth of 90% across the frequency range of 3.75%9.86%GHz. The details of the antenna designs are shown, and the results with low-profile characteristics make this antenna suitable for UWB applications.

BROADBAND COPLANAR WAVEGUIDE-FED WIDE-SLOT ANTENNA

A large bandwidth wide-slot antenna, fed by coplanar waveguide (CPW), is proposed. Experimental investigations and detailed simulations are conducted to understand its behavior and to optimize for broadband operation. The impedance bandwidth, determined by 10-dB return loss of the proposed slot antenna using both measurement and simulation, is about 131% (2.8 to 14GHz). In addition to be small in size, the antenna has low cross polarization, relatively high gain, and it exhibits stable far-fleld radiation characteristics in the entire operating bandwidth. The design with very wide operating bandwidth and improved radiation pattern is obtained by properly choosing the suitable slot shape, selecting similar feed patch shape, and tuning their dimensions. Numerical sensitivity analysis has been used to understand the efiects of changes of various antenna dimensions and to optimize the performance of the designed antenna. Based on our computer simulations it is shown that the antenna dimensions parameters have uncorrelated efiects on the upper edge of the bandwidth. Simulation results show that the impedance matching of this kind of antenna is sensitive to the feed-slot combination and feed gap width. The simulated and measured results for return loss, far-fleld E-plane and H-plane radiation patterns, and gain of the designed antenna are presented and discussed.

Small folivorous primate groups exhibit behavioral and physiological effects of food scarcity

The influence of diet and food distribution on the socioecology of group-living species has long been debated, particularly for primates. It has typically been assumed that folivorous primates experience relatively little feeding competition due to the abundant, widespread nature of their food, freeing them to form large groups in response to predation, to disperse with relative ease, and to have egalitarian female social relationships. Recent studies, however, have come to different conclusions about the extent to which folivorous primates are limited by food and experience food competition and how these factors affect folivore socioecology. To better understand the selective pressures that diet places on folivores, we investigated how 2 small highly folivorous groups of colobus monkeys (Colobus guereza) in Kibale National Park, Uganda, responded behaviorally and physiologically to a steep reduction in availability of their most important foods. The monkeys decreased their reliance on their 2 most frequently eaten food species and increased their daily path length, number of feeding patches visited/day, size of individual feeding areas, percentage of time spent feeding, and dietary diversity. They also showed evidence of physiological costs, in that lactating females' urinary C-peptide levels (i.e., insulin production) declined as top foods became scarce, and parasite loads slightly, but significantly, increased in 2 of 3 adult females examined. These results suggest that highly folivorous primates, even in very small groups, may experience behavioral and physiological effects of food limitation, within-group scramble competition for food, and possibly substantial selective pressures during periods of food scarcity. Copyright 2009, Oxford University Press.

Testing the effects of resource distribution and inherent habitat riskiness on simultaneous habitat selection by predators and prey

Theoretical models have extended the Ideal Free Distribution model to examine predator–prey systems having three trophic levels, when both predator and prey are allowed to move freely. One consistent prediction made by such models is that the spatial distribution of prey should be mainly determined by the inherent habitat riskiness (e.g. cover level), with prey avoiding the inherently riskier habitats regardless (or nearly so) of resource distribution. To test this prediction, we conducted laboratory experiments in which both predators (creek chub, Semotilus atromaculatus) and prey (northern redbelly dace, Phoxinus eos) were free to move between feeding patches differing in resource quantity and habitat riskiness. When alone, creek chub and northern redbelly dace both preferred the more food-rich patch. The spatial distribution of dace was also inversely related to that of creek chub in the presence of chub fenced into feeding patches. When the patches differed in both riskiness and resource quantity, the spatial distribution of dace was mainly influenced by resource distribution and, to a lesser extent, by the inherent habitat riskiness in the absence of predators. In the presence of creek chub, the dace significantly decreased their use of the inherently riskier patch compared to when predators were absent. However, contrary to the models' prediction, food distribution still significantly influenced dace distribution when predators were present. Finally, dace aggregated increasingly in a third, totally safe area (but one offering no food) as the number of chub present in both patches increased. Thus, the influence of resource distribution and inherent habitat riskiness on prey distribution seems to vary with the level of predation risk.

Theoretical Investigation of the Input Impedance of Gap-Coupled Circular Microstrip Patch Antennas

In this paper, we have explored a simple theoretical input impedance computation technique for the two gap-coupled circular microstrip patch antennas by using circuit theory approach. The frequency characteristics of the input impedance of the two gap-coupled circular microstrip patch antennas with the gap-distance between the feed patch and parasitic patch is analyzed and simulated. The effect of feed location in the feed patch on the input impedance of proposed antenna is also studied. The theoretical results are compared with the simulated results as well as other reported literature. The simulation has been performed by using a method-of-moment based commercially available simulator IE3D.

Personality differences explain leadership in barnacle geese

Personality in animal behaviour describes the observation that behavioural differences between individuals are consistent over time and context. Studies of group-living animals show that movement order among individuals is also consistent over time and context, suggesting that some individuals lead and others follow. However, the relationship between leadership and personality traits is poorly studied. We measured several personality traits and leadership of individual barnacle geese, Branta leucopsis. We measured body size and scored the dominance of individuals living in a stable group situation before subjecting them to an open-field test, an activity test, a novel-object test, and a leadership test in which the order of the movement of individuals in pairs towards a feeding patch was scored. We found high repeatability for activity and novel-object scores over time. Leadership was strongly correlated with novel-object score but not with dominance rank, activity or exploration in an open field. These results provide evidence that leadership is closely related to some aspects of personality. Interestingly, an individual's arrival at the food patch was affected not only by the novel-object score of the focal individual, but also by the novel-object score of the companion individual, indicating that movement patterns of individuals living in groups are affected by the personality traits of other group members and suggesting that movement patterns of a group may be shaped by the mix of personality types present in the group.

Differences in Patch Use Behavior Between an Urban and Rural Species: Effects of Distance from Shelter and Wing Molt-Gaps

It has been suggested that urban bird populations and communities are controlled by bottom-up mechanisms because predation costs are lower in urban than in non-urban habitats. We hypothesized that urban birds are less sensitive to variations in the cost of predation than non-urban birds. We predicted that the house sparrow, a widespread urban species, is less sensitive to variations in predation risk, while foraging, than its rural (less urban) congener, the Spanish sparrow. We quantified foraging behavior of these species, as affected by the proximity to shelter, in large outdoor aviaries. We then clipped feathers from the birds' wings to manipulate escape ability and increase predation risk. We predicted that birds experience increasing predation risk with increasing distance from shelter, and that reduced wing surface increases the birds' sensitivity to risk of predation with respect to distance from shelter. Both species displayed increasing giving-up densities in seed trays with increasing distance from shelter, indicating that foraging costs increase with distance from shelter. As predicted, the two species differed in their response to proximity of shelter: we concluded that house sparrows experienced a less pronounced increase in perceived predation cost with increasing distance from shelter than did Spanish sparrows. Contrary to our prediction, wing surface reduction had no effect on seed tray utilization. Therefore, it appears that, when feeding in patches at distances from shelter, as used in the present study, the cost of predation affects foraging and micro-habitat use in Spanish sparrows more than in house sparrows.

Does sward height affect feeding patch choice and voluntary intake in horses?

The numbers of horses grazing at pasture are increasing in developed countries, so a proper understanding of their feeding selectivity and of the tactics they use for extracting nutrients from swards is essential for the management of horses and grasslands. Resource acquisition in herbivores can be optimised through the modulation of their intake and patch selection, both being strongly dependent on the characteristics of swards. However, the principles by which horses adjust their grazing behaviour in response to variations in sward features are not completely understood. The aim of this study was to determine whether the behaviour of horses conforms to optimal foraging models. We hypothesized that, faced with binary choices between vegetative swards of a good and similar quality at three different heights, horses would select the taller sward, i.e. that allowing a higher reward in terms of dry matter intake rate. Three groups of three 2-year-old saddle horses were grazed on a semi-natural pasture that was managed to produce three contrasting sward heights at 6, 11 and 17 cm, in a Latin-square design. The instantaneous intake rate was determined from bite rate measured at pasture on the three sward heights, and bite mass estimated from measurements using swards offered indoors in experimental trays. Daily dry matter intake was estimated individually by total faecal collection and an estimation of digestibility from faecal nitrogen. Short-term (first 30 min) and daily preferences were assessed from the time spent grazing each sward offered in pair-wise tests at pasture. The results show that daily voluntary intake (an average of 21 g DM kg LW −1 day −1) and total grazing time (an average of 14 h day −1) were independent of sward height and of the choice of patches offered. In choice situations, the animals spent more time grazing on the taller sward, both during the first 30 min and at the daily scale. These results show that horses choose between vegetative patches of a good and similar quality according to the predictions from optimal foraging models, and select the one that they can ingest faster. Further research will now have to explore how the horses will adapt their feeding behaviour when they face a trade-off between sward height and quality.

Spatial memory in the grey mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus).

Wild animals face the challenge of locating feeding sites distributed across broad spatial and temporal scales. Spatial memory allows animals to find a goal, such as a productive feeding patch, even when there are no goal-specific sensory cues available. Because there is little experimental information on learning and memory capabilities in free-ranging primates, the aim of this study was to test whether grey mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus), as short-term dietary specialists, rely on spatial memory in relocating productive feeding sites. In addition, we asked what kind of spatial representation might underlie their orientation in their natural environment. Using an experimental approach, we set eight radio-collared grey mouse lemurs a memory task by confronting them with two different spatial patterns of baited and non-baited artificial feeding stations under exclusion of sensory cues. Positional data were recorded by focal animal observations within a grid system of small foot trails. A change in the baiting pattern revealed that grey mouse lemurs primarily used spatial cues to relocate baited feeding stations and that they were able to rapidly learn a new spatial arrangement. Spatially concentrated, non-random movements revealed preliminary evidence for a route-based restriction in mouse lemur space; during a subsequent release experiment, however, we found high travel efficiency in directed movements. We therefore propose that mouse lemur spatial memory is based on some kind of mental representation that is more detailed than a route-based network map.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10071-009-0219-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Rectangular dielectric resonator antenna for ultrawideband applications

A new dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) is introduced for ultrawideband applications. A rectangular dielectric resonator, a bevel feeding patch and an airgap between the DR and ground plane are used to obtain an ultrawideband impedance bandwidth. The effective dielectric constant and the Q-factor can be reduced by using the airgap and the bevel-shaped feeding mechanism, which can provide a smooth transition from one resonant mode to another. Measured results demonstrate that the proposed DRA has a wide bandwidth from 2.6 to 11 GHz with VSWR less than two, covering the frequency range of more than 120 . Experimental and numerical results are carried out and discussed, showing good agreement.