New ways of measuring intake, efficiency and behaviour of grazing livestock
New ways of measuring intake, efficiency and behaviour of grazing livestock
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DOI：
10.1071/an14409
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发表时间：
2014-01-01
影响因子：
1.4
通讯作者：
Purvis, Ian W.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Greenwood, Paul L.;Valencia, Philip;Purvis, Ian W.
无线传感器网络（WSN）提供了一种新的方法来测量重要的牲畜表型在商业放牧环境。然后，这些信息可以用于为遗传参数估计提供信息，并提高精确的牲畜管理。可以说，这些技术非常适合这些任务，因为它们的小，非侵入性的形式，这不会限制动物表达感兴趣的性状的遗传驱动因素。在开发能够在商业放牧环境中对动物起作用的无线传感器网络技术时，需要满足许多技术挑战。本文讨论了从多种类型的传感器收集数据所需的软件开发的挑战，非常大量的数据的管理和分析，确定感测模态是足够的和/或必要的，以及管理的约束电源。然而，假设可以满足这些挑战，则必须针对特定性状的基准数据对传感器准确性进行验证，然后才能自信地采用这种传感器。为了实现这一目标，正在建立一个牧草摄入量研究平台，通过化学标记和生物量消失，并辅以高度注释的动物行为录像，详细估计个别动物的牧草摄入量。这提供了一个基准，任何新的传感器都可以验证，具有高度的灵活性，允许在不断变化的环境条件下设计和进行实验。本文还讨论了潜在的问题，需要新的和新颖的表型分析方法，并在建立无线传感器网络和牧草摄入量的研究平台，使采食量和饲料效率的预测个别放牧动物。
Wireless sensor networks (WSN) offer a novel method for measuring important livestock phenotypes in commercial grazing environments. This information can then be used to inform genetic parameter estimation and improve precision livestock management. Arguably, these technologies are well suited for such tasks due to their small, non-intrusive form, which does not constrain the animals from expressing the genetic drivers for traits of interest. There are many technical challenges to be met in developing WSN technologies that can function on animals in commercial grazing environments. This paper discusses the challenges of the software development required for the collection of data from multiple types of sensors, the management and analyses of the very large volumes of data, determination of which sensing modalities are sufficient and/or necessary, and the management of the constrained power source. Assuming such challenges can be met however, validation of the sensor accuracy against benchmark data for specific traits must be performed before such a sensor can be confidently adopted. To achieve this, a pasture intake research platform is being established to provide detailed estimates of pasture intake by individual animals through chemical markers and biomass disappearance, augmented with highly annotated video recordings of animal behaviours. This provides a benchmark against which any novel sensor can be validated, with a high degree of flexibility to allow experiments to be designed and conducted under continually differing environmental conditions. This paper also discusses issues underlying the need for new and novel phenotyping methods and in the establishment of the WSN and pasture intake research platforms to enable prediction of feed intake and feed efficiency of individual grazing animals.