TY - JOUR
T1 - A review and quantitative assessment of cattle-related thermal indices
AU - Wang, Xiaoshuai
AU - Bjerg, Bjarne Schmidt
AU - Choi, Christopher Y.
AU - Zong, Chao
AU - Zhang, Guoqiang
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Many thermal indices have been developed to assess the levels of heat stress imposed on cattle during hot weather. In this paper, the 16 cattle-related thermal indices are critically reviewed. The primary emphasis is to evaluate each index's coherence to the typical heat transfer characteristics of a cow. Other perspectives including incorporated environmental parameters in the equation(s), experimental data, correlated physiological responses, heat-stress thresholds, scope of application, specific cattle breed involved, and experiment location(s) are also well categorised and discussed. The coherence evaluation indicates that the main effects of environmental parameters on heat stress have been properly reflected, while some interactions between the parameters have been treated differently. Given the variety of the equations used to define the 16 indices and the wide range of information used to develop each index, we conclude that each thermal index is distinct to an extent that it should be selected and employed carefully.
AB - Many thermal indices have been developed to assess the levels of heat stress imposed on cattle during hot weather. In this paper, the 16 cattle-related thermal indices are critically reviewed. The primary emphasis is to evaluate each index's coherence to the typical heat transfer characteristics of a cow. Other perspectives including incorporated environmental parameters in the equation(s), experimental data, correlated physiological responses, heat-stress thresholds, scope of application, specific cattle breed involved, and experiment location(s) are also well categorised and discussed. The coherence evaluation indicates that the main effects of environmental parameters on heat stress have been properly reflected, while some interactions between the parameters have been treated differently. Given the variety of the equations used to define the 16 indices and the wide range of information used to develop each index, we conclude that each thermal index is distinct to an extent that it should be selected and employed carefully.
KW - Cattle
KW - Equivalent temperature
KW - Heat stress
KW - Heat transfer mechanism
KW - Review
KW - Thermal index
U2 - 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2018.08.005
DO - 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2018.08.005
M3 - Review
C2 - 30196896
AN - SCOPUS:85051386803
SN - 0306-4565
VL - 77
SP - 24
EP - 37
JO - Journal of Thermal Biology
JF - Journal of Thermal Biology
ER -