Berlin 2015 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help
MA: Fachverband Magnetismus
MA 28: Bio-Magnetism (Magnetoreception)
MA 28.2: Talk
Wednesday, March 18, 2015, 12:00–12:15, H 0110
Cattle under power lines - ELF MFs disturb magnetic alignment — •Sabine Begall1, Pavel Němec2, Erich Pascal Malkemper1, and Hynek Burda1 — 1University of Duisburg-Essen, Dept. General Zoology, Essen, Germany — 2Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Prague, Czech Republic
Resting and grazing cattle tend to align their body axes in the geomagnetic North-South (NS) direction when being on flat pastures with no high-voltage power lines. In a follow-up study, we used aerial images provided by Google Earth to show that extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELFMFs) generated by high-voltage power lines disrupt alignment of the bodies of these animals with the geomagnetic field. Body orientation of cattle was random on pastures under or near power lines. Cattle exposed to alternating magnetic fields (AMF) directly under East-West trending power lines, exhibited a preference to orient their body axes parallel to the power lines and perpendicular to the resultant magnetic field, that oscillates between two intensity values (and two inclination values) but without changes in azimuth. In contrast, the alternating magnetic field vector of NS-oriented power lines is perpendicular to the horizontal component of the Earth's magnetic field lines, so that mainly the azimuth of the EMF is affected by the AMF, while intensity and inclination remain nearly constant. Under NS power lines, cattle tended to align their body axes along the NS axis, showing much higher scatter than controls (cattle on pastures without power lines). The disturbing effect of ELFMFs on body alignment attenuated with the distance from conductors.