Open AccessFeature PaperArticle
Decision Trees for Predicting the Physiological Responses of Rabbits
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Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), Department of Agricultural Engineering, Lavras, Minas Gerais 37200-900, Brazil
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Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Accounting Sciences, Universidad del Sinú Elías Bechara Zainúm, Montería, Córdoba 230001, Colombia
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Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), Department of Agricultural Engineering, Lavras, Minas Gerais 37200-900, Brazil
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Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), Department of Animal Science, Lavras, Minas Gerais 37200-900, Brazil
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University of Firenze, Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry, Firenze 50145, Italy
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Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Medellin, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Departamento de Ingeniería Agrícola Alimentos, Medellín 050004, Colombia
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University of Firenze, Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry, Firenze 50145, Italy
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 7 October 2019
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Revised: 30 October 2019
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Accepted: 8 November 2019
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Published: 18 November 2019
Simple Summary
The primary aim of this paper is to develop decision trees to predict rabbits’ physiological responses, such as the respiratory rate or ear temperature, based on environmental variables (dry bulb temperature and relative humidity). The decision tree for ear temperature exhibited better statistical indices, indicating the benefits of using the ear temperature as an indicator of thermal stress. Our findings confirm that the resulting decision trees are powerful classifiers, and the results can be easily understood. Hence, the proposed decisions trees can aid in investigating the influence of environmental conditions on physiological responses and, consequently, the rabbits’ welfare. These results can be used in practical situations and can be obtained in real time to support rabbit breeders in decision-making to improve environmental conditions for rabbits.