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Effects Of Human Disturbance On Physiology, Behavior, And Ornamentation In The Eastern Bluebird, Lauren Marjorie Gillespie

Dissertations

Overall, few studies have focused on anthropogenic disturbance on wildlife physiology. Research has typically focused on how environmentally contaminated areas or anthropogenic disturbance (e.g. noise, human activity) influences biodiversity, community structure and behavior of individual animals. However, understanding how disturbance influences some aspects of physiology can require sacrifice of the animal, prohibiting ecologically relevant measures of behavior and reproductive success. This research strives to examine covariation between testosterone (T) and corticosterone (CORT), plumage ornamentation, and behavior in two populations of eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) that differ in degree to which their habitat is modified by human activity.

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