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Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
An Industrial Chemical Used In Coal-Washing Influences Plankton Communities In Freshwater Microcosms, Danielle Turner
An Industrial Chemical Used In Coal-Washing Influences Plankton Communities In Freshwater Microcosms, Danielle Turner
Honors College Theses
In 2014, 4-methylcyclohexane methanol (MCHM), an industrial chemical used to wash coal, contaminated drinking water in 300,000 homes in West Virginia, USA and raised concerns about toxicity to humans and freshwater ecosystems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that a concentration of 1 ppm was safe for human exposure. Despite the concern for human consumption, it is important to determine if MCHM has negative effects on aquatic organisms in contaminated water, particularly plankton communities that comprise the base of freshwater food webs. I exposed freshwater plankton communities in microcosms to 0, 0.5, 1 or 3 ppm MCHM under …
The Nutritional Value Of Fecal Sacs: Testing The Parental Nutrition Hypothesis, Amanda W. Burns
The Nutritional Value Of Fecal Sacs: Testing The Parental Nutrition Hypothesis, Amanda W. Burns
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Nest sanitation is an important aspect of parental investment in birds with altricial nestlings. Passerine nestlings produce fecal matter that is encased in a mucous membrane for easy disposal. These fecal sacs are either removed from the nest and transported a distance away or they are ingested by the adult. A decline in fecal sac ingestion rates as nestlings age has been observed in several species. The parental nutrition hypothesis posits that this pattern can be attributed to increasing digestive efficiency as nestlings age. The parental nutrition hypothesis makes three predictions: fecal sac consumption rates should decrease as nestlings age, …