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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 …
Assemblage Structure, Production, And Food Web Dynamics Of Macroinvertebrates In Tropical Island Headwater Streams, Keysa G. Rosas-Rodriguez
Assemblage Structure, Production, And Food Web Dynamics Of Macroinvertebrates In Tropical Island Headwater Streams, Keysa G. Rosas-Rodriguez
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Variation in long-term temperature and precipitation patterns will likely influence the decomposition and export of benthic organic matter and influence aquatic macroinvertebrate consumer communities. Tropical systems are relatively understudied; therefore basal information is urgently needed. As part of an ongoing long-term study, we monitored macroinvertebrates in two shrimp-dominated and fishless headwater streams within the Luquillo Experimental Forest in Puerto Rico from 2009-2010. We combined growth rates with yearly biomass data to calculate secondary production and examined gut contents to develop quantitative food webs. Macroinvertebrate assemblages were dominated by a few insect taxa, with similar biotic composition across streams and habitats, …