scholarly journals How much calcium to shell out? Eggshell calcium carbonate content is greater in birds with thinner shells, larger clutches and longer lifespans

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (182) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie C. McClelland ◽  
Phillip Cassey ◽  
Golo Maurer ◽  
Mark E. Hauber ◽  
Steven J. Portugal
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Calcium Carbonate ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Carbonate Content ◽  
Ceramic Structure ◽  
Optimal Amount ◽  
Calcium Carbonate Content ◽  
The Individual

The avian eggshell is a bio-ceramic structure that protects the embryo. It is composed almost entirely of calcium carbonate and a small amount of organic material. An optimal amount of calcium carbonate in the eggshell is essential for the embryo's development, yet how the ratio of calcium carbonate to organic matter varies between species has not been investigated. Calcium is a limiting resource for most birds, so its investment in their eggs should be optimized for a bird's life history. We measured the relative calcium carbonate content of eggshells in 222 bird species and tested hypotheses for how this trait has evolved with the life-history strategies of these species and other traits of their respective egg physiologies. We found that (i) eggshell calcium carbonate content was positively correlated with species having thinner eggshells and smaller than expected eggs relative to incubating parental mass, (ii) species with small mean clutch sizes had lower calcium carbonate content in their eggshells, and (iii) for species with larger clutch sizes, eggshell calcium carbonate content was negatively correlated with their mean lifespan. The pattern of lower eggshell calcium carbonate in longer lived, larger clutched birds suggests that calcium provision to the eggshell has long-term costs for the individual.

scholarly journals Opto‐electrochemical Dissolution Reveals Coccolith Calcium Carbonate Content

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minjun Yang ◽  
Christopher Batchelor-McAuley ◽  
Samuel Barton ◽  
Rosalind E.M. Rickaby ◽  
Heather A. Bouman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Carbonate ◽  
Carbonate Content ◽  
Electrochemical Dissolution ◽  
Calcium Carbonate Content

Studies in the absorption and excretion of certain minerals by poultry. III. The influence of different levels of dietary calcium upon the retention of calcium, phosphorus, carbonate and chloride

1946 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 283-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cyril Tyler
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Carbonate ◽  
Dietary Calcium ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Carbonate Content ◽  
Phosphorus Excretion ◽  
Calcium Carbonate Content ◽  
High Calcium ◽  
Calcium Phosphorus ◽  
Different Levels

1. The daily retention of calcium, carbonate, phosphorus and chloride was studied using four birds and changing the calcium carbonate content of the ration every 5 days for 15 days.2. It was shown that high calcium diets result in a much lower retention of calcium and thin-shelled eggs are produced.3. Retention of calcium was higher in the laying than in the non-laying bird when calcium carbonate was fed.4. High calcium diets depressed the retention of phosphorus, and in one case the retention was negative, even when no eggs were laid. Laying birds gave negative values for retention because of the heavy phosphorus excretion associated with egg laying.5. High calcium diets also depressed the retention of chloride, and on occasion led to negative retention values.

scholarly journals Evidence of breeding activity of subadult Turdus thrushes in Argentina

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 149-152
Author(s):  
Exequiel Barboza ◽  
Patricia Capllonch ◽  
Fernando Diego Ortiz ◽  
Alex E. Jahn
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Life History ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Brood Patch ◽  
Breeding Condition ◽  
Different Populations ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Breeding Seasons ◽  
Subadult Female

AbstractLittle is known about the age at which many Neotropical bird species first attempt to breed. We evaluated the breeding condition of 515 adult and subadult males and females among four species of Turdus thrushes (T. nigriceps, T. chiguanco, T. amaurochalinus and T. rufiventris) in Tucumán, Argentina during three breeding seasons (2015 to 2018). We registered a total of 126 individuals with brood patches and cloacal protuberances, which accounted for 24.5% of thrushes in breeding condition that we sampled. Forty thrushes had a brood patch (31.7% of those in breeding condition), of which 11 were subadults (8.7%). Eighty-six thrushes (68.3%) had a swollen cloacal protuberance, 18 of which were subadults (14.3%). Only a few of the subadults in breeding condition built nests, incubated eggs or raised nestlings. Of 130 nests we found, only 3 belonged to a subadult thrush (in all cases, a subadult female with an adult social mate), one of which was successful. Further research on these patterns among various Neotropical bird species could lead to important insights into the life history strategies that characterize different populations, and how these ultimately affect their population dynamics.

scholarly journals Correction: Long-term fish assemblages of the Ohio River: Altered trophic and life history strategies with hydrologic alterations and land use modifications

PLoS ONE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. e0218915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Pyron ◽  
Meryl C. Mims ◽  
Mario M. Minder ◽  
Robert C. Shields ◽  
Nicole Chodkowski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Life History ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Ohio River ◽  
Hydrologic Alterations

scholarly journals Experimental Study on the Preparation of Calibration Curve for the Measurement of Calcium Carbonate Content Using a Gasometric Method

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-157
Author(s):  
Hiroaki SANO ◽  
Mikio YAMADA ◽  
Hirofumi KITAJIMA ◽  
Tukasa KASHIWABARA ◽  
Mikihito FURUKAWA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Calcium Carbonate ◽  
Calibration Curve ◽  
Carbonate Content ◽  
Calcium Carbonate Content

scholarly journals Variation in Demography and Life-History Strategies Across the Range of a Declining Mountain Bird Species

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnaud G. Barras ◽  
Sébastien Blache ◽  
Michael Schaub ◽  
Raphaël Arlettaz
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Adult Survival ◽  
Northwestern Part ◽  
European Alps ◽  
Demographic Processes

Species- and population-specific responses to their environment may depend to a large extent on the spatial variation in life-history traits and in demographic processes of local population dynamics. Yet, those parameters and their variability remain largely unknown for many cold-adapted species, which are exposed to particularly rapid rates of environmental change. Here, we compared the demographic traits and dynamics for an emblematic bird species of European mountain ecosystems, the ring ouzel (Turdus torquatus). Using integrated population models fitted in a Bayesian framework, we estimated the survival probability, productivity and immigration of two populations from the Western European Alps, in France (over 11 years) and Switzerland (over 6 years). Juvenile apparent survival was lower and immigration rate higher in the Swiss compared to the French population, with the temporal variation in population growth rate driven by different demographic processes. Yet, when compared to populations in the northwestern part of the range, in Scotland, these two Alpine populations both showed a much lower productivity and higher adult survival, indicating a slower life-history strategy. Our results suggest that demographic characteristics can substantially vary across the discontinuous range of this passerine species, essentially due to contrasted, possibly locally evolved life-history strategies. This study therefore raises the question of whether flexibility in life-history traits is widespread among boreo-alpine species and if it might provide adaptive potential for coping with current environmental change.

scholarly journals Breeding Biology of Passerines in a Subtropical Montane Forest in Northwestern Argentina

The Condor ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 109 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonya K. Auer ◽  
Ronald D. Bassar ◽  
Joseph J. Fontaine ◽  
Thomas E. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Nest Predation ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Temperate Species ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
Breeding Ecology ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Northwestern Argentina

Abstract The breeding ecology of south temperate bird species is less widely known than that of north temperate species, yet because they comprise a large portion of the world's avian diversity, knowledge of their breeding ecology can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the geographic diversity of avian reproductive traits and life history strategies. We provide the first detailed examination of the reproductive strategies of 18 forest passerines of subtropical, northwestern Argentina. Mean clutch sizes were smaller and egg mass was greater than for north temperate birds, but differed among species and nest types, with cavity-nesters having larger clutches than species with open-cup and enclosed nests. Across all species, the average breeding season duration was 50 days; thus, the common perception that southern species have smaller clutch sizes because of longer breeding seasons is not supported in this community. Daily nest predation rates were influenced by nest type, cavity nests suffering the least from predation, as found in north temperate systems. Only females incubated eggs in all but one species, whereas both parents fed and cared for nestlings in all species. Mean nest attentiveness was low compared to north temperate passerines. Mean hourly nestling feeding rates differed among species and were negatively related to nest predation risk. In short, coexisting species in this subtropical forest varied in their life history strategies, in part correlated with variation in nest predation risk, but also differing from north temperate species.

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