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Relationship between laying sequence and mercury concentration in tree swallow eggs
Author(s) -
Brasso Rebecka L.,
Abdel Latif Marwa K.,
Cristol Daniel A.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.144
Subject(s) - mercury (programming language) , avian clutch size , biology , nest (protein structural motif) , zoology , ecology , reproduction , computer science , programming language , biochemistry
When female birds lay eggs, some of their body burden of mercury is eliminated into each egg, potentially leading to declining mercury across the clutch. However, there was no decline in mercury with laying sequence in clutches of tree swallow ( Tachycineta bicolor ) eggs at a mercury‐contaminated site, presumably due to daily replenishment of mercury in females during laying. Sampling just one egg from the nest provided an accurate measure of clutch mercury contamination. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2010;29:1155–1159. © 2010 SETAC