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Ecological Significance and Underlying Mechanisms of Body Size Differentiation in White-tailed Deer (open access)

Ecological Significance and Underlying Mechanisms of Body Size Differentiation in White-tailed Deer

Body size varies according to nutritional availability, which is of ecological and evolutionary relevance. The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that differences in adult body size are realized by increasing juvenile growth rate for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Harvest records are used to construct growth rate estimates by empirical nonlinear curve fitting. Results are compared to those of previous models that include additional parameters. The rate of growth increases during the study period. Models that estimate multiple parameters may not work with harvest data in which estimates of these parameters are prone to error, which renders estimates from complex models too variable to detect inter-annual changes in growth rate that this simpler model captures
Date: May 2012
Creator: Barr, Brannon
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Layer Double Hydroxide Nanoclays on the Toxicity of Copper to Daphnia Magna (open access)

Effects of Layer Double Hydroxide Nanoclays on the Toxicity of Copper to Daphnia Magna

Nanoparticles may affect secondary pollutants such as copper. Layer Double Hydroxides (LDH) are synthetically produced nanoparticles that adsorb copper via cation exchange. Pretreatment of copper test solutions with LDH nanoparticles followed by filtration removal of LDH nanoparticles demonstrated the smallest LDH aggregates removed the most copper toxicity. This was due to increased surface area for cation exchange relative to larger particle aggregates. Co-exposure tests of copper chloride and clay were run to determine if smaller clay particles increased copper uptake by D. magna. Coexposure treatments had lower LC50 values compared to the filtration tests, likely as a result of additive toxicity. LDH nanoclays do reduce copper toxicity in Daphnia magna and may serve as a remediation tool.
Date: May 2012
Creator: Blake, Deanne Renee
System: The UNT Digital Library