scholarly journals Geohistorical records indicate no impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on oyster body size

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (11) ◽  
pp. 160763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory P. Dietl ◽  
Stephen R. Durham
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Impact Analysis ◽  
Size Structure ◽  
Eastern Oyster ◽  
Deepwater Horizon ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Average Body

Documentation of the near- and long-term effects of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, one of the largest environmental disasters in US history, is still ongoing. We used a novel before-after-control-impact analysis to test the hypothesis that average body size of intertidal populations of the eastern oyster ( Crassostrea virginica ) inhabiting impacted areas in Louisiana decreased due to increased stress/mortality related to the oil spill. Time-averaged death assemblages of oysters were used to establish a pre-spill baseline of body-size structure for four impacted and four control locations along a 350 km stretch of Louisiana's coastline. Post-spill body sizes were then measured from live oysters at each site in order to evaluate the differences in body size between oiled (i.e. impact) and unoiled (i.e. control) locations before and after the spill. Our results indicate that average body size of oysters remained relatively unchanged after the oil spill. There were also no temporal patterns in temperature, salinity or disease prevalence that could have explained our results. Together, these findings suggest that oysters either recovered rapidly following the immediate impact of the DWH oil spill, or that its impact was not severe enough to influence short-term population dynamics of the oyster beds.

Mammals across the K/Pg boundary in northeastern Montana, U.S.A.: dental morphology and body-size patterns reveal extinction selectivity and immigrant-fueled ecospace filling

Paleobiology ◽  
10.1666/12041 ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory P. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Size Structure ◽  
Morphological Diversity ◽  
Dental Morphology ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
Size Disparity ◽  
Mammalian Faunas ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Extinction Selectivity ◽  
Spatiotemporal Scales

The Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/Pg) mass extinction has long been viewed as a pivotal event in mammalian evolutionary history, in which the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs allowed mammals to rapidly expand from small-bodied, generalized insectivores to a wide array of body sizes and ecological specializations. Many studies have used global- or continental-scale taxonomic databases to analyze this event on coarse temporal scales, but few studies have documented morphological diversity of mammalian paleocommunities on fine spatiotemporal scales in order to examine ecomorphological selectivity and ecospace filling across this critical transition. Focusing on well-sampled and temporally well-constrained mammalian faunas across the K/Pg boundary in northeastern Montana, I quantified dental-shape disparity and morphospace occupancy via landmark- and semilandmark-based geometric morphometrics and mean body size, body-size disparity, and body-size structure via body-mass estimates.My results reveal several key findings: (1) latest Cretaceous mammals, particularly metatherians and multituberculates, had a greater ecomorphological diversity than is generally appreciated, occupying regions of the morphospace that are interpreted as strict carnivory, plant-dominated omnivory, and herbivory; (2) the decline in dental-shape disparity and body-size disparity across the K/Pg boundary shows a pattern of constructive extinction selectivity against larger-bodied dietary specialists, particularly strict carnivores and taxa with plant-based diets, that suggests the kill mechanism was related to depressed primary productivity rather than a globally instantaneous event; (3) the ecomorphological recovery in the earliest Paleocene was fueled by immigrants, namely three multituberculate families (taeniolabidids, microcosmodontids, eucosmodontids) and to a lesser extent archaic ungulates; and (4) despite immediate increases in the taxonomic richness of eutherians, their much-celebrated post-K/Pg ecomorphological expansion had a slower start than is generally perceived and most likely only began 400,000 to 1 million years after the extinction event.

scholarly journals Decline in condition of gorgonian octocorals on mesophotic reefs in the northern Gulf of Mexico: before and after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Coral Reefs ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Etnoyer ◽  
Leslie N. Wickes ◽  
Mauricio Silva ◽  
J. D. Dubick ◽  
Len Balthis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Deepwater Horizon ◽  
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill ◽  
Northern Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Before And After

Growth and body size in Blanding's turtles (Emydoidea blandingi): relationships to reproduction

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 239-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin D. Congdon ◽  
Richard C. van Loben Sels
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Minimum Age ◽  
Average Size ◽  
Average Body ◽  
Clutch Mass ◽  
Growth And Reproduction

Growth and reproduction in Blanding's turtles (Emydoidea blandingi) were studied in southeastern Michigan from 1975 through 1988. Average body sizes of both sexes of adults were similar; however, shapes of males were different from those of females. The average size of a group of females with a mean minimum age of 47 years was not significantly different from a younger group with a mean age of 21 years. Clutch size ranged from 3 to 19 ([Formula: see text], N = 280) eggs over 11 years. Clutch wet mass ranged from 60.4 to 183.4 g ([Formula: see text], N = 17), and relative clutch mass of nine females averaged 0.12. Clutch size, and to a lesser degree egg size, showed a significant positive relationship with body size, but not with age of females. Hatchlings averaged 31.0 mm in plastron length, 35.3 mm in carapace length, and 9.2 g in body wet mass. Differences in juvenile growth rates and age at sexual maturity appear to be the major cause of variation in body size of adult Blanding's turtles and the related reproductive output per clutch.

Abstract P251: Relationship Between Body Size of Social Network Members and Body Size Norms of South Asian Adults

Circulation ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 137 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Lancki ◽  
Juned Siddique ◽  
John A Schneider ◽  
Alka M Kanaya ◽  
Swapna Dave ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Body Size ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Female Body ◽  
South Asians ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Weight Control Behaviors ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Average Body ◽  
Healthy Body

Objective: Perceptions of a healthy body weight may be influenced by social norms within a social network. This study tested the hypothesis that social network body size is associated with body size norms in South Asian adults from the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA) study. Methods: South Asian adults (n=700) were asked to list their personal social network members, defined as the “people who you regularly talk with about things that are important to you,” at the social network ancillary study examination (2014-2017). Participants’ perceptions of their network members’ body sizes, their own body size (self-body size), and a healthy body size (body size norm) for men and women were assessed using the Stunkard 9-figure scale. The Stunkard scale is a silhouette figure rating scale consisting of 9 male and 9 female figures of increasing body size (range 1-9). Participants’ height and weight were measured, and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. The average body size of network members was the main independent variable. Body size norm was the dependent variable in a regression model that controlled for age, sex, gender of Stunkard figure, cultural identity, self-body size, participants’ measured BMI, and social network size. A random intercept term was included at the participant level to account for clustering of male and female body size norms within participants. Results: Participants’ average age was 59 years (SD+/-9 years) and 43% were female. The average body size norm for male and female Stunkard images was 3.6 (SD+/-1.0) and 3.4 (SD+/-0.8), respectively. Participants’ average self-body size was 4.7 (SD+/-1.5). There were 2,991 social network members identified (mean number of network members=4, SD=1), and the majority (70%) were kin. The average network body size was 3.9 (SD +/-1.1). For every unit increase in their networks’ average body size, participants’ perceptions of body size norms increased 0.31 points on the Stunkard scale (p<0.01; 95% CI: 0.25, 0.36), independent of self-body size and BMI. Perception of a healthy body size norm was 0.25 points lower for female Stunkard figures than for male figures (p<.01; 95% CI: -0.30, -0.20). Conclusions: Having social network members with larger body sizes was associated with a higher body size norm in South Asian adults. Norms for female body images were smaller than for male images. Long-term follow-up of the MASALA cohort will determine if network members’ body size and body size norms are associated with weight change and weight-control behaviors in South Asians.

scholarly journals Ectoparasitic fungi Rickia wasmannii infection is associated with smaller body size in Myrmica ants

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sándor Csősz ◽  
Zoltán Rádai ◽  
András Tartally ◽  
Lilla Erika Ballai ◽  
Ferenc Báthori
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Infection Level ◽  
Myrmica Ants ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Myrmica Scabrinodis ◽  
Rickia Wasmannii ◽  
Average Body ◽  
Colony Level

AbstractParasitism-generated negative effects on ant societies are multifaceted, implying individual and colony-level responses. Though laboratory based evidence shows that the sublethal fungus Rickia wasmannii is responsible for physiological and behavioral responses that may negatively affect individual workers’ resilience and life expectancy in Myrmica ant workers, colony-level stress response to this parasite is largely unknown. Here, we focus on understanding of a long-term, colony-level effect of Rickia infection on Myrmica scabrinodis ant populations by tracking trait size-based changes. We collected worker specimens from infected and uninfected colonies from the same population in order to: (1) compare body size in response to parasitism, (2) assess the extent to which possible changes in size are associated with the severity of infection, and (3) investigate shifts in body size in response to infection over time by testing correlation of workers’ ages and sizes. We found that workers from infected colonies were significantly smaller than their healthy congeners, but neither infection level nor the age of the workers showed significant correlation with the size in infected colonies. Decreasing body sizes in infected colonies can be ascribed to workers’ mediated effect toward developing larvae, which are unable to attain the average body size before they pupate.

Demographic trends of Brown Pelicans in Louisiana before and after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

2014 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 421-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott T. Walter ◽  
Michael R. Carloss ◽  
Thomas J. Hess ◽  
Paul L. Leberg
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Deepwater Horizon ◽  
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill ◽  
Demographic Trends ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Brown Pelicans
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