Changes in egg shell characteristics of the Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) and Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) associated with exposure to environmental pollutants during recent decades
In Britain since the late 1940s, the Sparrowhawk ( Accipiter nisus ) and Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) have laid eggs with unusually thin shells. DDT and its metabolites have been blamed. This paper reports how various properties of modern shells differ from those of older shells of normal thickness....
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb03947.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1469-7998.1979.tb03947.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb03947.x https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb03947.x |
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crwiley:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb03947.x 2024-06-02T08:06:20+00:00 Changes in egg shell characteristics of the Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) and Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) associated with exposure to environmental pollutants during recent decades Cooke, A. S. 1979 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb03947.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1469-7998.1979.tb03947.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb03947.x https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb03947.x en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Journal of Zoology volume 187, issue 2, page 245-263 ISSN 0952-8369 1469-7998 journal-article 1979 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb03947.x 2024-05-03T10:38:15Z In Britain since the late 1940s, the Sparrowhawk ( Accipiter nisus ) and Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) have laid eggs with unusually thin shells. DDT and its metabolites have been blamed. This paper reports how various properties of modern shells differ from those of older shells of normal thickness. For the shells of both species, there were roughly proportional reductions in thickness of the two main component layers, the mammillary and palisade layers, suggesting that thin shells resulted from a decreased rate of deposition. In addition, in modern Sparrowhawk shells, the resistant surface layer was especially deficient perhaps due to a further reduction in deposition rate or to slight premature termination. Shell thinning was associated with a proportionately greater decrease in shell strength. For the Peregrine, porosity, measured as the rate of passage of water vapour, was lower for the thin shells than for normal shells. This difference could not be explained by a change in the area of the pore channels, since the modern shells did not have fewer pores and the pore channels were the same size and shape in the two samples of shells. However, in the thin shells of both species, mammillae height increased relative to mammillary layer thickness, and in the Peregrine shells the extent of this increase was related to the change in porosity. Article in Journal/Newspaper Falco peregrinus Wiley Online Library Journal of Zoology 187 2 245 263 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
In Britain since the late 1940s, the Sparrowhawk ( Accipiter nisus ) and Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) have laid eggs with unusually thin shells. DDT and its metabolites have been blamed. This paper reports how various properties of modern shells differ from those of older shells of normal thickness. For the shells of both species, there were roughly proportional reductions in thickness of the two main component layers, the mammillary and palisade layers, suggesting that thin shells resulted from a decreased rate of deposition. In addition, in modern Sparrowhawk shells, the resistant surface layer was especially deficient perhaps due to a further reduction in deposition rate or to slight premature termination. Shell thinning was associated with a proportionately greater decrease in shell strength. For the Peregrine, porosity, measured as the rate of passage of water vapour, was lower for the thin shells than for normal shells. This difference could not be explained by a change in the area of the pore channels, since the modern shells did not have fewer pores and the pore channels were the same size and shape in the two samples of shells. However, in the thin shells of both species, mammillae height increased relative to mammillary layer thickness, and in the Peregrine shells the extent of this increase was related to the change in porosity. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cooke, A. S. |
spellingShingle |
Cooke, A. S. Changes in egg shell characteristics of the Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) and Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) associated with exposure to environmental pollutants during recent decades |
author_facet |
Cooke, A. S. |
author_sort |
Cooke, A. S. |
title |
Changes in egg shell characteristics of the Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) and Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) associated with exposure to environmental pollutants during recent decades |
title_short |
Changes in egg shell characteristics of the Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) and Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) associated with exposure to environmental pollutants during recent decades |
title_full |
Changes in egg shell characteristics of the Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) and Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) associated with exposure to environmental pollutants during recent decades |
title_fullStr |
Changes in egg shell characteristics of the Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) and Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) associated with exposure to environmental pollutants during recent decades |
title_full_unstemmed |
Changes in egg shell characteristics of the Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) and Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) associated with exposure to environmental pollutants during recent decades |
title_sort |
changes in egg shell characteristics of the sparrowhawk (accipiter nisus) and peregrine (falco peregrinus) associated with exposure to environmental pollutants during recent decades |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
1979 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb03947.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1469-7998.1979.tb03947.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb03947.x https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb03947.x |
genre |
Falco peregrinus |
genre_facet |
Falco peregrinus |
op_source |
Journal of Zoology volume 187, issue 2, page 245-263 ISSN 0952-8369 1469-7998 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb03947.x |
container_title |
Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
187 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
245 |
op_container_end_page |
263 |
_version_ |
1800751270109118464 |