Osmotic and ionic regulation was studied in the Dungeness
crab, Cancer magister, after acute exposure to a range of five
salinities from 25% to 125% sea water (100% = 32%). Blood, urine
and muscle tissue were sampled at 24 and 48 hours after exposure.
Analyses were made of blood and...
Organismal tolerance to abiotic environmental stresses contributes significantly to setting the distribution limits of organisms, as demonstrated by vertical zonation patterns in the marine intertidal zone. In this thesis, the ultimate (evolutionary) and proximate (mechanistic) causes of tolerance to temperature and emersion stresses associated with the intertidal zone were examined...
The influence of large-scale processes on natural communities has become one of the central issues of modern ecology. I combined field and laboratory studies to investigate the effects of variation in coastal upwelling on rocky intertidal communities along the central Oregon coast. I examined whether the growth of intertidal barnacles...
Description of anuran larvae with the use of staging tables is
a common practice in the study of frog life-histories, but there has
been no previous description or table of Ascaphus larvae. In comparing
Ascaphus larvae to a simplified staging table for anurans it
was found that these larvae vary...
The adaptiveness of polygyny in passerines poses a particularly
intriguing problem. The altricial young of this group require extended
parental care, but young of polygynous pairings generally lack the undivided
attention of the male which young of monogamous pairings receive.
Polygynous offspring may thus be undernourished and experience
greater mortality....
Lucina floridana is an intertidal clam that contains intracellular, sulfur-oxidizing
symbiotic bacteria in its gills. These bacteria are chemolithoautotrophic, using the energy
from the oxidation of reduced sulfur compounds to power carbon fixation. Although
sulfide is an energy-rich compound, it is also toxic to aerobic metabolism and autooxidizes
in the...
Interface habitats are considered valuable natural systems, tightly linked to adjacent habitats through the flow of matter and energy. However, there is limited research on mechanisms of connectivity such as movement of organisms and particulate matter and ways in which anthropogenic disturbance to interface habitats may affect immediate and adjacent...