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The topobiology of chemical elements in seabird feathers
Citation
Howell, NR and Lavers, JL and Uematsu, S and Paterson, D and Howard, DL and Spiers, K and de Jonge, MD and Hanley, T and Garrett, R and Banati, RB, The topobiology of chemical elements in seabird feathers, Scientific Reports, 7 Article 1998. ISSN 2045-2322 (2017) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2017 The authors. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
DOI: doi:10.1038/s41598-017-01878-y
Abstract
The highly organized morphogenesis of bird feathers holds important phylo- and ontogenetic information on the evolution of birds, organogenesis, tissue regeneration, and the health status of individual animals. Altered topobiological patterns are regularly used as retrospective evidence for disturbed developmental trajectories due to the past exposure to environmental stressors. Using the most advanced high-resolution (5–70 μm) X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM), we describe in the feathers from three species of Procellariiformes hitherto unknown, depositions of elements (Zn, Ca, Br, Cu, Fe) that are independent of pigmentation or any underlying variation in density or polymer structure. In the case of Zn, the pattern across several species of Procellariiformes, but not other species, consisted of highly regular bands of Zn numbering 30–32, which may reflect the estimated number of days of active feather growth or the duration of the moult period. Thus, speculatively, the highly consistent Zn pattern might be the result of a so far unknown diurnal systemic regulation rather than local heterogeneity amongst the follicular stem cells.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | marine pollution, trace metals, seabird ecology, XFM beamline, synchrotron science |
| Research Division: | Environmental Sciences |
| Research Group: | Environmental management |
| Research Field: | Conservation and biodiversity |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Marine systems and management |
| Objective Field: | Marine biodiversity |
| UTAS Author: | Lavers, JL (Dr Jennifer Lavers) |
| ID Code: | 116737 |
| Year Published: | 2017 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 7 |
| Deposited By: | Ecology and Biodiversity |
| Deposited On: | 2017-05-18 |
| Last Modified: | 2018-05-28 |
| Downloads: | 105 View Download Statistics |
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