Effects on nestling age and burrow depth on CO2 and O2 concentrations in the burrows of bank swallows (Riparia riparia)

Permanent URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d20000613
Title:
Effects on nestling age and burrow depth on CO2 and O2 concentrations in the burrows of bank swallows (Riparia riparia)
Creator:
Wickler, Steven J. (Author)
Marsh, Richard L. (Author)
Publisher:
University of Chicago
Copyright date:
1981
Type of resource:
Text
Genre:
Articles
Format:
electronic
Digital origin:
born digital
Abstract/Description:
Gas samples were taken from the nest chambers of bank swallows (Riparia riparia) and analyzed for CO2 and O2 content. The mean CO2 content was 2.62% with a maximum value of 5.58%, and the mean O2 content was 17.83% with a minimum value of 14.61%. There was a positive and significant correlation of increasing CO2 content with both increasing nestling age and increasing total metabolizing mass (adults plus young). With increasing metabolizing mass there is a linear increase in CO2 content, which suggests no active regulation of gas concentrations. Burrow depth also affected CO2, particularly in burrows with older nestlings. The effect of depth is most likely due to the relative importance of convective exchange rather than to diffusion. The increase in CO2 was proportional to the decrease in O2 with a ratio of CO2:O2 equal to 0.86.
Comments:
Originally published in Physiological Zoology, 54:132-136, January 1981. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/636920
Subjects and keywords:
Bank swallows
birds
nestlings
bank swallows
Riparia riparia
burrows
Poultry or Avian Science
Permanent Link:
http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d20000613

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