Freeze-Drying to Preserve Birds for Teaching Collections

Shoffner, Alexandra V.; Brittingham, Margaret C.

doi:10.1656/045.020.0309

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The wing in the defined load shape was preserved following a freeze-drying method utilized to preserve specimens for teaching collections (see Shoffner in 2013) [ 15 ]. Our freeze dryer consists of a refrigerated specimen chamber, a refrigerated condenser and a vacuum pump.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This parameter was defined after the freeze-drying method was applied to 5 bird wings where all of them showed the percentage of mass loss aforementioned. The qualitative consideration is that the texture of the specimen must be seen as dry, thin and brittle [ 15 ]. For the present study a benchtop freeze-dryer was used (Labconco FreeZone ® , Kansas City, MO, USA).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biomimetic Design of Turbine Blades for Ocean Current Power Generation

2023

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The enhancement of energy technology and innovation play a crucial role in order to meet the challenges related to global warming in the coming decades. Inspired by bird wings, the performance of a bio-inspired blade assembled to a marine turbine model, is examined. Following a biomimetic pathway, the aerodynamic performance of the bird wings of the species Common Guillemot (Uria aalge) was tested in a wind tunnel laboratory. Based on our results, we derived a bio-inspired blade model by following a laser scanning method. Lastly, the bio-inspired blades were assembled to a marine turbine model and tested in a large flow tank facility. We found efficiencies (Cp) up to 0.3 which is around 53% of the maximum power that can be expected from the turbine model according to the Betz approach. Our findings are analyzed in the discussion section as well as considerations for future research.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomimetic Design of Turbine Blades for Ocean Current Power Generation

2023

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“…, Nurnadia et al . ), 27% for reptiles (Vitt ), 41% for birds (Shoffner & Brittingham ) and 32% for mammals (Baker et al . ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The wet weight of vertebrate prey (for small mammals based on data of their weight collected in the Mammal Research Institute and other vertebrates from literature sources) was converted to dry mass by multiplying by the estimated percentage dry mass. This was taken as 25% for fish (Ali et al 2006, Nurnadia et al 2011, 27% for reptiles (Vitt 1978), 41% for birds (Shoffner & Brittingham 2013) and 32% for mammals (Baker et al 1993).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using soil from pellets of White StorksCiconia ciconiato assess the number of earthworms (Lumbricidae) consumed as primary and secondary prey

Orłowski

Książkiewicz‐Parulska

Karg

et al. 2016

Ibis

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Earthworms (Oligochaeta, Lumbricidae) form a significant component of the food web and are the staple diet of many higher‐trophic‐level predators, such as invertebrate‐feeding birds and mammals. Their almost complete digestion in the predator's gut hampers their detection or quantification in faeces or pellets except through labour‐intensive microscopic examination. As a result, the evaluation of earthworms as a component of diet has been neglected in most studies based on pellet analysis. We assess whether the earthworm component of the diet of White Storks Ciconia ciconia can be estimated reliably by measuring soil mass in pellets, and whether the fact that White Storks also consume European Moles Talpa europaea (themselves consumers of earthworms) affects this relationship. We found a significantly higher density of earthworm chaetae, but less soil material, in pellets containing the remains of Moles. This may indicate the secondary origin of some chaetae from the intestines of the ingested Moles. There was a strong relationship and close fit between the number of earthworm chaetae and the mass of soil (material < 0.2 mm) retrieved from all the pellets analysed. Approximating the number of chaetae based on a soil mass of 192 mg per 1000 chaetae yielded results differing by only 4–5% from numbers of chaetae counted directly. This validates the proposed method of indirectly calculating the number of earthworms consumed from the ingested soil mass, which simplifies and shortens the time‐consuming direct counting of chaetae and could contribute to a more detailed description and analysis of diets in wild birds. Such assessments are important in order to improve the detection of changes induced by the progressive simplification and loss of primary food web resources (such as earthworms) within agro‐ecosystems as a consequence of both the rapid intensification of agricultural production and climate change.

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