Feeding habit

The dietary habits of the predator are also an important consideration. If the predator is a specialist feeder, it could accumulate more pesticide in its tissue provided that its prey is contaminated. For example, fish-eating and predatory birds accumulate more DDT than other birds (Table 11.4). 

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Animals, including humans, create their body tissues from the food they consume all the substances that constitute their bodies are derived from food. Food is, therefore, essential for their survival, and food and the search for adequate supplies of food have determined, and still determine, the life-patterns of ancient as well as of modem people. The study of past human feeding habits and their diets is, therefore, central to the understanding of ancient societies. A large number of studies have shown that there is strong correlation between the type food consumed and the relative amounts of the stable isotopes of some elements in the body or in its dead remains. This seems to confirm an axiom generally recognized in science, that "You are what you eat."... 

Costantini, D., Casagrande, S., Di Lieto, G., Fanfani, A., and DelTOmo, G. 2005. Consistent differences in feeding habits between neighbouring breeding kestrels. Behaviour 142 1409-1421. 

Hall, S.L. and F.M. Fisher, Jr. 1985. Lead concentrations in tissues of marsh birds relationship of feeding habits and grit preference to spent shot ingestion. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 35 1-8. 

Greater mobility of eels and different feeding habits of eels and crustaceans that impact accumulation patterns because of biomagnification and partitioning... 

Phycotoxins accumulate in fish and shellfish because of the natural feeding habits of the respective organisms, rather than because of food handling or processing practices. The toxins causing the diseases discussed in this chapter are heat stable (Australia New Zealand Food Authority, 2001 Committee on Evaluation of the Safety of Fishery Products, 1991). Complete inactivation of saxitoxin (associated with PSP) requires at least ten minutes of exposure to 260°C dry heat. Brevetoxins (associated with NSP) were inactivated (i.e., to levels below the limit of assay detection using Japanese medaka [Oryzias latipes]) by exposure to 500°C heat for 10 to 15 minutes (Poli, 1988). Complete inactivation required 10 minutes exposure to 2760°C dry heat (Wannamacher, 2000). 

Established feeding habits White-tailed deer R deters early in growing season but not in summer after having fed in gardens Miiller-Schwarze, 1983... 

Due to their feeding habits, insects may potentially encounter a diversity of toxins. Both plants ( ) and microorganisms such as fungi (2) inake a diversity of chemicals that act as agents to defend against insects and other predators, including plant polymers such... 

Most phytophagous insects exhibit specialized feeding habits they feed on a restricted range of taxonomically related plant species, and are even specialized to feed on particular parts of these plants like leaves, stems, flowers, fruits or roots (J ). 

The nutritional requirements of insect species exhibiting different feeding habits like scavengers, parasites, predators and phytophagous insects, are similar in a qualitative sense (O. Each insect species needs, however, a particular quantitative composition of nutrients in its diet to complete development ( ). The presence of toxic substances in plants, secondary plant substances as they were formerly called by phytochemists, forms a barrier which phytophagous insects have overcome by specialization. Thus, an insect can tolerate or detoxify the secondary plant substances present in its host plants, while the majority of these substances being present in other plants still acts as toxins (J ). In this way phytophagous insects are adapted to the metabolic qualities of their host plants, i.e. a particular chemical composition of nutrients and secondary plant substances. 

Consumption of fish and shellfish was identified as the significant pathway for potential exposure of dolphins/porpoises to the POPs. Little information existed on the feeding habits of local dolphins/porpoises in Hong Kong waters. Based on the limited data available (Parsons, 1997 Jefferson, 2001), it was assumed that the dolphin diet consisted of 90% fish and 10% shellfish (mainly crustaceans and cephalopods), while the ratio of fish and shellfish in the porpoises diet was 50 50. Dietary exposure to individual POPs was calculated based on the concentration of POPs... 

Table 9.4. Mean concentration (ng g 1 wet wt.) of organochlorines in Indian wild birds according to feeding habit...

Penedo de Pinho, A., J.R.D. Guimaraes, A.S. Martins, P.A.S. Costa, G. Olavo, and J. Valentin. 2002. Total mercury in muscle tissue of five shark species from Brazilian offshore waters Effects of feeding habit, sex, and length. Environ. Res. Section A 89 250-258. 

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