background: the present study was carried out to track and calculate biomagnification factor (bmf) of total mercury (t-hg) between two different trophic levels (i.e., plankton and a planktivorous fish) in a fresh water grazing food chain. methods: experimental organisms were planktonic biomass and silver carp (hypophthalmichthys molitrix) as a planktivorous fish. silver carp samples were obtain...

Coral reef assemblages, trophic interactions, and food web stability were examined across a remote and densely populated atoll, in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The biomass of sharks, large-bodied piscivores, and secondary invertebrate consumers was expectedly larger in the absence of major human populations. Less intuitively, we report a doubling in the density and biomass of sma...

Inputs of fresh water and grazing both can control aquatic food webs, but little is known about the relative strengths of and interactions between these controls. We use long-term data on the food web of the freshwater Hudson River estuary to investigate the importance of, and interactions between, inputs of fresh water and grazing by the invasive zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha). Both fresh...

The objective of this study was to examine the importance of nutrient status of a diatom (Stephanodiscus minutulus) to the uptake of PCB congener #54 (2,2',6,6'-tetrachlorobiphenyl) and the subsequent transfer of PCB to a pelagic grazing zooplankton (Daphnia pulicaria). The algae, which were grown under different nutrient treatments, were then fed to a zooplankton to examine the subsequent food...

climate change around the world is now a reality that has adverse effects on the environment and human health. there is little information about the effect of climate change on food systems, especially seafood from the farm to the table. the aim of this study was to review the fundamental effects of climate change on seafood safety and human health. climate change is expected to increase chemic...

Using the 2006 American Time Use Survey and its Food and Health Module I show that over half of adult Americans report grazing (secondary eating/drinking) on a typical day, with grazing time averaging over 2/3 of primary eating/drinking time. An economic model predicts that higher wage rates will lead to substitution of grazing for primary eating/drinking, especially by changing the relative nu...

The objective of this study was to investigate the differences in the muscle proteome of grass-fed and grain-fed cattle. Eight Japanese Black Cattle 10 mo of age were separated randomly into 2 groups: 1) grazing (grass-fed) and 2) concentrate (grain-fed) groups. All cattle were first housed individually in a stall barn and fed a combination of concentrate ad libitum and Italian ryegrass hay unt...

Grazing mortality of the marine phytoplankton Synechococcus is dominated by planktonic protists, yet rates of consumption and factors regulating grazer-Synechococcus interactions are poorly understood. One aspect of predator-prey interactions for which little is known are the mechanisms by which Synechococcus avoids or resists predation and, in turn, how this relates to the ability of Synechoco...

The main factors affecting the accumulation of potentially-toxic metals (PTM) by grazing animals are the presence of the metal, its concentration in herbage and at the soil surface, and the duration of exposure to the contaminated pasture and soil. In addition, the elapsed time between the contamination of the pasture and grazing, the quantity of soil ingested together with herbage, the mechani...