Abstract for my diss chapter/review (keep in mind it's the first, VERY rough draft):
The growth of the agricultural industry means that organisms are exposed to an ever increasing variety of environmental challenges. One of the most common tools used to assess environmental stress, especially stress during fish development, is fluctuating asymmetry (FA). Despite the number of studies examining fish FA, no attempt has been made to synthesize that knowledge in an attempt to determine if FA is an appropriate tool for determining fish developmental stress. This review details a total of sixty-two studies which examine natural FA variation, FA changes in response to natural and anthropogenic stressors, and links between FA and a number of fitness parameters. In an attempt to synthesize the information in these studies, I list some of the major shortcomings of fish FA research, including a lack of considered character choice, failure to distinguish between asymmetry types, and failure to properly quantify measurement error. Finally, I present the reasons I feel that some researchers may not consider FA to be an appropriate tool for conservation biologists to use in monitoring species/habitats.
1 comment:
The studies of environmental impact on FA is interesting--I watched something about the environmental effects on FA in fish--polution does some nasty things to our world! It is kinda neat to know one of the experts in this area!
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