Assessment of the myoglobin variation in the periwinkle Littorina littorea along the Scheldt estuary

The Scheldt estuary (The Netherlands) consists of two tributaries, of which the western part is heavily polluted (i.e. domestic and industrial pollutants, including heavy metals) and the eastern is relatively clean. Pollutants generally follow downstream decreasing concentration gradients, thus opposing a natural occurring salinity gradient, which decreases upstream. Hence, the Scheldt estuary forms an interesting setting to investigate the effects of both anthropogenic and natural kind.The population genetic structure of the periwinkle, Littorina littorea , has already been studied in this es... Mehr ...