A first evaluation on the use of Ardea albus feathers as bioindicators of mercury burden in Amazonian ecosystems

Gomes, Andreza de Lourdes Souza; Vieira, José Luiz Fernandes; Pinheiro, Maria da Conceição Nascimento; Marceliano, Maria Luiza Videira

doi:10.1590/s0044-59672009000400025

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Contamination assessment in C. americanaOur data reveal a worrying scenario of Hg and MeHg contamination in C. americana in the Teles Pires and Juruena Rivers. The observed concentrations were higher than those reported for Ardea alba (2.2 µg/g) in the Brazilian Amazon(Gomes et al 2009) and Mycteria americana (0.339 µg/g) in the Brazilian Pantanal (DelLama et al 2011). This fact may be related to the bioavailability of Hg in the sampled environments and/or to trophic position, although all sampled species are piscivorous.…”

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confidence: 71%

“…Hg contamination studies with avians are still scarce in Brazil. The limited research includes analyses of great egrets Ardea alba feathers in the Brazilian Amazon (Gomes et al 2009), wood stork Mycteria americana in the Pantanal wetland (Del Lama et al 2011) and magellanic penguins Spheniscus magellanicus at the south Brazilian coast. The negative Hg effects in avians were evaluated at the neurobehavioural (Burger and Gochfeld 2003) and breeding (Jackson et The objective of this work was to evaluate Hg contamination (total Hg [THg] and MeHg) in different tissues from C. americana obtained from the Teles Pires and Juruena Rivers (southern Amazon), in order to identify sites polluted by Hg and evidence its bioaccumulation in this species and its biomagni cation in the local food-webs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Green kingfishers as sentinel species for mercury contamination in Amazon

Oliveira

Ignácio

Lázaro

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Mercury is a global contaminant naturally found in the Amazon; it can be biomagnified in the aquatic trophic chain. The use of piscivorous avians for mercurial contamination biomonitoring is increasing, mainly due to the non-mobility of mercury in avian feathers. We examined the concentrations of total mercury and methylmercury in different Chloroceryle americana tissues from the Teles Pires and Juruena Rivers in the southern Brazilian Amazon. We also evaluated total mercury in small Characidae fish (potential C. americana food) in the same areas. The results evidenced high mercury concentrations, on average two-times higher in the green kingfishers from the Teles Pires River compared to the Juruena River; the same results were found for the fish specimens. Mercury concentrations were lowest in the muscle, followed by liver and highest in feathers. Fifty-eight per cent of the feather samples from the Juruena River and 90% from the Teles Pires River had total mercury concentrations above 5 µg/g, a level previously associated with adverse effects related to avian breeding. The methylmercury concentration was lowest in the liver, followed by feathers and highest in muscle. Although Juruena River avian feathers had a lower total mercury concentration, > 96% of the total mercury was methylmercury, the highest amount for specimens from both rivers.

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confidence: 71%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Green kingfishers as sentinel species for mercury contamination in Amazon

Oliveira

Ignácio

Lázaro

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…Concentrations of Pb below 6 µg/g function only as background concentrations and are lethal only when above 25 µg/g [21]. Concentrations of Hg were low in the subjects studied in this research, probably due to the source of Hg being the primary food, i.e., poisoning occurs primarily in piscivorous birds, which is not the case with caracaras [13]. Both Cu and Cr are metals required by the body.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Heavy Metal Concentrations in Free-Living Southern Caracaras (Caracara plancus) in the Northeast Region of Brazil

Silva

Filho

Kunst

et al. 2017

Acta Scientiae. Vet.

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Background: With the continuously increasing release of heavy metals in the environment, mostly from anthropogenic sources, there is a need to find ways of evaluating and managing the issuance of these contaminants and correct its damages. The birds being at the top of some food chains reflect the presence of metals in the environment, keeping this in perspective, raptors have been successfully used for heavy metals biomonitoring studies in the past. The purpose of this study was to identify and quantify cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), and chromium (Cr) in the feathers and livers of free-living southern caracaras, live and dead, from Recife, Pernambuco state, Northeast of Brazil. Material, Methods & Results: Sixty-two feathers from live and dead southern caracaras and 21 livers from dead southern caracaras were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry for Hg and by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry for Cd, Cr, Pb, and Cu. Concentrations of Cr and Cu elements were detected in all feather and liver samples analyzed from live and dead caracaras. There was no difference in the concentration of metals between feathers of dead and live caracaras: Pb (P = 0.3576), Cd (P = 0.0792), Cr (P = 0.5475), and Cu (P = 0.3603), but significant variation was observed for Hg (P = 0.0459). The highest concentrations of Pb (P < 0.0001) and Cr (P < 0.0001) were found in the feathers than in the liver. On the other hand, the highest concentrations of Cu were found in liver samples (P = 0.0011). No significant variation in the concentrations of Cd (P = 0.7770) and Hg (P = 0.3669) was found between feathers and liver samples. Discussion: Chromium, as well as Hg, and Cu have a high affinity for keratin, which may explain the higher concentrations of Cr in caracaras feathers in this research. Lead was detected in all liver samples analyzed. Elevated levels were also found in the feathers of dead (95.2%) and live (75.6%) caracaras. The presence of Pb may be due to external contamination by pollutants, such as fossil fuels. Higher concentrations of Hg were observed in dead caracaras feathers, this concentrations change during molting but are not affected by external contamination. Metals, such as Hg, and Cd, accumulate in organisms from different trophic levels, which may indicate that this contamination comes mainly from feed. Pearson's coefficient here showed no correlation between metals from dead caracaras feathers and livers, although a few previous studies have shown a correlation between metal concentrations from tissues and feathers. This pattern can be attributed to the different time of exposure of feathers to metals in relation to livers. The concentrations of metals in hepatic tissues reflect the levels of elements in the diet of these birds, characterizing acutely the contamination of the ecosystem. On the other hand, feathers represent the exposure in the time of molting, when the artery supplies metals, thus representing a chronic exposure. In feathers from live birds, the ...

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“…To contribute to current conservation needs for major Brazilian wetlands and expand knowledge on the population genetics of ardeids associated with these areas, the present study focused on populations of the great egret, Ardea alba egretta Gmelin 1789 (Aves: Ardeidae: Ciconiiformes, but see Pratt, 2011). This subspecies occurs throughout the Americas, from southern Canada to southern Argentina and Chile (Morales, 2000;Kushlan and Hancock, 2005) and is evenly distributed among Brazilian wetlands (GBIF, 2015), where it has been used as an indicator of threatened environments (Gomes et al, 2009). Great egrets move locally in response to breeding or wintering needs and are resident or partially migratory birds throughout most of their range in South America (Brazilian Committee on Ornithological Records, 2011;IUCN, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic structuring among populations of the great egret, Ardea alba egretta, in major Brazilian wetlands

Corrêa

Lama

Souza

2015

Aquatic Conservation

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ABSTRACT1. Waterbirds are increasingly affected by climate change and human disturbances to the wetlands on which they roost, forage and breed. The evolutionary response of populations to such changes is influenced by genetic variability and gene flow patterns, which enable long-term survival. Thus, genetic monitoring of waterbird populations can provide valuable information to support conservation measures and management policies for wetlands.2. This study assessed past and contemporary levels of genetic diversity, estimated effective population sizes (Ne) and investigated gene flow patterns among populations of the great egret, Ardea alba egretta, settled in major Brazilian wetlands.3. Samples (N = 200) were collected from the northern, central western, south-eastern and southern regions of Brazil. AMOVA, F-statistics, assignment tests, Bayesian clustering analyses and Ne were estimated based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and microsatellite loci.4. The populations share most mitochondrial haplotypes, suggesting a common recent past. Mismatch analyses, Fs and D statistics, and SSD and Rg indices indicated significant signs of expansion in most populations. The time since expansion suggests that egrets colonized southern latitudes more recently, probably accompanying the supposed historical environmental changes in South America, with more stable habitats toward equatorial regions.5. MtDNA Ф ST revealed significant differentiation between the northern and both the central western and southern populations. Nuclear loci demonstrated significant structuring between the central western and southern populations, which showed similar effective sizes.6. Despite the considerable dispersal potential of the great egret, there is limited gene flow among populations located in different Brazilian wetlands. Therefore, colonies from different regions should be preserved, with special attention to the northern populations, whose allelic constitution differs from the other. This approach can be used to genetically monitor similar species in other wetlands or to great egret populations in other regions of the Americas.

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A first evaluation on the use of Ardea albus feathers as bioindicators of mercury burden in Amazonian ecosystems

Cited by 8 publications

References 11 publications

Green kingfishers as sentinel species for mercury contamination in Amazon

Green kingfishers as sentinel species for mercury contamination in Amazon

Heavy Metal Concentrations in Free-Living Southern Caracaras (Caracara plancus) in the Northeast Region of Brazil

Genetic structuring among populations of the great egret, Ardea alba egretta, in major Brazilian wetlands

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