Birdsong Differs between Mercury-polluted and Reference Sites

Hallinger, Kelly K.; Zabransky, Daniel J.; Kazmer, Katherine A.; Cristol, Daniel A.

doi:10.1525/auk.2009.09058

Cited by 56 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Evidence is now mounting for individual fitness effects, with a number of field studies reporting abnormalities in immune competence (Hawley Wada et al 2009), and behavior (Hallinger et al 2010) in mercury-contaminated songbirds. Such effects have the potential to alter reproductive success ; however, demonstrating that mercury is the specific cause of these individual fitness effects, and that these individual fitness effects result in reproductive impairment, has proven difficult.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of weather in mediating the effect of mercury exposure on reproductive success in tree swallows

Hallinger

Cristol

2011

Ecotoxicology

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Mercury is a heavy metal that has contaminated countless ecosystems throughout the world. A large body of literature has documented reproductive, physiological, and behavioral impairments associated with mercury exposure in laboratory settings, but whether and how such effects are manifest in free-living populations remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) breeding success at a site with high mercury exposure varied with ambient temperature or precipitation at various points in the breeding cycle. Tree swallows nesting along the South River had significantly elevated blood total mercury (mean ± SE: 3.03 ± 0.15 μg/g) compared to swallows breeding on reference sites (mean ± SE: 0.16 ± 0.005 μg/g). These high levels of mercury were associated with reduced hatching and fledging success, and contaminated birds produced approximately one less fledgling per nest than their reference counterparts. The magnitude of this difference was weather-dependent: unusually high ambient temperatures encountered early in the nestling period were associated with reduced reproductive output in contaminated, but not in reference, birds. In contrast, little effect of mercury on success of nestlings was observed when temperatures were cooler, and precipitation also had no detectable interaction with mercury. These results provide insight into mechanisms underlying reproductive effects of mercury. In addition, these findings underscore the importance of considering variable environmental conditions when assessing effects of contaminants on free-living wildlife. In particular, projections about the effects of global climate change on ecotoxicological impacts must take into account the kinds of weather-mediated effect demonstrated here.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of weather in mediating the effect of mercury exposure on reproductive success in tree swallows

Hallinger

Cristol

2011

Ecotoxicology

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“…This protocol opens the way for a plethora of cellular-molecular assays that will allow investigators to determine the developmental origins of adult phenotypes. For example, it will be possible to examine gene expression implicated in vocal learning under various environmental conditions or following pharmacological treatments at the earliest stages of development 28,29,30,31 . Although not demonstrated in this paper, this method potentially allows for other procedures such as radioactive in situ hybridization on zebra finch tissue sections and electroporation/in ovosurgery 32,33,34 .…”

Section: Representative Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissection and Downstream Analysis of Zebra Finch Embryos at Early Stages of Development

Murray

Stanciauskas

Aralere

et al. 2014

JoVE

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The zebra finch (Taeniopygiaguttata) has become an increasingly important model organism in many areas of research including toxicology 1,2 , behavior 3 , and memory and learning 4,5,6 . As the only songbird with a sequenced genome, the zebra finch has great potential for use in developmental studies; however, the early stages of zebra finch development have not been well studied. Lack of research in zebra finch development can be attributed to the difficulty of dissecting the small egg and embryo. The following dissection method minimizes embryonic tissue damage, which allows for investigation of morphology and gene expression at all stages of embryonic development. This permits both bright field and fluorescence quality imaging of embryos, use in molecular procedures such as in situ hybridization (ISH), cell proliferation assays, and RNA extraction for quantitative assays such as quantitative real-time PCR (qtRT-PCR). This technique allows investigators to study early stages of development that were previously difficult to access.

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“…Although physiological impairment has been the most studied area of methylmercury toxicity in birds, behavioral anomalies may be more indicative of deleterious effects leading to declines in populations. Exposure to methylmercury has been shown to cause subtle behavioral changes in great egrets (Ardea albus) (Bouton et al 1999), common loons (Gavia immer) (Nocera and Taylor 1998), and three species of songbirds (Hallinger et al 2010). In the current study, young homing pigeons displayed signs of flight behavior impairment when exposed prenatally and continually after hatching.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Parental and Direct Methylmercury Exposure on Flight Activity in Young Homing Pigeons (Columba livia)

Moye¹,

Perez²,

Pritsos³

2016

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Mercury is one of the most common metals found in contaminated ecosystems. It occurs naturally, but high levels found in contaminated areas derive from human use practices. Among the most vulnerable species to exposure are birds that live, nest, or feed in or near these contaminated ecosystems. Because of the known neurological effects of mercury on birds, it is hypothesized that effects upon migratory ability would be evident after exposure to low levels of this metal, and effects may be exacerbated in young birds. Difficulties in following mercury exposed birds once they migrate away from contaminated areas have left investigators with insufficient data to establish exposure levels causing injury of migratory species due to migration disruption. Breeding pigeons were exposed to ~1.0 mg/kg/day methylmercury via the drinking water, and first round offspring were trained to home after fledging, while also continually exposed to methylmercury. The young pigeons were released individually for three flights, and flight times were assessed and compared to control young pigeon flight times from 3.5, 9, 21, 53, 65, and 98 air miles as well as two individual flights at ~50 air miles from multiple directions. Results indicate that methylmercury exposed birds exhibit slower flight times than controls during the initial flight, and generally improve on successive flights at each distance and direction. This may suggest orientation impairment and allude to migration disruption in migratory species.

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Birdsong Differs between Mercury-polluted and Reference Sites

Cited by 56 publications

References 20 publications

The role of weather in mediating the effect of mercury exposure on reproductive success in tree swallows

The role of weather in mediating the effect of mercury exposure on reproductive success in tree swallows

Dissection and Downstream Analysis of Zebra Finch Embryos at Early Stages of Development

Effects of Parental and Direct Methylmercury Exposure on Flight Activity in Young Homing Pigeons (Columba livia)

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