Metabarcoding reveals seasonal variations in the consumption of crops and weeds by wild Red-legged Partridge Alectoris rufa

Portugal-Baranda, Telmo; Mougeot, François; Ortiz-Santaliestra, Manuel E.; Madeira, María J.; Fernández-Vizcaíno, Elena; Cabodevilla, Xabier

doi:10.1007/s10336-023-02118-z

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“…The determination of partridges’ diet was performed through a DNA-metabarcoding analysis of fecal samples to identify plants consumed by partridges. We focused on vegetal components only because adult red-legged partridges feed mostly on plants. ,, Despite some controversy about the use of metabarcoding as a quantitative tool for diet composition, – Portugal-Baranda et al included mock samples and showed the usefulness for comparative diet studies of the same barcodes that we have used after finding an overall positive relationship between the real DNA abundance and the RRA obtained for five common plants (although, depending on the plant and the barcode used, the RRA could overestimate or underestimate the real abundance). Consequently, we have assumed that the RRA obtained from fecal samples would be a good proxy to quantify the different diet components of red-legged partridges.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet and Spatial Ecology Influence Red-Legged Partridge Exposure to Pesticides Used as Seed Treatment

Fernández-Vizcaíno,

Mougeot,

Cabodevilla

et al. 2023

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Seed treatment with pesticides is an extended agricultural practice with a high risk to granivorous birds that consume those seeds. To characterize that risk, it is necessary to understand the ecological factors that determine the exposure chances of birds to treated seeds. We investigated how pesticide uptake by red-legged partridges was related to cultivated plant ingestion and to the use of recently sown fields. We analyzed pesticide residues in 144 fecal samples from 32 flocks and determined the plant diet composition using DNA metabarcoding. Habitat use was studied through the monitoring of 15 GPS-tagged partridges. We confirmed, through the analysis of seeds, that >80% of cereal fields from the area had seeds treated with triazole fungicides. Tebuconazole was detected in 16.6% of partridges’ feces. During the sowing season, cultivated plants accounted for half of the plant diet, but no association was found between cultivated plant consumption and pesticide intake. GPS tracking revealed that tebuconazole was detected in feces when partridges had recently used sown fields, whereas nonexposed partridges showed no overlap with recently sown areas. Our results highlight the need to incorporate field ecology into the characterization of pesticide exposure to improve the efficacy of environmental risk assessment.

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