Sub-lethal exposure to lead is associated with heightened aggression in an urban songbird

McClelland, Stephanie C.; Ribeiro, Renata Durães; Mielke, Howard W.; Finkelstein, Myra E.; Gonzales, Christopher R.; Jones, John Anthony; Komdeur, Jan; Derryberry, Elizabeth P.; Saltzberg, Emma B; Karubian, Jordan

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.145

Cited by 34 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 90 publications

(114 reference statements)

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“…As urbanization continues to grow, and interactions with human-transformed urban landscapes and urban wildlife increase, soil may be a primary source of lead exposure to these animals. This could have a sufficient impact on their behavior and fecundity as lead is known to alter both parameters in humans and other animals [ 5 , 8 , 35 , 36 ]. Our data demonstrate that, like humans, wildlife and domestic animals are exposed to lead in urban environments and support the need for investigation into how environmental lead contamination can impact an entire ecosystem.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

One map: Using geospatial analysis to understand lead exposure across humans, animals, and the environment in an urban US city

et al. 2021

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

One map: Using geospatial analysis to understand lead exposure across humans, animals, and the environment in an urban US city

et al. 2021

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“…Urban great tits also showed greater distress behavior when threatened [183]. In another study on northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), urban birds that were exposed to higher amounts of lead were more aggressive towards simulated competition [181]. In Eurasian coot populations residing in the same urban area, older and more established populations were consistently more territorially aggressive than recently colonized popu-lation [184].…”

Section: Aggressionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Aggressive behavior can be displayed towards competitors [176][177][178][179], can be food related [180], due to exposure to chemical pollutants [181], or during nest defense [182]. Urban great tits were more aggressive towards competitors, but they exhibited inconsistent reaction towards a simulated competition when compared to their rural counterparts [179].…”

Section: Aggressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Which Traits Influence Bird Survival in the City? A Review

Patankar

Jambhekar

Suryawanshi

et al. 2021

Land

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Urbanization poses a major threat to biodiversity worldwide. We focused on birds as a well-studied taxon of interest, in order to review literature on traits that influence responses to urbanization. We review 226 papers that were published between 1979 and 2020, and aggregate information on five major groups of traits that have been widely studied: ecological traits, life history, physiology, behavior and genetic traits. Some robust findings on trait changes in individual species as well as bird communities emerge. A lack of specific food and shelter resources has led to the urban bird community being dominated by generalist species, while specialist species show decline. Urbanized birds differ in the behavioral traits, showing an increase in song frequency and amplitude, and bolder behavior, as compared to rural populations of the same species. Differential food resources and predatory pressure results in changes in life history traits, including prolonged breeding duration, and increases in clutch and brood size to compensate for lower survival. Other species-specific changes include changes in hormonal state, body state, and genetic differences from rural populations. We identify gaps in research, with a paucity of studies in tropical cities and a need for greater examination of traits that influence persistence and success in native vs. introduced populations.

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“…Urban-associated wildlife, such as songbirds, may have an increased exposure to contaminants compared to their counterparts in more rural or natural habitats (Roux and Marra 2007). Lead (Pb) is an environmentally persistent anthropogenic pollutant that has the potential to negatively impact the physiology and tness of vertebrates if accumulated in the body (Burger and Gochfeld 2010;Grunst et al 2019;McClelland et al 2019). Elevated blood lead levels can reduce body condition through muscle atrophy and fat loss in birds, which is likely to reduce survivability (Newth et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…BLL may also provide the most comparable value of current lead burden across sites or exposures since lead may be allocated differentially to various tissues (Beyer et al 2013). Blood lead analysis is a convenient, costeffective, non-lethal method for estimating recent exposure and has been proposed to be the most useful measure of lead absorption in humans (Goyer and Mahaffey 1972), and is therefore likely appropriate for wildlife as well (Schei er et al 2006;Roux and Marra 2007;Cai and Calisi 2016;McClelland et al 2019;Grunst et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

American Robin (Turdus Migratorius) Blood Lead Levels May Reflect Elevated Soil Lead Levels: Further Consequences of the Flint Water Crisis

Zahor

Glynn

Cornelius

2021

Preprint

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High levels of pollutants often occur in urban environments and can pose a threat to human residents as well as local wildlife. The Flint, Michigan water crisis was caused by the corrosion of pipe infrastructure, resulting in high levels of lead (Pb) leaching into the drinking water. Irrigation with contaminated water may have introduced lead into the soil causing another source of exposure to humans as well as wildlife. A widespread songbird species, the American robin (Turdus migratorius), feeds heavily on earthworms and ingests large amounts of soil during foraging. This study investigated the impact of the Flint water crisis on American robin blood lead levels (BLL) during the breeding season in southeast MI by comparing BLL of birds captured at irrigated sites of Flint to those captured at unirrigated sites in Flint, irrigated sites in a nearby city (Ypsilanti) and rural sites. Robins captured at irrigated Flint sites had nearly double BLL compared to unirrigated Flint sites and all other control sites. Body condition declined with increasing BLL at these irrigated sites of Flint, suggesting a measurable fitness impact of lead at these levels. Because BLL in American robins is known to reflect soil lead levels and soil lead is a known driver of BLL in children, robins may act as a bioindicator for urban communities. Further research should determine the efficacy of using robin BLL as a bioindicator of soil lead and how lead might be impacting body condition and other long-term fitness metrics in urban wildlife.

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Sub-lethal exposure to lead is associated with heightened aggression in an urban songbird

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Cited by 34 publications

References 90 publications

One map: Using geospatial analysis to understand lead exposure across humans, animals, and the environment in an urban US city

One map: Using geospatial analysis to understand lead exposure across humans, animals, and the environment in an urban US city

Which Traits Influence Bird Survival in the City? A Review

American Robin (Turdus Migratorius) Blood Lead Levels May Reflect Elevated Soil Lead Levels: Further Consequences of the Flint Water Crisis

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