Tracking pan-continental trends in environmental contamination using sentinel raptors—what types of samples should we use?

Abstract

Biomonitoring using birds of prey as sentinel species has been mooted as a way to evaluate the success of European Union directives that are designed to protect people and the environment across Europe from industrial contaminants and pesticides. No such pan-European evaluation currently exists. Coordination of such large scale monitoring would require harmonisation across multiple countries of the types of samples collected and analysed-matrices vary in the ease with which they can be collected and the information they provide. We report the first ever pan-European assessment of which raptor samples are collected across Europe and review their suitability for biomonitoring. Currently, some 182 monitoring programmes across 33 European countries collect a variety of raptor samples, and we discuss the relative merits of each for monitoring current priority and emerging compounds. Of the matrices collected, blood and liver are used most extensively for quantifying trends in recent and longer-term contaminant exposure, respectively. These matrices are potentially the most effective for pan-European biomonitoring but are not so widely and frequently collected as others. We found that failed eggs and feathers are the most widely collected samples. Because of this ubiquity, they may provide the best opportunities for widescale biomonitoring, although neither is suitable for all compounds. We advocate piloting pan-European monitoring of selected priority compounds using these matrices and developing read-across approaches to accommodate any effects that trophic pathway and species differences in accumulation may have on our ability to track environmental trends in contaminants.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10646-016-1636-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Supporting dataset and methods for egg sizes, eggshell thicknesses and metal concentrations measured in the shells and contents of eggs of Capercaillies Tetrao urogallus

“…As all the rotten eggs were from captive-bred Capercaillies from Wisła breeding centre, we placed special emphasis on comparing these eggs with those in later stages of embryonic development (see Results in Ref. [1] ); this was mostly because of potential post-mortem changes in the shell and/or egg contents between the time when the embryos died and when the eggs were later opened [ [18] , [19] ; see also Introduction in Ref (1) ]. Overall, however, we expected that the rotten eggs, because of the absence of developing embryos and the resulting depletion of the inner eggshell layer, would have thicker shells [20] , [21] and higher concentrations of Ca and other micronutrients than eggs with more advanced embryos or post-hatched eggshells.…”

A schematic sampling protocol for contaminant monitoring in raptors

“…), since some of the biological matrices needed for analysis (e.g. feathers, addled/deserted eggs, blood) are routinely collected as part of surveys of raptor breeding populations (Espín et al 2016;Derlink et al 2018). Consequently, it is essential to provide protocols on appropriate sampling methods for contaminant monitoring, for field ornithologists, personnel at museums and Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres, and other people involved in raptor sample collection.…”

“…Birds, and especially raptors (i.e. birds of prey, owls and falcons), have been widely used as sentinel species in biomonitoring programmes worldwide (Gómez-Ramírez et al 2014;Espín et al 2016). Such studies are used to evaluate spatiotemporal trends in contaminant concentrations and related effects and can provide early warning of emerging contaminant problems.…”

Editorial

“…33[154/155]: 141-336), detailing the species monitored, extent of geographical coverage, strengths and weaknesses, priorities, main players and capacity-building activities. On the 'monitoring with raptors' side, EURAPMON delivered an inventory of existing work on contaminant monitoring with raptors in Europe (Gómez-Ramírez et al 2014), a best practice sampling protocol (Espín et al 2014) and a review of the types of samples that should be used to track trends in contamination using sentinel raptors (Espín et al 2016).…”