Assessment of contaminants, health and survival of migratory shorebirds in natural versus artificial wetlands - The potential of wastewater treatment plants as alternative habitats.

Autor: Ross TA; School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus, VIC 3216, Australia. Electronic address: t.ross@deakin.edu.au., Zhang J; Department of Chemistry, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7491, Norway., Wille M; Sydney School for Infectious Diseases, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia; WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia., Ciesielski TM; Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7491, Norway; Department of Arctic Technology, The University Center in Svalbard, 9171 Longyearbyen, Norway., Asimakopoulos AG; Department of Chemistry, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7491, Norway., Lemesle P; Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7491, Norway., Skaalvik TG; Department of Chemistry, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7491, Norway., Atkinson R; Victorian Wader Study Group, Thornbury, VIC, 3071, Australia., Jessop R; Victorian Wader Study Group, Thornbury, VIC, 3071, Australia., Jaspers VLB; Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7491, Norway., Klaassen M; School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus, VIC 3216, Australia; Victorian Wader Study Group, Thornbury, VIC, 3071, Australia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2023 Dec 15; Vol. 904, pp. 166309. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Aug 15.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166309
Abstrakt: The rapid destruction of natural wetland habitats over past decades has been partially offset by an increase in artificial wetlands. However, these also include wastewater treatment plants, which may pose a pollution risk to the wildlife using them. We studied two long-distance Arctic-breeding migratory shorebird species, curlew sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea, n = 69) and red-necked stint (Calidris ruficollis, n = 103), while on their Australian non-breeding grounds using an artificial wetland at a wastewater treatment plant (WTP) and a natural coastal wetland. We compared pollutant exposure (elements and per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances/PFASs), disease (avian influenza), physiological status (oxidative stress) of the birds at the two locations from 2011 to 2020, and population survival from 1978 to 2019. Our results indicated no significant differences in blood pellet pollutant concentrations between the habitats except mercury (WTP median: 224 ng/g, range: 19-873 ng/g; natural wetland: 160 ng/g, 22-998 ng/g) and PFASs (total PFASs WTP median: 85.1 ng/g, range: <0.01-836 ng/g; natural wetland: 8.02 ng/g, <0.01-85.3 ng/g) which were higher at the WTP, and selenium which was lower at the WTP (WTP median: 5000 ng/g, range: 1950-34,400 ng/g; natural wetland: 19,200 ng/g, 4130-65,200 ng/g). We also measured higher blood o,o'-dityrosine (an indicator of protein damage) at the WTP. No significant differences were found for adult survival, but survival of immature birds at the WTP appeared to be lower which could be due to higher dispersal to other wetlands. Interestingly, we found active avian influenza infections were higher in the natural habitat, while seropositivity was higher in the WTP, seemingly not directly related to pollutant exposure. Overall, we found limited differences in pollutant exposure, health and survival of the shorebirds in the two habitats. Our findings suggest that appropriately managed wastewater treatment wetlands could provide a suitable alternative habitat to these migratory species, which may aid in curbing the decline of shorebird populations from widespread habitat loss.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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