Agricultural pesticides in feathers of the burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) and its relationship to land-use in the argentinean pampas.

Autor: Victorel C; Grupo Vertebrados, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Funes 3350, B7602AYJ, Mar del Plata, Argentina., Miglioranza KSB; Grupo Ecotoxicología y Contaminación Ambiental, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Funes 3350, B7602AYJ, Mar del Plata, Argentina., Cavalli M; Grupo Vertebrados, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Funes 3350, B7602AYJ, Mar del Plata, Argentina., Quadri-Adrogué A; Grupo Ecotoxicología y Contaminación Ambiental, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Funes 3350, B7602AYJ, Mar del Plata, Argentina., Bó MS; Grupo Vertebrados, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Funes 3350, B7602AYJ, Mar del Plata, Argentina., Baladrón AV; Grupo Vertebrados, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Funes 3350, B7602AYJ, Mar del Plata, Argentina. Electronic address: abaladro@mdp.edu.ar.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Environmental research [Environ Res] 2024 Dec 15; Vol. 263 (Pt 2), pp. 120097. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Oct 02.
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.120097
Abstrakt: The pampas of South America represent one of the most productive lands for agriculture in the world, and consequently this activity has expanded throughout the region, especially in Argentina. In this context, native fauna faces various risks associated with agriculture, with exposure to pesticides being one of the most dangerous and deadly. Assessing the impact of pesticides on wildlife becomes fundamental and the use of sentinel species emerges as an important tool to monitor environmental health. In this study, we determined pesticide levels in the burrowing owl Athene cunicularia nesting in both rural and urban areas of the argentinean pampas. We used a multiple scale approach to evaluate the influence of land-uses (urban, crops, and grazing fields) at the nesting site on the contaminant load of A. cunicularia individuals, and assessed the potential use of this owl as a sentinel species. From March 2018 to January 2020, A. cunicularia feathers were collected at their nest sites in one urban and two rural areas. These samples were analyzed for the presence of contaminants, including chlorpyrifos and 18 organochlorine pesticides. All the compounds analyzed were detected in A. cunicularia samples. The chlorpyrifos showed the highest frequency of occurrence and concentration, thus denoting the exposure of owls to current-use pesticides. ∑DDTs showed the highest occurrence among organochlorines, followed by ∑HCHs > ∑Endosulfans > ∑Heptachlors > ∑Drins = ∑Chlordanes > methoxychlor. Principal Component Analysis showed that most of the compounds found in A. cunicularia samples showed a positive association with grazing fields, suggesting that exposure to contaminants does not depend on specific habitat use at the local scale, but probably the regional scale. Our results evidenced the exposure of A. cunicularia individuals to past and current-use pesticides in the pampas of Argentina, and indicate that this owl would be useful as a sentinel species.
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 © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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