Organochlorines in eggs and food organisms of avocets (Recurvirostra avosetta)

Autor: H Hötker, S Dietrich, E Denker, A Büthe
Rok vydání: 1997
Předmět:
Zdroj: Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology. 58(2)
ISSN: 0007-4861
Popis: Compared to other wader species the eggs of Avocets (Recurvirostra avosetta) differ both in composition and concentration of their PCB-load. One explanation might be the contamination at the wintering sites. Studies on more than 400 individually colour ringed Avocets allowed following many birds both at their breeding site in the German Wadden Sea and their main wintering sites along the French and Portuguese Atlantic Coast. The approach was to analyse the eggs of those females whose past wintering site was known and to take samples of their typical diet at each of the study sites. Two questions were addressed: Is there a difference in the composition and amount of PCBs in the diet at the various sites? Is there a relation between the diet and the pollutants in the eggs? Few data of contamination of Avocets are available and none refer to individual birds. Our results indicate that the differences from other wader species are not caused by the wintering sites only. The choice of their feeding habitat and their specialisation and preference for very soft substrate combined with the accumulation of PCBs in fat tissues of their dominant prey provide several {open_quotes}PCB-traps{close_quotes} along their flyway. This paper shows amore » distinct variation in the PCB-pattern in different European coastal areas. There is no uniform distribution of these pollutants. 15 refs., 5 figs., 3 tabs.« less
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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