Volumes 524–525, 15 August 2015, Pages 157–165
PBDEs and other POPs in urban birds of prey partly explained by trophic level and carbon source
Highlights
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- As urban areas expand, many animal species are adapting and invading urban areas.
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- Urban colonists encounter many new stressors, especially chemical pollution.
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- Urban birds of prey in Canada had high levels of brominated flame retardants (PBDEs).
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- One individual had the highest level of PBDEs ever recorded for wildlife.
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- Such high levels may have had toxicological implications.
Abstract
As
urban sprawl and agricultural intensification continue to invade prime
wildlife habitat, some animals, even apex predators, are managing to
adapt to this new environment. Chemical pollution is one of many
stressors that wildlife encounter in urban environments. Predators are
particularly sensitive to persistent chemical pollutants because they
feed at a high trophic level where such pollution is biomagnified. To
examine levels of pollution in urban birds of prey in the Lower Mainland
region of British Columbia, Canada, we analyzed persistent organic
contaminants in adult birds found dead of trauma injury. The hepatic
geometric mean concentration of sum polybrominated diphenyl ethers
(∑PBDEs) in 13 Cooper's hawks (Accipiter cooperii) from Greater
Vancouver was 1873 ng/g (lipid weight) with one bird reaching
197,000 ng/g lipid weight, the highest exposure reported to date for a
wild bird. Concentrations of ∑PBDEs, ∑PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls)
and, surprisingly, cyclodiene insecticides were greatest in the urban
environment while those of DDE (1,1-dichloroethylene bis[p-chlorophenyl)
were highest in a region of intensive agriculture. The level of most
chlorinated and brominated contaminants increased with trophic level (δ15N).
The concentrations of some contaminants, PBDEs in particular, in these
birds of prey may have some toxicological consequences. Apex predators
in urban environments continue to be exposed to elevated concentrations
of legacy pollutants as well as more recent brominated pollutants.
Keywords
- POPs;
- PBDEs;
- Raptor;
- Urban ecosystems;
- Stable isotopes;
- Predator
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