Feather Lead Concentrations and 207Pb/206Pb Ratios Reveal Lead Exposure History of California Condors (Gymnogyps californianus)
Feather Lead Concentrations and 207Pb/206Pb Ratios Reveal Lead Exposure History of California Condors (Gymnogyps californianus)
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DOI：
10.1021/es903176w
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发表时间：
2010-04-01
影响因子：
11.4
通讯作者：
Smith, D. R.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Finkelstein, M. E.;George, D.;Smith, D. R.
铅中毒是阻碍极度濒危加州秃鹰（Gymnogyps californianus）生存和恢复的主要因素。然而，秃鹰接触铅的频率和程度并不为人所知，部分原因是大多数血铅监测每两年进行一次，而每两年一次的血液样本仅捕获鸟类每年接触历史的 10%。我们对加利福尼亚州自由飞行的秃鹰生长的羽毛进行了调查，以确定鸟类的铅暴露历史。我们表明，对连续羽毛切片和同时采集的血液样本进行的铅浓度和稳定铅同位素组成分析提供了羽毛生长期间 2-4 个月铅暴露的全面历史。羽毛分析确定了血液监测工作中不明显的暴露事件，并且通过将经验得出的时间表与活跃生长的羽毛相拟合，我们能够估计特定铅暴露事件的时间范围。我们的结果证明了使用顺序采样的羽毛来重建铅暴露历史的实用性。由于个人的暴露风险是人口健康的决定因素之一，我们的研究结果应该增加对秃鹰铅中毒对人口水平影响的了解；这一信息也可能对可能受铅中毒影响的其他鸟类有所帮助。
Lead poisoning is a primary factor impeding the survival and recovery of the critically endangered California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus). However, the frequency and magnitude of lead exposure in condors is not well-known in part because most blood lead monitoring occurs biannually, and biannual blood samples capture only 10% of a bird's annual exposure history. We investigated the use of growing feathers from free-flying condors in California to establish a bird's lead exposure history. We show that lead concentration and stable lead isotopic composition analyses of sequential feather sections and concurrently collected blood samples provided a comprehensive history of lead exposure over the 2-4 month period of feather growth. Feather analyses identified exposure events not evident from blood monitoring efforts, and by fitting an empirically derived timeline to actively growing feathers, we were able to estimate the time frame for specific lead exposure events. Our results demonstrate the utility of using sequentially sampled feathers to reconstruct lead exposure history. Since exposure risk in individuals is one determinant of population health, our findings should increase the understanding of population-level effects from lead poisoning in condors; this information may also be helpful for other avian species potentially impacted by lead poisoning.