Flying sentinels: using a long-distance migratory bird to assess exposure to POPs over two continents and their health consequences

人类活动的副作用是将持久性有机污染物引入自然环境。不幸的是，持久性有机污染物会随着时间的推移而发生生物累积，并在生态系统内产生生物放大作用，从而改变这些生态系统内顶级捕食者的健康、繁殖和生存。目前，我们对持久性有机污染物的了解主要基于对实验室动物体内持久性有机污染物毒性效应的测试研究，以及关于持久性有机污染物的斯德哥尔摩公约成员国提供年度有毒物质释放清单的法律的义务。尽管它提供了关于风险接触的宝贵信息，但要了解持久性有机污染物在自由生活的动物中的实际接触和后果，仍有许多工作要做，高营养鸟类预计最容易接触持久性有机污染物，因此它们经常被用作哨兵。然而，鸟类可以长途飞行，而且由于持久性有机污染物的释放在空间和介质（即土壤、水、空气）上有很大的不同，因此，在了解持久性有机污染物的实际接触时，第一个挑战是不仅要能够追踪到个人，还要能够模拟持久性有机污染物在环境系统中的命运。此外，由于持久性有机污染物会随着时间的推移而发生生物累积，而顶级捕食者也会在同一时期获得繁殖经验，因此，在试图揭示持久性有机污染物在野外的负面影响时，第二个挑战是能够控制年龄和经验的隐藏效应。本博士项目旨在利用一种寿命长、距离长的候鸟物种-阿尔卑斯雨燕来应对这两项挑战，在该项目中，你将获得关于以下方面的个人层面的详细信息：（一）通过使用跟踪设备进行的全年迁徙，（二）通过组织样本的气相色谱-质谱测量进行的持久性有机污染物污染，及（iii）实足年龄及健康状况，因为所研究的人口已被监测超过二十年。您将应用逸度模型来了解持久性有机污染物在环境系统中的转移，并获得有关鸟类何时何地暴露于持久性有机污染物的原始见解，您将使用混合模型和路径分析来阐明污染和衰老在塑造野外繁殖和生存方面的重要性。跨环境地球科学和保护生物学的跨学科博士项目将为学生提供一个独特的机会，学习环境建模，运动生态学，动物生理学和保护生物学的各种重要方法，并参与实地工作。这名学生将加入QUADRAT博士培训合作伙伴关系，该合作伙伴关系汇集了阿伯丁大学（UoA）和女王大学贝尔法斯特（QUB）生物科学和地球科学的卓越研究和教学中心，并为学生提供技能，前景，目的和整体理解，以领导，交流和翻译创新的跨学科研究，以满足未来的挑战，在自然环境的有效管理。该项目将基于UoA（70%）和QUB（30%），学生将受益于与研究生，博士后和动物生态学和保护与环境科学教师的蓬勃发展的社区互动。

Human activities have for side effects the introduction in natural environments of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Unfortunately, POPs can bioaccumulate over time and biomagnify within ecosystems, and thus have for consequences to alter the health, reproduction and survival of top predators within those ecosystems. Nowadays, our knowledge of POPs is primarily based on studies testing the toxic effects of POPs in laboratory animals and on the legal obligation from member countries of the Stockholm convention on POPs to provide an annual toxics release inventory. Although it provides invaluable information on risk exposure, much remains to be done to understand realized exposure and consequences of POPs in free living animals.High trophic bird species are expected to be the most exposed to POPs, and therefore they are often used as sentinels. Birds can however travel over very long-distances and, since the release of POPs greatly differ over space and medium (i.e. soil, water, air), a first challenge when aiming to understand realized exposure to POPs is to be able not only to track down individuals but also to model the fate of POPs in environmental systems. Furthermore, because POPs bioaccumulate over time and top predators are also gaining breeding experience over the same time period, a second challenge when aiming to uncover the negative of POPs in the wild is to be able to control for concealing effects of age and experience. This PhD project aims to undertake those two challenges using a long-lived and long-distance migratory bird species, the Alpine swift, where you will have access to detailed information at the individual level on (i) year-round movements thought the use of tracking devices, (ii) contamination by POPs through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry measures of tissue samples, and (iii) chronological age and fitness since the populations under study have been monitored for more than two decades. You will be applying fugacity models to understand transfer of POPs in environmental systems and to get original insights on where and when birds become exposed to POPs, and you will be using mixed-model and path analyses to shed new light on the importance of pollution and ageing in shaping reproduction and survival in the wild. This inter-disciplinary PhD project across environmental geosciences and conservation biology will offer a unique opportunity for the student to learn a variety of important methods in environmental modelling, movement ecology, animal physiology and conservation biology, and to participate in the field work. This student will be joining the QUADRAT Doctoral Training Partnership that brings together research and teaching centres of excellence in biological science and geoscience from the University of Aberdeen (UoA) and Queen's University Belfast (QUB), and that has for vision to equip students with the skills, outlook, purpose and holistic understanding to lead, communicate and translate innovative cross-disciplinary research to meet tomorrow's challenges in effective management of the natural environment. The project will be based at UoA (70%) and QUB (30%) where the student will benefit from interaction with a thriving community of postgraduate students, postdocs, and faculty in animal ecology and conservation and environmental sciences.