Contaminant Exposure, Neurogenesis and Spatial Behaviour in a Sentinel Gull Species Adapted to Highly Urbanized Habitats

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An animal's spatial memory is essential for its survival and reproduction and allows it to return to places with the best resources (e.g., food, refuge, and sexual partners). An important neural region for spatial memory is the hippocampus, but few studies have linked fine-scale spatial movements with cellular differences in the hippocampus in wild birds. These links can be disrupted since certain avian species are exposed to high levels of environmental contaminants including numerous organohalogens and trace metals, particularly in urban areas. Organohalogen contaminants and trace metals can affect the structure and function of the hippocampus and animal behavior through neurotoxic effects and endocrine disruption. In addition, a wide range of organohalogens and metals are present in the environment, but the effects of most of these compounds or elements are poorly understood in birds. We propose to apply cutting-edge techniques in neuroscience and animal behavior, normally limited to small animals such as rodents and passerines, to a sentinel bird species in the Montreal area (ring-billed gull; Larus delawarensis) highly exposed to environmental contaminants, and for which several toxic effects have been documented related to this exposure. It has been shown using GPS tracking that this normally generalist population of gulls also specializes in the use of specific sites for foraging in urban areas such as landfills and agricultural fields. This project will finance a doctoral project and two master's projects, and will aim to understand the impact of exposure to priority environmental contaminants on the structure and function of the brain and the behavior of a gull highly exposed to contaminants in highly urbanized habitats (Montreal region). This interdisciplinary project will have a high impact on understanding how the brain, cognition and spatial memory are impacted by environmental pollution in wild birds in urban environments. The complementary expertise of this multidisciplinary team in avian neuroscience and cognition (Dr Guigueno, McGill; PI), behavior and urban ecology (Dr Morand-Ferron, Ottawa U.), and ecotoxicology and telemetry (Dr Verreault, UQAM) is essential to the realization of this unique and innovative project.