Altered pairing behaviour and reproductive success in white ibises exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations of methylmercury

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - Tập 278 Số 1713 - Trang 1851-1857 - 2011
Peter C. Frederick1, Nilmini Jayasena2,1
1Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
2Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

Tóm tắt

Methylmercury (MeHg) is the most biologically available and toxic form of mercury, and can act as a powerful teratogen, neurotoxin and endocrine disruptor in vertebrates. However, mechanisms of endocrine impairment and net effects on demography of biota are poorly understood. Here, we report that experimental exposure of an aquatic bird over 3 years to environmentally relevant dietary MeHg concentrations (0.05–0.3 ppm wet weight) resulted in dose-related increases in male–male pairing behaviour (to 55% of males), and decreases in egg productivity (to 30%). Dosed males showed decreased rates of key courtship behaviours, and were approached less by courting females in comparison to control males. Within dosed groups, homosexual males showed a similar reduction when compared with dosed heterosexual males. We found an average 35 per cent decrease in fledgling production in high-dose birds over the study duration. These results are of interest because (i) MeHg exposure is experimentally tied to demographically important reproductive deficits, (ii) these effects were found at low, chronic exposure levels commonly experienced by wildlife, and (iii) effects on reproductive behaviour and sexual preference mediated by endocrine disruption represent a novel and probably under-reported mechanism by which contaminants may influence wild populations of birds.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

10.1007/978-0-387-09647-6_1

10.1579/0044-7447(2007)36[12:EOEMOT]2.0.CO;2

10.1016/0269-7491(87)90173-4

10.1002/etc.5620170203

10.1007/s00244-002-2021-6

10.1080/15287390903129218

10.1897/04-570.1

10.1642/0004-8038(2005)122[0255:RAMCHA]2.0.CO;2

10.1080/10408440802233259

10.1126/science.1154082

10.1007/s00244-008-9160-3

Barr J. F., 1986, Population dynamics of the common loon (Gavia immer) associated with mercury-contaminated waters in northwestern Ontario, Can. Wildl. Serv. Occas. Pap., 56, 1

10.1007/s10646-007-0167-8

10.1007/s10646-007-0168-7

10.2307/3800348

Nocera J. J., 1998, In situ behavioral response of common loons associated with elevated mercury (Hg) exposure, Conserv. Ecol., 2

10.1007/s10646-010-0479-y

Jayasena N.. 2010 Effects of chronic methylmercury exposure on reproductive success behavior and steroid hormones of the white ibis ( Eudocimus albus ). PhD dissertation University of Florida Gainesville.

Frederick P. C.. 1986 Extrapair copulations in the mating system of white ibis ( Eudocimus albus ). PhD dissertation University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

10.2307/1942661

10.1897/08-253.1

10.1897/1551-5028(1999)018<1940:EOGEAA>2.3.CO;2

Loftus W. F.. 2000 Accumulation and fate of mercury in an Everglades aquatic food web. PhD Florida International University Miami.

Heath J. A., 2009, The birds of North America online

Rudegeair T., 1975, The reproductive behavior and ecology of the white ibis (Eudocimus albus)

R Development Core Team. 2009 R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. ISBN 3-900051-07-0. See http://www.R-project.org.

Heath J. A., 2002, White ibis (Eudocimus albus) reproductive physiology

Bagemihl B., 1999, Biological exuberance: animal homosexuality and natural diversity., i

10.1016/j.tree.2009.03.014

10.1159/000216545

10.1163/156853987X00125

10.1016/j.yhbeh.2005.02.005

10.1002/etc.5620180911

10.1525/auk.2009.09058

10.1007/s10336-007-0188-3

10.1093/toxsci/kfm295

10.1007/s002440010240

Haegele M. A., 1977, Reduction of courtship behavior induced by DDE in male ringed turtle doves, Wilson Bull., 89, 593

10.1073/pnas.082121499

10.1371/journal.pone.0101391

10.1016/j.envres.2005.04.002

10.1016/j.brainresrev.2007.08.011

10.1016/j.ecoenv.2004.07.010

10.1016/j.anbehav.2004.01.005

10.2307/1366828

10.1126/science.7256288

10.1007/s10646-007-0163-z

Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Tập 278 Số 1713

1851-1857

Thông tin tác giả