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van Oosten HH, van den Burg AB, Arlt D, Both C, van den Brink NW, Chiu S, Crump D, Jeppsson T, de Kroon H, Traag W, Siepel H. Hatching failure and accumulation of organic pollutants through the terrestrial food web of a declining songbird in Western Europe. Sci Total Environ 2019; 650:1547-1553. [PMID: 30308840 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.09.138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2018] [Revised: 08/30/2018] [Accepted: 09/10/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Population growth in passerine birds is largely driven by fecundity. If fecundity is affected, for instance by hatching failure, populations may decline. We noted high hatching failure of up to 27% per year in relict populations of the Northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) in The Netherlands, a strongly declining, migratory passerine in Europe. This hatching failure itself can cause population decline, irrespective of other adverse factors. Additionally, we investigated the cause of hatching failure. Unhatched eggs showed egg yolk infections or embryonic malformations, part of which is associated with the actions of dioxin-like compounds (DLCs). Indeed, DLCs appear to bioaccumulate in the local foodweb, where the soil contained only background concentrations, similar to those found at many other locations. DLC concentrations in Dutch eggs were six-fold higher than those in a reference population in Sweden, where egg failure was only 6%. However, Northern wheatears appear to be only moderately sensitive to the actions of DLCs, because of their specific Ah-receptor type which may moderate the receptor mediated effects of DLCs. This indicates that the concentrations of DLCs, although elevated, may not have caused the embryo malformations or the low hatching rates. We discuss whether other toxins may be important or imbalances in the nutrition and if inbreeding may play a larger role than expected.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Herman van Oosten
- Bargerveen Foundation, Toernooiveld 1, Postbox 9010, 6500 GL Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Animal Ecology and Physiology & Experimental Plant Ecology, Radboud University, PO Box 9100, 6500 GL Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Oenanthe Ecologie, Hollandseweg 42, 6706 KR Wageningen, the Netherlands.
| | | | - Debora Arlt
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Science, Box 7044, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Christiaan Both
- Center for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, Groningen 9747 AG, the Netherlands
| | - Nico W van den Brink
- Department of Toxicology, Wageningen University, Postbox 8000, 6700 EA Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Suzanne Chiu
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Wildlife Research Centre, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H3, Canada
| | - Doug Crump
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Wildlife Research Centre, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H3, Canada
| | - Tobias Jeppsson
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Science, Box 7044, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden; CEES, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Postbox 1066, Blindern, NO-0316 Oslo, Norway
| | - Hans de Kroon
- Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Animal Ecology and Physiology & Experimental Plant Ecology, Radboud University, PO Box 9100, 6500 GL Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Wim Traag
- RIKILT Wageningen UR, Akkermaalsbos 2, 6708 WB Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Henk Siepel
- Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Animal Ecology and Physiology & Experimental Plant Ecology, Radboud University, PO Box 9100, 6500 GL Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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