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Kraus JM, Skrabis K, Ciparis S, Isanhart J, Kenney A, Hinck JE. Ecological Harm and Economic Damages of Chemical Contamination to Linked Aquatic-Terrestrial Food Webs: A Study-Design Tool for Practitioners. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023; 42:2029-2039. [PMID: 36920000 DOI: 10.1002/etc.5609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [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: 10/13/2022] [Revised: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 03/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Contamination of aquatic ecosystems can have cascading effects on terrestrial consumers by altering the availability and quality of aquatic insect prey. Comprehensive assessment of these indirect food-web effects of contaminants on natural resources and their associated services necessitates using both ecological and economic tools. In the present study we present an aquatic-terrestrial assessment tool (AT2), including ecological and economic decision trees, to aid practitioners and researchers in designing contaminant effect studies for linked aquatic-terrestrial insect-based food webs. The tool is tailored to address the development of legal claims by the US Department of the Interior's Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Program, which aims to restore natural resources injured by oil spills and hazardous substance releases into the environment. Such cases require establishing, through scientific inquiry, the existence of natural resource injury as well as the determination of the monetary or in-kind project-based damages required to restore this injury. However, this tool is also useful to researchers interested in questions involving the effects of contaminants on linked aquatic-terrestrial food webs. Stylized cases exemplify how application of AT2 can help practitioners and researchers design studies when the contaminants present at a site are likely to lead to injury of terrestrial aerial insectivores through loss of aquatic insect prey and/or dietary contaminant exposure. Designing such studies with ecological endpoints and economic modeling inputs in mind will increase the relevance and cost-effectiveness of studies, which can in turn improve the outcomes of cases and studies involving the ecological effects of contaminants on food webs. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:2029-2039. Published 2023. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna M Kraus
- Columbia Environmental Research Center, US Geological Survey, Columbia, Missouri, USA
| | - Kristin Skrabis
- Office of Policy Analysis, US Department of the Interior, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Serena Ciparis
- Virginia Field Office, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Gloucester, Virginia, USA
| | - John Isanhart
- Office of Restoration and Damage Assessment, US Department of the Interior, Denver, Colorado, USA
| | - Aleshia Kenney
- Illinois-Iowa Field Office, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Moline, Illinois, USA
| | - Jo Ellen Hinck
- Columbia Environmental Research Center, US Geological Survey, Columbia, Missouri, USA
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Zakanova A, Yerzhanov N, Litvinov Y. The impact of industrial pollution on the populations of small mammals in Northern Kazakhstan. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2023; 30:49980-49991. [PMID: 36787073 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-25836-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [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: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2023]
Abstract
The relevance of the article lies in the significant reduction of the mammal population in the areas of heavy industry enterprises located in Kazakhstan. The aim of the research is to investigate the technogenic pollution's impact level on the representatives of the species of Rodents and Insectivores order in Northern Kazakhstan. The result of the work on the analysis of the species composition of small mammals in the technogenic territories of Northern Kazakhstan in comparison with the control zone in 2021 is presented. Technogenic sites were located in the vicinity of industrial enterprises. The following methods were used in the study: complex analysis, the method of record lines, and the method of statistical data processing. During the study, 15 species of animals were noted at all sites: 11 species of the Rodentia order and 4 species of representatives of the Eulipotyphla order. The registered animals were classified according to their distance from the emission sources. The dominance index was calculated. The calculation results were marked by low indicators in the impact and buffer territories and an increase in the background and control areas. All plots have dominant species. With the increase in anthropogenic influence and the approximation of the sources of emissions, the number of small mammal species decreases, the structure is simplified, and biodiversity is reduced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Assel Zakanova
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Toraighyrov University, Pavlodar, Republic of Kazakhstan.
| | - Nurlan Yerzhanov
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Toraighyrov University, Pavlodar, Republic of Kazakhstan
| | - Yuri Litvinov
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Toraighyrov University, Pavlodar, Republic of Kazakhstan
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Agustí J, Chochishvili G, Lozano-Fernández I, Furió M, Piñero P, de Marfà R. Small mammals (Insectivora, Rodentia, Lagomorpha) from the Early Pleistocene hominin-bearing site of Dmanisi (Georgia). J Hum Evol 2022; 170:103238. [PMID: 35988384 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2021] [Revised: 07/12/2022] [Accepted: 07/12/2022] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
Small mammals (insectivores, rodents, and lagomorphs) from Dmanisi are here reviewed for the first time and used as a tool for paleoenvironmental proxies. The small mammal faunal list is composed of shrews (Beremendia fissidens, cf. Beremendia minor, Crocidura kornfeldi), hamsters (Cricetulus sp., Allocricetus bursae), gerbils (Parameriones aff. obeidiyensis), murids (Apodemus cf. atavus), arvicolids (Mimomys pliocaenicus, Mimomys aff. pusillus), and pikas (Ochotona sp.). A paleoenvironmental reconstruction based on the habitat weighting method has been applied to the rodent assemblage. According to this method, the most common elements indicate an open-dry habitat (36.5%), followed by water edge (25.7%) and rocky (21.0%) elements. Open-wet (15.5%) and woodland elements (1.3%) are rare. Therefore, the habitat occupied by the hominids of Dmanisi was characterized by the prevalence of arid conditions, from steppe or semi-desert to open Mediterranean forest, with stony or rocky substrate and bushy areas. The presence of permanent aquatic environments is also documented. From a biogeographic point of view, the small mammal community from Dmanisi is composed mainly by Western or Central Asian elements, with a poor representation of European elements (Mimomys, Apodemus). It is concluded that Dmanisi hominins most possibly had ecological requirements which were different from those of the Early Pleistocene hominins from Western Europe, which settled on wetter habitats. It could be also possible that Dmanisi hominins entered Southern Caucasus at an interglacial phase before the deposition of the Dmanisi site.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordi Agustí
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Edifici W3, 43007 Tarragona, Spain; Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain; ICREA, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain.
| | | | - Iván Lozano-Fernández
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Edifici W3, 43007 Tarragona, Spain; Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Marc Furió
- Serra Húnter Fellow, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Geology Department, Cerdanyola del Vallès 08193, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pedro Piñero
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Edifici W3, 43007 Tarragona, Spain; Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Roger de Marfà
- Departament de Estratigrafia i Paleontologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
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Ramos Pereira MJ, Stefanski Chaves T, Bobrowiec PE, Selbach Hofmann G. How aerial insectivore bats of different sizes respond to nightly temperature shifts. Int J Biometeorol 2022; 66:601-612. [PMID: 34817674 DOI: 10.1007/s00484-021-02222-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [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: 07/31/2021] [Revised: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Small, volant and nocturnal, bats face strong challenges to avoid heat loss. Among aerial insectivores, body mass varies by two orders of magnitude between the smallest and the largest species. At low temperatures, physiological constraints should be harsher for smaller bats, as they lose more heat through their body surface than larger species. So, temperature variations should lead to distinct behavioural responses by bats of different body masses. Also, because they feed on arthropods, dependent on ambient temperature, aerial insectivores should halt feeding at low temperatures. Using ultrasound detectors and temperature and humidity sensors, we investigated how aerial insectivores of the coldest region in austral Brazil respond to nightly temperature variations and compared those responses between guilds of distinct body masses. We predict that smaller bats reduce their activity faster than larger bats, but that foraging should reduce simultaneously in the two guilds, as they depend on ectothermic prey. Bat activity reduced significantly below 12 °C. Larger bats maintained their activity at temperatures where the activity of smaller bats had already halted. However, larger bats foraged mostly during the first half of the night, at higher temperatures than those chosen by smaller bats to forage. We associate these differential responses to the thermal convection process, which may increase prey availability at higher altitudes, where larger molossids are known to forage. Smaller species, mostly edge-space hunters, probably take advantage of less variable prey availability during the night, resulting in a more regular behavioural pattern of navigation and foraging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria João Ramos Pereira
- Bird and Mammal Evolution, Systematics and Ecology Lab, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul, Campus do Vale - Agronomia, Porto Alegre, RS, 90650-001, Brasil.
- CESAM, Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
| | - Thais Stefanski Chaves
- Bird and Mammal Evolution, Systematics and Ecology Lab, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul, Campus do Vale - Agronomia, Porto Alegre, RS, 90650-001, Brasil
| | - Paulo Estefano Bobrowiec
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Brasil
| | - Gabriel Selbach Hofmann
- Laboratório de Geoprocessamento, Centro de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil
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Abstract
A list of 40 species is presented of the rodents and insectivores collected during a 15-year period from the Republic of Mordovia. The dataset contains more than 24,000 records of rodent and insectivore species from 23 districts, including Saransk. A major part of the data set was obtained during expedition research and at the biological station. The work is based on the materials of our surveys of rodents and insectivorous mammals conducted in Mordovia using both trap lines and pitfall arrays using traditional methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexey V Andreychev
- Department of Zoology, National Research Mordovia State University, Bolshevistskaya Street, 68. 430005, Saransk, Russia National Research Mordovia State University Saransk Russia
| | - Vyacheslav A Kuznetsov
- Department of Zoology, National Research Mordovia State University, Bolshevistskaya Street, 68. 430005, Saransk, Russia National Research Mordovia State University Saransk Russia
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Elmeros M, Bossi R, Christensen TK, Kjær LJ, Lassen P, Topping CJ. Exposure of non-target small mammals to anticoagulant rodenticide during chemical rodent control operations. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2019; 26:6133-6140. [PMID: 30617892 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-018-04064-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [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: 08/01/2018] [Accepted: 12/20/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The extensive use of anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) results in widespread unintentional exposure of non-target rodents and secondary poisoning of predators despite regulatory measures to manage and reduce exposure risk. To elucidate on the potential vectoring of ARs into surrounding habitats by non-target small mammals, we determined bromadiolone prevalence and concentrations in rodents and shrews near bait boxes during an experimental application of the poison for 2 weeks. Overall, bromadiolone was detected in 12.6% of all small rodents and insectivores. Less than 20 m from bait boxes, 48.6% of small mammals had detectable levels of bromadiolone. The prevalence of poisoned small mammals decreased with distance to bait boxes, but bromadiolone concentration in the rodenticide positive individuals did not. Poisoned small mammals were trapped up to 89 m from bait boxes. Bromadiolone concentrations in yellow-necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis) were higher than concentrations in bank vole (Myodes glareolus), field vole (Microtus agrestis), harvest mouse (Micromys minutus), and common shrew (Sorex araneus). Our field trials documents that chemical rodent control results in widespread exposure of non-target small mammals and that AR poisoned small mammals disperse away from bating sites to become available to predators and scavengers in large areas of the landscape. The results suggest that the unintentional secondary exposure of predators and scavengers is an unavoidable consequence of chemical rodent control outside buildings and infrastructures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morten Elmeros
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Grenåvej 14, DK-8410, Rønde, Denmark.
| | - Rossana Bossi
- Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK-4000, Roskilde, Denmark
| | | | - Lene Jung Kjær
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Grenåvej 14, DK-8410, Rønde, Denmark
- National Veterinary Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Kemitorvet, 2800, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Pia Lassen
- Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK-4000, Roskilde, Denmark
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Fernandez EV, Li Z, Zheng W, Ding Y, Sun D, Che Y. Intraspecific host selection of Père David's deer by cattle egrets in Dafeng, China. Behav Processes 2014; 105:36-9. [PMID: 24607393 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2014.02.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2013] [Revised: 02/24/2014] [Accepted: 02/25/2014] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Studies have focused on foraging ecology of cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis) and their selection of ungulate host species. However, few studies have been conducted at intraspecific levels, such as the sex/age class of a specific ungulate. In this study, the foraging behavior and intraspecific host selection of cattle egrets associated with Père David's deer (Elaphurus davidianus) were investigated at the Dafeng National Nature Reserve, China in summer 2011 and 2012. Egret-deer pairing status was analyzed and intraspecific host selection index was calculated. Cattle egrets preferred to feed with female deer compared with male deer and fawns. In contrast to solitary birds, cattle egrets following a deer benefited from a relatively low vigilance output, high foraging success, low energy expenditure, and high total foraging yields. These egrets also maximized benefits when they followed female deer compared with male deer and fawns. Our results further indicated that egrets likely preferred females because of the appropriate moving speed that allowed these egrets to follow and forage sufficiently and effectively. The males of Père David's deer were possibly more aggressive than the females during the rutting season, causing egrets to experience difficulty in accompaniment and feeding. Fawns were not preferred because they were usually motionless and insufficiently large to stir more insects. We did not find any behavioral differences in vigilance and feeding between juveniles and adults. Our results suggested that cattle egrets could obtain significant benefits from their association with Père David's deer, and these benefits were maximized when they followed female deer. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: insert SI title.
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Boonzaier J, Van der Merwe EL, Bennett NC, Kotzé SH. A comparative histochemical study of the distribution of mucins in the gastrointestinal tracts of three insectivorous mammals. Acta Histochem 2013; 115:549-56. [PMID: 23313440 DOI: 10.1016/j.acthis.2012.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2012] [Revised: 11/27/2012] [Accepted: 12/02/2012] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The distribution of mucous secreting goblet cells was examined in the gastrointestinal tracts of three insectivores namely: Acomys spinosissimus (Southern African spiny mouse), Crocidura cyanea (Reddish gray musk shrew) and Amblysomus hottentotus (Hottentot golden mole) in order to improve our understanding of the quality and composition of the protective intestinal biofilm. Intestinal tracts were fixed and processed to wax for histology. Serial transverse sections were stained using alcian blue-periodic acid Schiff, alcian blue-aldehyde fuchsin and alcian blue-high iron diamine techniques. Photomicrographs of the stained sections were analyzed by quantifying the number of goblet cells containing mucins per mm(2) in the surface epithelial or crypt areas. Neutral mucins predominated in the gastric epithelium of all three insectivores, while sialomucins were absent in the stomach of C. cyanea. In all three species, goblet cells producing a mixture of neutral and acid mucins were most abundant throughout the intestinal tract as were cells secreting a mixture of sulfomucins and sialomucins. However, differences between the insectivore species were observed in the qualitative expression and distribution of mucins throughout the intestinal tract. Similarities between the insectivores of this study and other distantly related species suggest that mixed mucin goblet cells are essential for the formation of the biofilm, irrespective of their diet or taxonomy.
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