Carotenoids in a food chain along a pollution gradient

Sillanpää, Saila; Salminen, Juha‐Pekka; Lehikoinen, Esa; Toivonen, Eija; Eeva, Tapio

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.07.065

Cited by 22 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Our results suggest therefore that carotenoid availability and/or carotenoid uptake is reduced in the urban environment . This interpretation is supported by eco-toxicological studies that were conducted in great tit nestlings: Eeva et al (1998) and Dauwe and Eens (2008) found that nestlings had a paler plumage when they were raised in more polluted areas, and this effect was mediated by a reduced availability of carotenoidrich diet in polluted areas (Sillanpää et al, 2008;Eeva et al, 2009). Furthermore, we found that the nestlings from Paris had a similar plumage color as those from Niort despite a large difference in the degree of urbanization between these two cities.…”

Section: Urbanization and Plumage Characteristicssupporting

confidence: 74%

Growing in Cities: An Urban Penalty for Wild Birds? A Study of Phenotypic Differences between Urban and Rural Great Tit Chicks (Parus major)

et al. 2017

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Urban sprawl is associated with deep and intense modifications of the natural habitats of wild vertebrates. Although, many species are unable to cope with such an environment, a few species can be found in cities and can help us assessing the impact of urbanization on wildlife. Urban-related environmental modifications are multiple and some of them seem beneficial while others seem rather detrimental to wild vertebrates. Moreover, the impact of these modifications on wild vertebrates is likely to vary depending on the phase of the annual life-cycle. Therefore, it is challenging to get a comprehensive picture of the impact of urbanization on wild vertebrates. Overall, urbanization is usually associated with reduced breeding performances in wild birds, but the impact of urbanization on the phenotype and quality of developing offspring has been less studied. In this study, we specifically investigated the impact of urbanization on several proxies of individual quality in great tits (Parus major). We concomitantly measured body size (tarsus length and body mass), plumage coloration, and telomere length in 14-days old chicks issued from 4 populations (two pairs of urban/rural populations located in two different geographical areas of France). First, rural chicks were significantly taller and heavier than urban birds although this impact of urbanization on body size/body mass appears only true for the most urbanized site. Interestingly, body size was also affected by the geographical area of capture, suggesting that regional environmental conditions may attenuate or exacerbate the influence of urbanization on nestling growth. Second, the carotenoid-based yellow plumage of rural nestlings was more colorful than that of urban birds, independently of the area of capture. This suggests that urban birds probably have a low-carotenoid diet relative to rural birds. Finally, telomere length did not differ between rural and urban chicks. These results suggest that urbanization probably imposes large developmental constraints in wild vertebrates and that this impact may primarily be related to constraining nutritional conditions.

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Section: Urbanization and Plumage Characteristicssupporting

confidence: 74%

Growing in Cities: An Urban Penalty for Wild Birds? A Study of Phenotypic Differences between Urban and Rural Great Tit Chicks (Parus major)

et al. 2017

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“…In the study by Sillanpää et al. (2008), insects had higher body carotenoid concentration when derived from more polluted places, or there was no association between polluted and unpolluted areas.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…In more polluted areas, a different type of prey would be eaten, with a predominance of less carotenoid‐rich food sources, for example, spiders instead of caterpillars (Geens et al., 2009; Koivula, Kanerva, Salminen, Nikinmaa, & Eeva, 2011). Many insect species can selectively accumulate more carotenoids such as lutein than others (Ahmad, 1992; Sillanpää et al., 2008). Some birds can also have this ability (McGraw et al., 2003).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biological responses to environmental contamination. How can metal pollution impact signal honesty in avian species?

Pacyna

Ruman

Mazerski

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Environmental pollution, for example with metals, can significantly affect the ecosystem balance leading to severe changes. Biologically active pigments are relevant for the appearance and condition of birds. Melanin and carotenoid particles are the most frequently deposited pigments in avian integument. They are responsible for the majority of colors of bird plumage. The phenotypic expression can be affected by metal contamination. It can be manifested as color bleaching or differences in the size of plumage badges. In this study, we performed a comprehensive review of related studies in order to estimate the underlying population effect of this potential dependency. The study is based on the review of the literature regarding several avian species. It was designed to identify an area where the effect of the exposure is still poorly known. The analysis was specifically conducted to investigate the correlation between trace element concentration and eumelanin deposition. Moreover, we searched for factors that could affect spectral properties of feathers with carotenoid‐based pigmentation. As a result, we found carotenoid‐based pigmentation to be of a good use in terms of visual condition assessment. Changes in melanin‐based pattern should be analyzed separately for eu‐ and pheomelanin as well as for a range of essential and toxic elements. Comprehensive studies on the subject are still scarce. Therefore, the issue requires further investigation.

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“…For example, some herbivorous invertebrates that are rich in plant-derived carotenoids are important sources of carotenoids for insectivorous birds, such as the great tit, Parus major (Partali et al 1985;Slagsvold and Lifjeld 1985;Tummeleht et al 2006;Isaksson and Andersson 2007;Eeva et al 2008). While carotenoid concentrations have been documented for one important food item, herbivorous caterpillars (Partali et al 1985;Isaksson and Andersson 2007;Sillanpää et al 2008), there is little information on other important invertebrate groups. A better understand of dietary carotenoids will elucidate the sources of variation in carotenoid levels in wild birds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carotenoid Composition of Invertebrates Consumed by Two Insectivorous Bird Species

et al. 2010

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Dietary carotenoids are important pigments, antioxidants, and immune-stimulants for birds. Despite recent interest in carotenoids in bird ecology, we know surprisingly little about the carotenoid content of invertebrates consumed by birds. We compared carotenoid (lutein, beta-carotene, and total) concentrations in invertebrates brought to nestlings by two insectivorous passerines, the great tit, Parus major and the pied flycatcher, Ficedula hypoleuca. We also compared carotenoid levels between environments that were either polluted by heavy metals or were not polluted, because the carotenoid-based plumage color of P. major nestlings is affected by environmental pollution. Lepidopterans were the most carotenoid-rich food items and contained the largest proportion of lutein. There were no differences in carotenoid concentrations in the food items of the two bird species but P. major nestlings obtained more carotenoids from their invertebrate diet than F. hypoleuca nestlings because the P. major diet had a higher proportion of lepidopteran larvae. In polluted areas, P. major nestlings consumed lower levels of dietary carotenoids than in unpolluted areas because of temporal differences in caterpillar abundance between polluted and unpolluted sites. Our study suggests that pollution-related difference in nestling plumage color in P. major is related to varying dietary proportion of lutein-rich food items rather than pollution-related variation in insect carotenoid levels.

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Carotenoids in a food chain along a pollution gradient

Cited by 22 publications

References 55 publications

Growing in Cities: An Urban Penalty for Wild Birds? A Study of Phenotypic Differences between Urban and Rural Great Tit Chicks (Parus major)

Growing in Cities: An Urban Penalty for Wild Birds? A Study of Phenotypic Differences between Urban and Rural Great Tit Chicks (Parus major)

Biological responses to environmental contamination. How can metal pollution impact signal honesty in avian species?

Carotenoid Composition of Invertebrates Consumed by Two Insectivorous Bird Species

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