Do wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus L.) use food selection as a means to reduce heavy metal intake?

Beernaert, Joke; Scheirs, Jan; Brande, Greet Van Den; Leirs, Herwig; Blust, Ronny; Meulenaer, Bruno De; Camp, John Van; Verhagen, Ron

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2007.04.001

Cited by 27 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Avoidance of TM‐contaminated soil or food has been shown in invertebrates but has rarely been investigated in vertebrates and is particularly hard to prove under field conditions in comparison with controlled experiments. This behaviour has been observed under laboratory conditions for some invertebrates like isopods or small moths (Odendaal & Reinecke, ; Scheirs, Vandevyvere, Wollaert, Blust, & De Bruyn, ; Zidar, Drobne, Štrus, Van Gestel, & Donker, ), and for the wood mouse (Beernaert et al., ), but mechanisms of such aversion are not yet elucidated. In Beernaert et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Avoidance of TM-contaminated soil or food has been shown in invertebrates but has rarely been investigated in vertebrates and is particularly hard to prove under field conditions in comparison with controlled experiments. This behaviour has been observed under laboratory conditions for some invertebrates like isopods or small moths (Odendaal & Reinecke, 1999;Scheirs, Vandevyvere, Wollaert, Blust, & De Bruyn, 2006;Zidar, Drobne, Štrus, Van Gestel, & Donker, 2004), and for the wood mouse (Beernaert et al, 2008), but mechanisms of such aversion are not yet elucidated. In Beernaert et al (2008), wood mice chose acorns (Quercus robur, Fagaceae) sampled from unpolluted sites rather than ones from metal-polluted sites (mainly by Cd, copper, Pb and Zn), but such avoidance behaviour was no longer detected under field conditions, perhaps due to ecological cofactors such as food shortage, and/or the presence of competitors and predators.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Beernaert et al. (), wood mice chose acorns ( Quercus robur , Fagaceae) sampled from unpolluted sites rather than ones from metal‐polluted sites (mainly by Cd, copper, Pb and Zn), but such avoidance behaviour was no longer detected under field conditions, perhaps due to ecological cofactors such as food shortage, and/or the presence of competitors and predators. Avoidance of contaminated food, leading to shifts in diet, can be one of the mechanisms allowing animals to mitigate their exposure in highly polluted environments (Gillet & Ponge, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, mechanisms of changes in preference remain unclear. The nutritional quality of metal‐contaminated plant organs has been shown to be lowered, with for instance a decrease in sugar or protein concentrations (Beernaert et al., ; Scheirs et al., ), features which play an important role for food choice in rodents (Butet, ; Kerley & Erasmus, ). It is also possible that animals might identify metal‐contaminated plants due to metal‐induced metabolic compounds (Poschenrieder, Tolrà, & Barceló, ), largely known as compounds limiting feeding (Foley & Moore, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Avoidance of TM-contaminated food can be a mechanism that mitigates organisms' exposure to contaminants (Gillet & Ponge, 2003). This has been reported for the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) under laboratory settings but not confirmed in natural conditions (Beernaert et al, 2008). To the best of our knowledge, no study has reported variations of richness in the diet and selection as a response to both the variation of resource availability and the contamination of the environment in natura in terrestrial ecosystems.…”

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confidence: 90%

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Does pollution influence small mammal diet in the field? A metabarcoding approach in a generalist consumer

et al. 2018

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Mammals are mainly exposed to trace metals (TMs) via consuming contaminated food. Several studies have demonstrated relationships between metal concentrations in food and in animal tissues. However, potential effects of TMs on feeding behaviour of wildlife have been poorly documented under field conditions, despite experimental evidence showing that food selection is impacted by resource contamination. Here, we test the hypothesis that the diet of a generalist rodent, the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), is altered by soil TM contamination in the field. Wood mice were sampled in spring and in autumn along a gradient of soil contamination in the surroundings of a former smelter located in northern France. Available resources in the field were inventoried, and the diet of the animals was analysed using DNA "metabarcoding." We demonstrated that (a) relationship between the resource richness in the diet and their richness in the field was altered by soil metal contamination. Wood mice specialized their diet along the gradient of soil metal contamination for both plant and invertebrate resources in spring. We also showed that (b) preference for Salicaceae, a plant family accumulating metals, decreased when soil contamination increased. These results suggest that environmental TM pollution could act as a force modulating trophic interactions in terrestrial food webs, thereby affecting wildlife exposure to contaminants by trophic route.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 90%

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Does pollution influence small mammal diet in the field? A metabarcoding approach in a generalist consumer

et al. 2018

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The oral bioavailability of soil-borne risk elements for small terrestrial mammals: Microtus arvalis (Pallas, 1778) and Apodemus sylvaticus L. and its implication in environmental studies

Čadková

Vořechovská

Javorská

et al. 2023

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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The aims of this study were (i) to specify real risk elemetnt (RE) uptake by wild terresrial mammals (A. sylvaticus and M. arvalis), (ii) to describe RE distribution in critical organs such as the liver and kidney, and (iii) to determine potencial differences in RE toxicokinetics with regards to individual species or sex. Three groups of experimental animals were fed diets amended with soil and green biomass of hyperaccumulator Arabidopsis halleri with different RE levels. The contents of As, Cd, and Pb in the liver and kidneys of the animals reflected the element contents in the diet. Higher Cd and Pb accumulation ability was observed in A. sylvaticus compared to M. arvalis tissues, and an opposite pattern was recorded for As. Zn contents in tissues of both species remained unchanged, and total contents of Zn in the exposed animals even tended to decrease compared to the controls. Results of this study indicate a generally similar response of both species to elevated RE contents in the diet, confirming these wild rodents as suitable models for RE biomonitoring in ecosystems. However, our data highlights some distinction in As toxicokinetics in wood mice compared to that of field voles and a significantly higher accumulation of Pb and Cd in females. Therefore, factors of species and sex should not be overlooked if relevant data are to be obtained in environmental studies conducted on small terrestrial rodents.

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Evaluation of bioconcentration of trace elements in the Western Mediterranean mouse Mus spretus at two Moroccan wetland sites

et al. 2022

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Do wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus L.) use food selection as a means to reduce heavy metal intake?

Cited by 27 publications

References 30 publications

Does pollution influence small mammal diet in the field? A metabarcoding approach in a generalist consumer

Does pollution influence small mammal diet in the field? A metabarcoding approach in a generalist consumer

The oral bioavailability of soil-borne risk elements for small terrestrial mammals: Microtus arvalis (Pallas, 1778) and Apodemus sylvaticus L. and its implication in environmental studies

Evaluation of bioconcentration of trace elements in the Western Mediterranean mouse Mus spretus at two Moroccan wetland sites

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