Telomere damage and redox status alterations in free-living passerines exposed to metals

Stauffer, Janina; Panda, Bineet; Eeva, Tapio; Rainio, Miia J.; Ilmonen, Petteri

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.131

Cited by 47 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…Thus, we did not detect any difference in telomere length between the four populations (Paris, Niort, Foljuif, Chizé), suggesting no impact of urbanization on telomere length in nestling great tits. Conversely, Salmón et al (2016) found that telomeres of urban great tit nestlings were shorter than those of rural nestlings and these findings were recently supported by another ecotoxicological study (Stauffer et al, 2017). However, Stauffer et al (2017) also found that telomere length was not affected by urban-like pollution in nestlings from another passerine species, the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca).…”

Section: Urbanization and Telomere Lengthmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Conversely, Salmón et al (2016) found that telomeres of urban great tit nestlings were shorter than those of rural nestlings and these findings were recently supported by another ecotoxicological study (Stauffer et al, 2017). However, Stauffer et al (2017) also found that telomere length was not affected by urban-like pollution in nestlings from another passerine species, the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca). To our knowledge, the impact of urbanization on telomere dynamics has so far rarely been studied in wild vertebrates, and taken all together, these studies suggest that the influence of urbanization on telomere length may depend on the species but also on the environmental characteristics of a given city.…”

Section: Urbanization and Telomere Lengthmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…In our study, we captured nestlings from four sites (two cities and two forests) that were located in Western Europe. In contrast, Salmón et al (2016) and Stauffer et al (2017) studied Northern populations that were located in Scandinavia. Regional differences in life-history strategies or environmental conditions could therefore potentially account for these contrasted results.…”

Section: Urbanization and Telomere Lengthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Overall, carotenoid-based plumage color is paler in birds living in cities than in those living in rural areas (Eeva et al, 1998;Hõrak et al, 2000Hõrak et al, , 2001Isaksson et al, 2005;Giraudeau et al, 2015). The influence of urbanization on telomere length has only been investigated a few times in wild animals Stauffer et al, 2017), and further studies are necessary to confirm that urbanization could lead to shortened telomeres in developing wild animals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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 Telomere Lengthmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Urbanization and Telomere Lengthmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Urbanization and Telomere Lengthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

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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“…However, it is also possible, that some more subtle effects on the nestlings' condition parameters that we did not measure, e.g. haematocrit level, oxidative stress or telomere length, might have occurred (Koivula and Eeva 2010;Stauffer et al 2017). We consider it unlikely that Whitethroats are able to detoxicate efficiently enough to overcome all the negative effects of heavy metal pollution, while metal toxicity in birds has been shown on organismal as well as physiological, cellular and genetic level (Koivula and Eeva 2010).…”

Section: Heavy Metals and Nestlings' Conditionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Characterising the hydrological regime of an ungauged temporary river system: a case study

D’Ambrosio

Girolamo

Barca

et al. 2016

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Anthropogenic pollution results in high concentrations of heavy metals in the environment. Due to their persistence and a high potential for bioaccumulation, metals are a real threat for birds breeding in industrial areas. The aim of the present study has been to explore the contents of heavy metals (arsenic As, cadmium Cd, chromium Cr, copper Cu, iron Fe, nickel Ni, lead Pb and zinc Zn) in the excreta of Whitethroat (Sylvia communis) nestlings living in polluted environment and to investigate the relationship between these contents and the nestlings' condition. Excrement samples contained all the studied elements. The contents of arsenic, cadmium, copper and zinc in the excreta of nestlings from nests located close to a slag dump were several times higher than in the soil near the dump, which suggested accumulation in food consumed by the birds. Condition parameters (body mass and haemoglobin concentration) were not related to heavy metal concentrations in the nestlings' excreta, except of Zn. It is possible that Whitethroats are able to detoxicate heavy metals to a certain extent. Detailed, multi-element analysis of the environment, food and bird tissues or excreta should be performed to explore relations between different chemicals and bird condition.

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Do Telomeres Influence Pace‐of‐Life‐Strategies in Response to Environmental Conditions Over a Lifetime and Between Generations?

2019

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The complexity of the physiological phenotype currently prevents us from identifying an integrative measure to assess how the internal state and environmental conditions modify life-history strategies. In this article, it is proposed that shorter telomeres should lead to a faster pace-of-life where investment in self-maintenance is decreased as a means of saving energy for reproduction, but at the cost of somatic durability. Inversely, longer telomeres would favor an increased investment in soma maintenance and thus a longer reproductive lifespan (i.e., slower pace-of-life). Under this hypothesis, telomere dynamics could be such an integrative mediator, which will assemble the information about oxidative stress levels, inflammation status and stress reactivity, and relate this information to the potential lifespan of the organism and its pace-of-life strategy. The signaling function of telomere dynamics can also reach over generations, a phenomenon in which the telomere lengths of gametes would provide a channel through which offspring would receive information about their environment early in their development, hence increasing the possibilities for developmental plasticity.

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Telomere damage and redox status alterations in free-living passerines exposed to metals

Cited by 47 publications

References 73 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)

Characterising the hydrological regime of an ungauged temporary river system: a case study

Do Telomeres Influence Pace‐of‐Life‐Strategies in Response to Environmental Conditions Over a Lifetime and Between Generations?

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