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Use of Raptors for Biomonitoring of Heavy Metals: Gender, Age and Tissue Selection

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Abstract

The concentrations of cadmium, mercury and lead were determined in liver, kidney and feathers of Accipiter gentilis, Buteo buteo and Strix aluco. No significant differences in the concentrations of metals were observed in relation to either age or gender. Cadmium levels in feathers and in kidney were significantly correlated (p < 0.01 or p < 0.05) in all species. In B. buteo, cadmium concentrations in feathers and in liver were also correlated (p < 0.01), as were the concentrations of lead in feathers and in liver (p < 0.05). The low correlation coefficients let to reject the possibility of predicting metals concentrations in viscera from the concentrations in feathers.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the staff at the Wildlife Recovery Centres in Galicia, as well as Jesús Santamaría and Marta Prieto Rodríguez of the Servicio de Conservación de la Biodiversidad de la Xunta de Galicia, for help in obtaining samples. This study was partly funded by the Xunta de Galicia within the project “Banco de Especímenes Ambientales de Galicia, 3ª Fase”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    I. Castro, J. R. Aboal, J. A. Fernández & A. Carballeira

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  1. I. Castro
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  2. J. R. Aboal
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  3. J. A. Fernández
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  4. A. Carballeira
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Correspondence to J. A. Fernández.

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Castro, I., Aboal, J.R., Fernández, J.A. et al. Use of Raptors for Biomonitoring of Heavy Metals: Gender, Age and Tissue Selection. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 86, 347–351 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-011-0220-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-011-0220-4

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