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Behavioural effects of cadmium (Cd) in free-living willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus)

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine effects of sublethal cadmium (Cd) contamination on parental behaviour and chick survival in willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) in an area that does not have high environmental levels of Cd due to geology but have high environmental levels of Cd due to anthropogenic deposition and acidification. One group of willow ptarmigan hens were exposed to Cd (83.2 mg Cd/L) after egg-laying using osmotic minipumps; whereas, another group given saline served as a control. No statistically significant difference in Cd concentration between the two groups was found. There was a significant correlation between the Cd concentrations in the liver and kidney of the birds and between Cd and metallothionein (MT) concentration in the kidney. No significant differences were found between the control hens and the Cd-contaminated hens with respect to any of the behaviour parameters. Age seemed to be more important than Cd treatment as adult hens showed more distraction display, had lower flushing distance, and higher brood attendance than juveniles. There were no difference in chick survival between Cd-contaminated and control hens, and there was no correlation between Cd concentrations and chick survival. The non-significant effects of Cd concentrations on parental behaviour may be due high environmental levels of Cd caused by anthropogenic deposition and acidification. We suggest that willow ptarmigan in the area have gradually evolved abilities to cope with high environmental levels of Cd, for instance, by binding Cd to MT in kidney and liver. This may suggest that Cd exerts a strong selection pressure on birds causing a relatively rapid evolution of protection mechanisms.

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Acknowledgements

The present study was financed by The Research Council of Norway, as part of the Critical Level Programme. The fieldwork would have been impossible without the help from Magnus Fjeld, Øystein Miland, and Ivar Rimul. Syverin Lierhagen carried out the ICP-MS analysis, and Bjørn Henrik Hansen helped with the MT analysis.

Experimental permission

The study was approved by the National Committee of Experiments on Animals, permit no. 10/09, according to the current regulations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Terrestrial Ecology, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Tungasletta 2, 7485, Trondheim, Norway

    Hans Chr. Pedersen

  2. Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, 7491, Trondheim, Norway

    Asgeir Lorås, Rolf A. Andersen & Bjørn M. Jenssen

Authors
  1. Hans Chr. Pedersen
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  2. Asgeir Lorås
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  3. Rolf A. Andersen
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  4. Bjørn M. Jenssen
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Correspondence to Hans Chr. Pedersen.

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Communicated by H. Kierdorf

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Pedersen, H.C., Lorås, A., Andersen, R.A. et al. Behavioural effects of cadmium (Cd) in free-living willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus). Eur J Wildl Res 56, 141–150 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-009-0295-y

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