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Heavy metal concentration in feathers of Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) nestlings in three coastal breeding colonies in Spain

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Abstract

The colonial ardeid Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), which is is protected under the European Birds Directive (2009/147/EC), can be a reliable bioindicator of aquatic environmental pollution. Concentrations of the heavy metals Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn in nestling feathers were assessed for three different breeding colonies of Little Egret on the Spanish coast during 2013 (5 individuals in Urdaibai, 10 in Santoña and 26 in Odiel). There were no significant differences in mean tissue residues of Cd, Ni, Pb and Zn between the colonies; however, mean concentration of Hg in Odiel nestlings was approximately three times lower than that of the other colonies, while Cr and Cu were significantly higher. In general, Little Egret nestlings from the three study sites had low levels of most of the measured metals, and thus the breeding populations did not appear to be at risk from heavy metal pollution. Baseline metal concentration in feathers derived from this study and calculated as the 90th percentile values were: 0.02 μg Cd g−1 dw, 0.42 μg Cr g−1 dw, 1.63 μg Hg g−1 dw, 0.40 μg Pb g−1 dw and 122 μg Zn g−1 dw. However, mean Cu residues attained relatively high levels (17.6–26.9 μg Cu g−1 dw) compared with data reported elsewhere, which raises concern and indicates a need for further research.

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Acknowledgments

This research has been supported by the project of the University of the Basque Country (EHU13/24) and by the Basque Government (IT-405-10). Sampling feathers in the Little Egret colonies was possible thanks to the active collaboration of Jose Manuel Sayago (Junta de Andalucía) and Ludo de Vega (SEO/Birdlife ornithologist). Thanks also to the County Council of Biscay and Paula Caviedes (Director of the Biosphere Reserve of Urdaibai), Lourdes González Azpiri (Director of the Natural Park of the Marshes of Santoña, Victoria and Joyel) and Enrique Martínez Montes (Director of the Odiel Biosphere Reserve) for providing support for sampling campaigns. To Beatriz Arce of SOSPROCAN Unit for analysing the samples. We are truly grateful to Leire Paz for her help in samples preparation. Finally, we gratefully acknowledge the anonymous reviewers who helped improving this manuscript with useful comments and suggestions.

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  1. Department of Zoology and Animal Cell Biology, University of the Basque Country, Box 644, 48080, Bilbao, Spain

    Iratxe Rubio, Leire Méndez-Fernández & Pilar Rodriguez

  2. Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology, University of the Basque Country, Box 644, 48080, Bilbao, Spain

    Maite Martinez-Madrid

  3. Sustainable Development and Natural Environment Department, County Council of Biscay, 48014, Bilbao, Spain

    Aitor Galarza

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  1. Iratxe Rubio
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Correspondence to Maite Martinez-Madrid.

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Rubio, I., Martinez-Madrid, M., Méndez-Fernández, L. et al. Heavy metal concentration in feathers of Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) nestlings in three coastal breeding colonies in Spain. Ecotoxicology 25, 30–40 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-015-1563-0

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