Video wmv, 1.8 mb The most recent results Breeding success was improved after decreased emissions Breeding success of the great tit and pied flycatcher has markedly improved in the vi
Trang 1Air pollution impacts on
birds and insects Project leader: Tapio Eeva, docent
Ph.D students: Jouni Sorvari, Saila Sillanpää; M.Sc
student: Ville Vähä-Iitu
Collaborators: Mikko Nikinmaa (Univ Turku), Marcel Eens (Univ Antwerp), Markus Rantala (Univ California), Juha-Pekka Salminen (Univ
Turku), Eugen Belskii (Russian Acad Sci)
Background
Effects of air pollution on the Pied Flycatcher(Ficedula hypoleuca) and the Great Tit (Parus major)has
been studied in the surroundings of a copper smelter of Harjavalta (SW Finland) since 1991 Our aim has been to find out how atmospheric emissions of heavy metals (especially copper, nickel and lead) and acidic substances affect the breeding success and survival of birds
The main results
One of the main interests in our project has been whether the detrimental effects are direct toxic effects
or indirect effects (e.g due to decreased amount of food) We have found both The two bird species respond differently to pollution The pied flycatcher suffers from poor quality egg shells and growth abnormalities of nestlings, but these effects are restricted only to relatively small area (1 - 2 km) around the factory complex The great tit suffers most in late nestling stage, when the growth of nestling is retarded and mortality increased
In summary, the pied flycatcher seems to suffer more from the direct toxic effects whereas the great tit suffers more from the reduced amount of suitable food for nestlings
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Great tits in the polluted area are fading
We have found that the air pollution can cause changes in the plumage colour of great tits The breast feathers of the great tit are normally yellow, but the yellow plumage of young great tits is significantly paler the closer to the pollution source they live (Functional Ecology 12: 607-612) Read articles: The Economist, Priroda [Nature, Moscow] (In Russian) and Helsingin Sanomat (In Finnish)
The pigments responsible for colouring feathers yellow are derived from chemicals called carotenoids Birds cannot make these chemicals themselves and so must obtain them indirectly through what they eat
The problem is that pollutants emitted from the smelting plant are causing a decrease in the number of
green caterpillars, an important component of the great tit diet generally and a vital source of
carotenoids The plumage colour study will continue next summer
Future work
Trang 3Birds’ defence mechanisms against environmental stress can be behavioural, physiological or
biochemical Often, they are related to the quality of birds’ diet For example, recent studies have revealed the importance of dietary carotenoids on the immunocompetence of birds An analogous, but
less studied, is the role of carotenoids (i.e antioxidants) in defence against toxic substances (heavy
metals, PCBs, PAHs and brominated flame retardants) In our future study we want to examine how these defence mechanisms are dependent on the diet of wild bird populations The main issues in our study area:
z Food quality and defence mechanisms
z Does air pollution cause genetic changes?
z Interspecific differences in defence ability
Birds' diet is studied by collecting food samples and by following nestling feeding with video cameras attached into nest-box roof Look yourself how a pied flycatcher male brings a green caterpillar and a cockroach to nestlings and takes a faecal sac away
Video (wmv), 1.8 mb
The most recent results
Breeding success was improved after decreased emissions
Breeding success of the great tit and pied flycatcher has markedly improved in the vicinity of the copper smelter during 1991 - 1997, when heavy metal emissions markedly decreased Lead
concentrations in nestling bones tissues were decreased about 90% and the number of fledglings
increased by about 1.6 chicks in both species The results suggest that even in an area with decades long heavy metal pollution history, positive results of reduced pollution loads on wild bird populations can be observed over a relatively short time period (Nature 403: 851-852)
Birds did not show reduced immunocompetence in the polluted area
We investigated whether heavy metal pollution changed the immunocompetence of the pied flycatcher
We measured humoral and T-cell mediated immune responses in two study areas: a polluted area in the
vicinity of a copper smelter and a control area far from the smelter The immunocompetence of F hypoleuca was not suppressed by pollution stress In contrast, we found that F hypoleuca males
showed stronger humoral immune responses to a novel antigen (tetanus toxoid) in the polluted
environment than in the unpolluted one No significant pollution-related effects were found in humoral immune response of females or T-cell mediated immune response of nestlings, despite the lower fledging success in the polluted area Our results suggest that humoral immune response of birds may
News!
Trang 4actually be enhanced, or hyper-activated, under moderate levels of heavy metal pollution This may cause some extra costs for birds during breeding
Our study and media
Newspaper and magazine articles on bird study in Harjavalta:
Talitiaiset tarkkailussa Harjavallan seudulla - Satakunnan Kansa 1991
Kirjosieppo ja talitiainen kärsivät ilmansaasteista - Turun Sanomat 1996
Kirjosieppo ja talitiainen kärsivät ilmansaasteista eri tavoin - Lapin Kansa 1996
Ilmansaasteiden vaikutukset väitöskirjan aiheina - Vakka-Suomen Sanomat 1996
Fading signals - The Economist 1998
Ilmansaasteet haalistavat talitiaisen rintahöyhenet - Helsingin Sanomat 1998
Kirjosieppo kärsii ilman saasteista - Maaseudun Tulevaisuus 1998
Smog casts a pall over sex life of birds - New Scientist 1998
Great tits in polluted area are fading fast - BBC Wildlife Magazine 1999
Feedback - New Scientist 1999
Great Tit is Voting for Clean Air - Priroda [Nature, Moscow] 1999
Kirjosieppo riutuu Harjavallan tehtaan varjossa - Helsingin Sanomat 1999
Artikkeli Harjavallan lintututkimuksista - Keski-Pohjanmaa 1999
Koikkalaisen pakina - Seura 1999
Tehtaiden naapurissa asustaa kalvakkaita talitinttejä - Kemia 26/99
Linnut kertovat ympäristön muutoksista - TV-2, EKOISTI 1999
Pollution’s True Colours - Nature Australia 2000
Linnusto toipuu luonnon puhdistuessa - Turun Sanomat 2000
Flying comeback - New Scientist 2000
Komea isä saa poikia - Satakunnan Kansa 2000
Enemmän poikasia, vähemmän raajarikkoja - Helsingin Sanomat 2000
Links
Ilmansuojelu (2/98):Effects of heavy metal emissions in forests around Harjavalta
Publications, reprint requests to Tapio Eeva
Eeva, T., Lehikoinen, E and Nurmi, J 1994: Effects of ectoparasites on breeding success of great tit
(Parus major) and pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) in an air pollution gradient - Canadian
Journal of Zoology 72: 624-635 Abstract (PDF)
Eeva, T., & Lehikoinen, E 1994: Effects of Air Pollution on the Breeding of Pied Flycatcher Ficedula
hypoleuca and Great Tit Parus major - Journal für Ornithologie 135: 236 (Abstract)
Eeva, T & Lehikoinen, E 1995: Egg shell quality, clutch size and hatching success of the great tit
(Parus major) and the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) in an air pollution gradient - Oecologia
102: 312-323 Abstract (PDF)
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Eeva, T & Lehikoinen, E 1996: Growth and mortality of nestling great tits (Parus major) and pied
flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) in a heavy metal pollution gradient - Oecologia 108: 631-639
Abstract (PDF)
Eeva, T 1996: Direct and indirect effects of air pollution on two hole-nesting bird species - Annales Universitatis Turkuensis Ser A Tom 83 (doctoral dissertation)
Eeva, T & Lehikoinen, E 1997: Talitiainen ja kirjosieppo kärsivät eri tavoin ilmansaasteista -
Luonnon Tutkija 3: 79-82
Eeva, T., Lehikoinen, E & Pohjalainen, T 1997: Pollution-related variation in food supply and
breeding success in two hole-nestong passerines - Ecology 78: 1120-1131 Full text (PDF)
Eeva, T., Lehikoinen, E & Sunell C 1997: The quality of pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) and
great tit (Parus major) females in an air pollution gradient - Annales Zoologici Fennici 34: 61-71
Full text (PDF)
Eeva, T & Lehikoinen, E 1998: Local survival rates of the pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) and
the great tits (Parus major) in an air pollution gradient - Ecoscience 5: 46-50
Eeva, T., Lehikoinen, E & Rönkä, M 1998: Air pollution fades the plumage of the great tit -
Functional Ecology 12: 607-612 Full text (PDF)
Lehtiniemi, T 1998: Kirjosiepon värimuodoista - M.Sc Thesis University of Turku 56 pp
Sarholm, E 1998: Talitiaisen (Parus major) ja kirjosiepon (Ficedula hypoleuca) ravinto ja
ruokailukäyttäytyminen tunnetussa ilmansaastegradientissa - M.Sc Thesis University of Turku 42
pp
Bojarinova, J G., Lehikoinen, E & Eeva, T 1999: Dependence of postjuvenile moult on hatching
date, condition and sex in the Great Tit - Journal of Avian Biology 30: 437-446 Full text (PDF)
Tanhuanpää, S., Eeva, T., Lehikoinen, E & Nikinmaa, M 1999: Developmental changes in
7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) and -aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALA-D) activities in
three passerines - Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology: Part C 124: 197-202 Full text (PDF)
Eeva, T., Ojanen, M., Räsänen, O & Lehikoinen, E 2000: Empty nests in the great tit (Parus major)
and the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) in a polluted area - Environmental pollution 109:
303-309 Full text (PDF)
Lehikoinen, E 1999: Talitiaisen puku haalistuu Harjavallassa - Aurora 3: 16-17
Lehikoinen, E., Eeva, T & Rönkä, M 1999: Harjavallan pönttölinnut ilman saastumisen vaikutuksen
mittareina - Linnut 3: 12-16
Lehikoinen, E (1999): Ilmansaasteet haalistuttavat talitiaiset -Suomen Luonto 2/99: 18
Rönkä, M 1999: Talitiaisen (Parus major) poikasten höyhenpuvun väritys ilmansaastegradientilla -
M.Sc Thesis University of Turku 76 pp
Eeva, T., Tanhuanpää, S., Råbergh, C., Airaksinen, S., Nikinmaa, M & Lehikoinen E 2000:
Biomarkers and fluctuating asymmetry as indicators of pollution induced stress in two hole-nesting
Trang 6passerines - Functional Ecology 14: 235-243 Full text (PDF)
Eeva, T & Lehikoinen, E (2000): Pollution and breeding success in wild birds -Nature 403: 851-852
Full text (PDF)
Lehikoinen, E & Eeva, T (2000): Tunne tuttu talvilintu -Tiede 2000 2/2000
Ilmonen, P., Taarna, T & Hasselquist, D (2000): Experimentally activated immune defence in female
pied flycatchers results in reduced breeding success - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B
267: 1-6 Full text (PDF)
Taarna, T 2000: Haudonnan kustannukset ja taudinvastustuskyky kirjosiepolla (Ficedula hypoleuca) -
M.Sc Thesis University of Turku 50 pp
Viljanen, M 2000: Kirjosiepon (Ficedula hypoleuca) lisääntymismenestys erilaisissa
elinympäristöissä - M.Sc Thesis University of Turku 31 pp
Eeva, T., Lehikoinen, E., Rönkä, M., Lummaa, V & Currie, D (2002): Different responses to cold
weather in two pied flycatcher populations - Ecography 25: 705-713 Full text (PDF)
Eeva, T., Hakkarainen, H & Koivunen, V (2003): Population densities of forest birds in a heavy metal
pollution gradient - Avian Science 2: 227-236 Full text (PDF)
Ryömä, M (2003): Ravinnon laadun vaikutus talitiaisen (Parus major) ja kirjosiepon (Ficedula
hypoleuca) poikasten raskasmetallialtistukseen - M.Sc Thesis University of Turku 54 pp
Eeva, T., Lehikoinen, E and Nikinmaa, M (2003): Pollution-induced nutritional stress in nestling
birds: an experimental study of direct and indirect effects - Ecological Applications 13: 1242-1249
Full text (PDF)
Eeva, T & Lehikoinen, E (2004): Rich calcium availability diminishes heavy metal toxicity in Pied
flycatcher – Functional Ecology 18: 548-553 Full text (PDF)
Ahola, M., Laaksonen, T., Sippola, K., Eeva, T., Rainio, K and Lehikoinen, E 2004 Variation in
climate warming along the migration route uncouples arrival and breeding dates – Global Change Biology 10: 1610-1617 Full text (PDF)
Eeva, T., Sorvari, J & Koivunen, V (2004): Effects of heavy metal pollution on red wood ant
(Formica s.str.) populations – Environmental Pollution 132: 533-539 Full text (PDF)
Both, C., Artemyev, A V., Blaauw, B., Cowie, R J., Dekhuijzen, A J., Eeva, T., Enemar, A., Gustafsson, L., Ivankina, E V., Jarvinen, A., Metcalfe, N B., Nyholm, N E I., Potti, J., Ravussin, P A., Sanz, J J., Silverin, B., Slater, F M., Sokolov, L V., Torok, J., Winkel, W., Wright, J., Zang, H and Visser, M E 2004 Large-scale geographical variation confirms that climate change causes birds to
lay earlier – Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B - Biological Sciences 271:
1657-1662 Full text (PDF)
Eeva, T., Hasselquist, D., Langefors, Å., Tummeleht, L., Nikinmaa, M and Ilmonen, P (2005):
Pollution related effects on immune function and stress in a free-living population of pied flycatcher –
Journal of Avian Biology 36: 1-8 Full text (PDF)
Nikkinen, L (2005): The effect of carotenoids on plumage colour and success of great tit (Parus
Trang 7major) in a polluted environment – M.Sc Thesis University of Turku 53 pp (In Finnish) Full text (PDF)
Eeva, T., Ryömä, M and Riihimäki, J 2005 Pollution-related changes in diets of two insectivorous
passerines – Oecologia 145: 629-639 Full text (PDF)
Eeva, T., Belskii, E & Kuranov, B (2006): Environmental pollution affects genetic diversity in wild
bird populations – Mutation Research 608: 8 - 15 Full text (PDF)
Eeva, T., Hakkarainen, H., Laaksonen, T & Lehikoinen, E (2006): Environmental pollution has
sex-dependent effects on local survival B Biology Letters 2: 298-300 Full text (PDF)
Laaksonen, T., Ahola, M., Eeva, T., Väisänen, R and Lehikoinen, E (2006) Climate change, migratory
connectivity and changes in laying date and clutch size of the Pied flycatcher B Oikos (In
press)
Sorvari, J., Rantala, L.M., Rantala, M.J., Hakkarainen, H and Eeva T (2006): Heavy metal pollution
disturbs immunity: toxic effects in wild ant populations B Environmental Pollution (In
press) Full text (PDF)