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Metal exposure influences the melanin and carotenoid-based colorations in great tits
- Source :
- Science of the Total Environment, Science of the Total Environment, Elsevier, 2015, 532, pp.512-516. ⟨10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.06.021⟩
- Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- International audience; Metals are naturally found in the environment but are also emitted through anthropogenic activities, raising some concerns about the potential deleterious effects of these elements on wildlife. The potential effects of metals on bird coloration have been the focus of several recent studies since animal colored-signals often reflect the physiology of their bearers and are thus used by animals to assess the quality of another individual as a mate or competitor. These studies have shown that the melanin pigmentation seems to be positively associated and the carotenoid-based coloration negatively associated with metal exposure in wild birds. Although these studies have been very useful to show the associations between metal exposure and coloration, only few of them have actually quantified the levels of metal exposure at the individual level; always focusing on one or two of them. Here, we measured the concentrations of eight metals in great tits' feathers and then assessed how these levels of metals were associated with the carotenoid and melanin-based colorations. We found that the melanin pigmentation was positively associated with the copper concentration and negatively correlated with the chromium concentration in feathers. In addition, we have shown that the carotenoid-based coloration was negatively associated with the feather's mercury concentration. This study is the first one to identify some metals that might affect positively and negatively the deposition of melanin and carotenoid into the plumage of wild birds.
- Subjects :
- Environmental Engineering
[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]
Zoology
Plumage coloration
Biology
Ornaments
Metal
Melanin
Negatively associated
Parus major
Botany
Environmental Chemistry
Animals
Passeriformes
Waste Management and Disposal
Carotenoid
chemistry.chemical_classification
Melanins
Pigmentation
Metal pollution
Feathers
Individual level
Pollution
Carotenoids
chemistry
Plumage
Metals
visual_art
Feather
visual_art.visual_art_medium
Environmental Pollutants
Melanin pigment
Environmental Monitoring
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 18791026 and 00489697
- Volume :
- 532
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- The Science of the total environment
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....7be908bf60f49f7896cf263952218497