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Contaminant exposure in relation to spatio-temporal variation in diet composition: A case study of the little owl (Athene noctua)
- Source :
- Environmental Pollution, 163, 109-116. Elsevier B.V., Environmental Pollution, 163, 109-116, Environmental Pollution, 163, pp. 109-116, Environmental Pollution 163 (2012)
- Publication Year :
- 2012
-
Abstract
- We assessed dietary exposure of the little owl Athene noctua to trace metal contamination in a Dutch Rhine River floodplain area. Diet composition was calculated per month for three habitat types, based on the population densities of six prey types (earthworms, ground beetles and four small mammal species) combined with the little owl’s functional response to these prey types. Exposure levels showed a strong positive relationship with the dietary fraction of earthworms, but also depended on the dietary fraction of common voles, with higher common vole fractions resulting in decreasing exposure levels. Spatio-temporal changes in the availability of earthworms and common voles in particular resulted in considerable variation in exposure, with peaks in exposure exceeding a tentative toxicity threshold. These findings imply that wildlife exposure assessments based on a predefined, average diet composition may considerably underestimate local or intermittent peaks in exposure.
- Subjects :
- predators
Food Chain
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Functional response
Zoology
Toxicology
Population density
soil
Predation
small mammals
CE - Molecular Ecology Ecotoxicology and Wildlife Management
Animals
Alterra - Centrum Bodem
Trace metal
Wageningen Environmental Research
river floodplains
Oligochaeta
Ecosystem
Netherlands
Athene noctua
Mammals
biology
CL - Ecological Models and Monitoring
Ecology
Soil Science Centre
national
cadmium accumulation
risk-assessment
General Medicine
Environmental exposure
Environmental Exposure
biology.organism_classification
Strigiformes
Pollution
Diet
Coleoptera
food-chain
Metals
birds
CL - Ecologische Modellen en Monitoring
metal concentrations
Vole
Environmental Pollutants
heterogeneity
Little owl
Environmental Sciences
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 02697491
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Environmental Pollution, 163, 109-116. Elsevier B.V., Environmental Pollution, 163, 109-116, Environmental Pollution, 163, pp. 109-116, Environmental Pollution 163 (2012)
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....9bb015e174c216604e671938ab62cc90