Concentrations and distribution of 210Pb in bird feathers and its potential for tracing age and flight times
Bird feathers have been widely used as environmental indicators, providing key information on environmental pollution. However, there is little available information on the adsorption of natural radioactivity in bird feathers and consequently, its impact on the field of movement ecology is not yet k...
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ftbcnrocbarcelon:oai:bcnroc.ajuntament.barcelona.cat:11703/134654 2024-04-28T08:03:35+00:00 Concentrations and distribution of 210Pb in bird feathers and its potential for tracing age and flight times Fraixedas, Sara Riera, Alba Barriocanal, Carles Alorda-Montiel, Irene Quesada, Javier Rodellas, Valentí Garcia-Orellana, Jordi Consorci del Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona 2024-02-16 http://hdl.handle.net/2072/537481 http://hdl.handle.net/11703/134654 eng eng http://hdl.handle.net/2072/537481 http://hdl.handle.net/11703/134654 consorcis CC-BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.ca (C) 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Ocells Plomes Migració d'ocells Contaminació radioactiva Ciència i tecnologia articles info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2024 ftbcnrocbarcelon 2024-04-05T00:38:35Z Bird feathers have been widely used as environmental indicators, providing key information on environmental pollution. However, there is little available information on the adsorption of natural radioactivity in bird feathers and consequently, its impact on the field of movement ecology is not yet known. This study investigates the concentration and distribution of 210Pb in wing- and tail-feathers of different bird species with contrasting migratory strategies, and discusses its potential use as a tracer of age and flight times. Adsorption of 210Pb in bird feathers is directly related to the interaction of feathers with air, therefore it is hypothesised that the presence of this radionuclide is proportional to the length of flight times, and is asymmetrically distributed in flight feathers. Consequently, a significant difference is expected between 210Pb concentrations in feathers of long-distance migrants when compared to sedentary species. For this purpose, a total of 45 samples from eight individuals of three bird species with distinct migratory strategies were analysed: a highly aerial and long-distance migratory species (Common swift Apus apus), and two largely sedentary species widely distributed across Europe (Great tit Parus major and Tawny owl Strix aluco). Novel findings show that the content of 210Pb in bird feathers of adult migratory birds is much higher than in sedentary birds or juvenile individuals, demonstrating this naturally occurring radionuclide can provide information about the contact time between feathers and air. Additionally, 210Pb adsorption was not evenly distributed in bird feathers. The findings provide a new method to trace age and flight time of birds using 210Pb in feathers, complementing conventional techniques in bird migration studies. Bird feathers have been widely used as environmental indicators, providing key information on environmental pollution. However, there is little available information on the adsorption of natural radioactivity in bird feathers and consequently, ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Apus apus BCNROC - Repositori Obert de Coneixement de l'Ajuntament de Barcelona |
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BCNROC - Repositori Obert de Coneixement de l'Ajuntament de Barcelona |
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ftbcnrocbarcelon |
language |
English |
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Ocells Plomes Migració d'ocells Contaminació radioactiva Ciència i tecnologia articles |
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Ocells Plomes Migració d'ocells Contaminació radioactiva Ciència i tecnologia articles Fraixedas, Sara Riera, Alba Barriocanal, Carles Alorda-Montiel, Irene Quesada, Javier Rodellas, Valentí Garcia-Orellana, Jordi Consorci del Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona Concentrations and distribution of 210Pb in bird feathers and its potential for tracing age and flight times |
topic_facet |
Ocells Plomes Migració d'ocells Contaminació radioactiva Ciència i tecnologia articles |
description |
Bird feathers have been widely used as environmental indicators, providing key information on environmental pollution. However, there is little available information on the adsorption of natural radioactivity in bird feathers and consequently, its impact on the field of movement ecology is not yet known. This study investigates the concentration and distribution of 210Pb in wing- and tail-feathers of different bird species with contrasting migratory strategies, and discusses its potential use as a tracer of age and flight times. Adsorption of 210Pb in bird feathers is directly related to the interaction of feathers with air, therefore it is hypothesised that the presence of this radionuclide is proportional to the length of flight times, and is asymmetrically distributed in flight feathers. Consequently, a significant difference is expected between 210Pb concentrations in feathers of long-distance migrants when compared to sedentary species. For this purpose, a total of 45 samples from eight individuals of three bird species with distinct migratory strategies were analysed: a highly aerial and long-distance migratory species (Common swift Apus apus), and two largely sedentary species widely distributed across Europe (Great tit Parus major and Tawny owl Strix aluco). Novel findings show that the content of 210Pb in bird feathers of adult migratory birds is much higher than in sedentary birds or juvenile individuals, demonstrating this naturally occurring radionuclide can provide information about the contact time between feathers and air. Additionally, 210Pb adsorption was not evenly distributed in bird feathers. The findings provide a new method to trace age and flight time of birds using 210Pb in feathers, complementing conventional techniques in bird migration studies. Bird feathers have been widely used as environmental indicators, providing key information on environmental pollution. However, there is little available information on the adsorption of natural radioactivity in bird feathers and consequently, ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fraixedas, Sara Riera, Alba Barriocanal, Carles Alorda-Montiel, Irene Quesada, Javier Rodellas, Valentí Garcia-Orellana, Jordi Consorci del Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona |
author_facet |
Fraixedas, Sara Riera, Alba Barriocanal, Carles Alorda-Montiel, Irene Quesada, Javier Rodellas, Valentí Garcia-Orellana, Jordi Consorci del Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona |
author_sort |
Fraixedas, Sara |
title |
Concentrations and distribution of 210Pb in bird feathers and its potential for tracing age and flight times |
title_short |
Concentrations and distribution of 210Pb in bird feathers and its potential for tracing age and flight times |
title_full |
Concentrations and distribution of 210Pb in bird feathers and its potential for tracing age and flight times |
title_fullStr |
Concentrations and distribution of 210Pb in bird feathers and its potential for tracing age and flight times |
title_full_unstemmed |
Concentrations and distribution of 210Pb in bird feathers and its potential for tracing age and flight times |
title_sort |
concentrations and distribution of 210pb in bird feathers and its potential for tracing age and flight times |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2072/537481 http://hdl.handle.net/11703/134654 |
genre |
Apus apus |
genre_facet |
Apus apus |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/2072/537481 http://hdl.handle.net/11703/134654 consorcis |
op_rights |
CC-BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.ca (C) 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. |
_version_ |
1797574666744758272 |