A novel approach to assess the heavy metal content in the feathers of shorebirds: A perspective of environmental research

Metals are major toxic elements and cause various diseases and damage shorebirds. The study envisaged the heavy metals content in the feathers of shorebirds, prey, water, and sediment from Pichavaram Mangrove Forest (PMF). Primary feathers of shorebirds species such as Curlew Sandpiper, Eurasian Cur...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of King Saud University - Science
Main Authors: Jeganathan Pandiyan, Shahid Mahboob, Rajendran Jagadheesan, Kuppusamy Elumalai, Kaliyamoorthy Krishnappa, Fahad Al-Misned, Zahid Ali Kaimkhani, Marimuthu Govindarajan
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2020
Subjects:
Pollution
Heavy metals
Wintering grounds
Shorebirds
Habitats
Science (General)
Q1-390
Eurasian Curlew
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksus.2020.08.014
https://doaj.org/article/370a55c2ac2c43f2b31410cd8f35dea8
Description
Summary:Metals are major toxic elements and cause various diseases and damage shorebirds. The study envisaged the heavy metals content in the feathers of shorebirds, prey, water, and sediment from Pichavaram Mangrove Forest (PMF). Primary feathers of shorebirds species such as Curlew Sandpiper, Eurasian Curlew, and Painted Stork were collected and analyzed the following metals viz., Cd, Cu, Cr, Co, Pb, Hg, Ni, and Zn. The levels of Hg, Cr, Pb and Ni varied significantly among the metals studied (p < 0.05). The metal contamination pattern of shorebirds followed in the following order: Painted stork > Eurasian Curlew > Curlew sandpiper. However, in the habitat, Cd, Co, Pb, Hg, Ni and Zi varied significantly between water and sediment (p < 0.05) and Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, Ni, and Zi differed significantly among the prey species (p < 0.05). Overall, except for Cd, whereas, other seven metals showed significant differences between the feathers of shorebirds and the environment such as water, sediment, polychaetes, mollusc, crabs, prawns and fishes (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, the resident bird (Painted stork) had a higher level of metal accumulation than migratory species, showing that PMF is under threat and requires proper monitoring, management and conservation strategies to sustain organisms that depend on it.

Similar Items