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Toni Laaksonen - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Diet and breeding habitat preferences of White-Tailed Eagles in a northern inland environment
Polar Biology, 2020Co-Authors: Camilla Ekblad, Seppo Sulkava, Hannu Tikkanen, Toni LaaksonenAbstract:Many apex predator populations are recolonizing old areas and dispersing to new ones, with potential consequences for their prey species and for livestock. An increasing population of the White-Tailed Eagle ( Haliaeetus albicilla ) has settled north of the Arctic Circle in northern Finland, mainly at two big water reservoirs but also in areas with mainly terrestrial habitat. We examined nesting habitat preferences and prey use of White-Tailed Eagles in this environment, where reindeer husbandry is a traditional livelihood and concerns are rising that the growing White-Tailed Eagle population poses a threat to reindeer calves. Lakes, peat bogs, and marshlands were preferred habitats in the nesting territories. Fish constituted 64.3% of the identified prey items, with birds accounting for 28.5% and mammals 7.2%. The nesting territory habitat within a 10 km radius and the latitude influenced the prey composition at both the group and species level. The occurrence of reindeer calves as prey increased with latitude but was not associated with any habitat. Knowledge of the diet and territory preferences can be used to predict future dispersal and local prey use of this species. Nesting White-Tailed Eagles do not seem to pose a threat to traditional reindeer herding, but further research is needed regarding non-breeding sub-adults and whether the White-Tailed Eagles actually kill reindeer calves or simply exploit their carcasses.
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white tailed Eagle haliaeetus albicilla and great cormorant phalacrocorax carbo nestlings as spatial sentinels of baltic acidic sulphate soil associated metal contamination
Science of The Total Environment, 2020Co-Authors: R K Vainio, Toni Laaksonen, Igor Eulaers, V Vasko, Veijo JormalainenAbstract:Abstract Sulphate soils, characterised by low pH conditions, are found worldwide, and are potentially large sources of metal contamination, often exceeding industrial emissions. Metal leaching from sulphate soils has been shown to be harmful to aquatic organisms, but the cascading effect on exposure in apex avian predators has not been studied earlier. With the present study we aimed at evaluating the potential of White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) and great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) nestlings, collected from nests located either in sulphate soil or control areas, for monitoring spatial contaminant trends of metals typically associated with sulphate soils. In blood of White-Tailed Eagles, the concentrations of aluminium and cobalt were significantly higher in sulphate soil areas. In blood of great cormorants, the concentrations of copper and manganese were so, while the concentration of zinc was found to be lower. Also, we observed an interaction between the latitude and soil type in cobalt and lithium concentrations of great cormorants, showing that concentrations in the sulphate soil associated nestlings rose more steeply towards the north than in the control group. Latitudinal trends of higher concentrations in the south were found in cadmium, manganese, and copper of White-Tailed Eagle nestlings, while thallium of White-Tailed Eagle nestlings, and thallium and zinc of great cormorant nestlings showed a latitudinal trend of higher concentrations in the north. Concentrations of several metals correlated positively within a species indicating covariation in metal exposure. Generally, the metal concentrations in both species were similar to levels reported to be below toxicity thresholds in other species. These results indicate, that White-Tailed Eagle and great cormorant nestling metal burdens may indicate environmental contamination from acidic sulphate soil runoff, and that they may act as indicators of latitudinal gradient identifying different contamination sources.
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Assessing space use by pre-breeding White-Tailed Eagles in the context of wind-energy development in Finland
Landscape and Urban Planning, 2018Co-Authors: Fabio Balotari-chiebao, Asko Ijäs, Jon E. Brommer, Pertti Saurola, Toni LaaksonenAbstract:Abstract The expansion of wind energy over large areas may be accompanied by major conflicts with birds, including birds of prey. Hence, it is desirable that the space use of species known to be vulnerable to wind energy be assessed in light of current and future developments. Here, we report on the large-scale dispersal movements of pre-breeding White-Tailed Eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) in Finland, where a currently modest wind-energy capacity is expected to increase in the near future. We studied White-Tailed Eagle space use with a particular focus on the potential for annual power production (GWh) at specific locations, as estimated by the Finnish Wind Atlas. Also, we aimed to detect a potential human-wildlife conflict by assessing White-Tailed Eagle space use against the spatial distribution of existing and recently proposed wind farms. We found that, despite visiting a large proportion of the country, the Eagles stayed primarily within coastal areas and islands, restricted to where human infrastructure was present only at very small amounts. Because of the distribution of wind resources, such areas were found to contain considerable potential for power production. The Eagles visited most of the areas targeted for wind-energy development. However, these areas did not coincide with a higher-than-average Eagle relocation frequency, suggesting that the existing and recently proposed wind farms do not represent an elevated threat to dispersing Eagles. Caution should nevertheless be taken against interpreting that co-occurrence poses no threat at any given site, as site selection is paramount to avoid conflicts with avian conservation.
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Landscape-Scale Gradients and Temporal Changes in the Prey Species of the White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)
Annales Zoologici Fennici, 2016Co-Authors: Camilla M. S. Ekblad, Seppo Sulkava, Torsten Stjernberg, Toni LaaksonenAbstract:The return of apex predators re-shape population densities of their prey species, creating conflicts and challenges for the conservation and management of both predator and prey populations. The population of White-Tailed Eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) in the Baltic Sea has grown rapidly since the 1980s after a previous population collapse, causing growing predation pressure on its prey species. However, little is known about variation in the prey use in the landscape or changes in time. We provide detailed information about the diet of the White-Tailed Eagle along landscape-scaled gradients and about temporal changes in their diet over 25 years. We used an extensive data set with 7700 identified prey remains collected during the breeding season on the Aland Islands (Finland) 1985–2010. The results support the view of the White-Tailed Eagle as an opportunistic hunter, preying on the most available prey and switching to other prey when the availability changes.
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Proximity to wind-power plants reduces the breeding success of the White-Tailed Eagle
Animal Conservation, 2015Co-Authors: Fabio Balotari-chiebao, Jon E. Brommer, T. Niinimäki, Toni LaaksonenAbstract:As a clean and renewable energy source, wind power is expected to play a major role in climate change mitigation. Despite its benefits, the construction of large-scale wind farms in many parts of the world is a cause of concern for wildlife, including the often vulnerable raptor populations. Here, we examined the influence of distance to wind-power plants on the White-Tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla in terms of (1) breeding success; (2) post-fledging survival; and (3) territory occupancy and turbine avoidance (via nest site changes). Our results show that the probability of a pair breeding successfully is lower when the territory is located closer to turbines, potentially because of collision mortality (to which adults are particularly vulnerable). A capture-mark-recapture analysis showed no evidence for the effect of distance on post-fledging survival, suggesting that collision risk may not have been greater for juveniles that fledged closer to a power plant. The levels of disturbance experienced by birds in the study areas were not great enough to prevent breeding at closer distances to the turbines. Our findings on breeding success underline the importance of building appropriately sited wind farms as a way to reduce or avoid undesirable effects on avian populations.
Björn Helander - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Temporal trends of legacy organochlorines in different White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) subpopulations: A retrospective investigation using archived feathers.
Environment international, 2020Co-Authors: Jiachen Sun, Björn Helander, Bård-jørgen Bårdsen, Jan Ove Bustnes, Veerle L.b. Jaspers, David Boertmann, Rune Dietz, Aili L Labansen, Adrian Covaci, Gilles LepointAbstract:Understanding the spatiotemporal patterns of legacy organochlorines (OCs) is often difficult because monitoring practices differ among studies, fragmented study periods, and unaccounted confounding by ecological variables. We therefore reconstructed long-term (1939-2015) and large-scale (West Greenland, Norway, and central Sweden) trends of major legacy OCs using White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) body feathers, to understand the exposure dynamics in regions with different contamination sources and concentrations, as well as the effectiveness of legislations. We included dietary proxies (δ13C and δ15N) in temporal trend models to control for potential dietary plasticity. Consistent with the hypothesised high local pollution sources, levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) and hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) in the Swedish subpopulation exceeded those in the other subpopulations. In contrast, chlordanes (CHLs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) showed higher concentrations in Greenland, suggesting the importance of long-range transport. The models showed significantly decreasing trends for all OCs in Sweden in 1968-2011 except for CHLs, which only decreased since the 1980s. Nevertheless, median concentrations of DDTs and PCBs remained elevated in the Swedish subpopulation throughout the 1970s, suggesting that the decreases only commenced after the implementation of regulations during the 1970s. We observed significant trends of increasing concentrations of PCBs, CHLs and HCB in Norway from the 1930s to the 1970s/1980s and decreasing concentrations thereafter. All OC concentrations, except those of PCBs were generally significantly decreasing in the Greenland subpopulation in 1985-2013. All three subpopulations showed generally increasing proportions of the more persistent compounds (CB 153, p.p'-DDE and β-HCH) and decreasing proportions of the less persistent ones (CB 52, p.p'-DDT, α- and γ-HCH). Declining trends of OC concentrations may imply the decreasing influence of legacy OCs in these subpopulations. Finally, our results demonstrate the usefulness of archived museum feathers in retrospective monitoring of spatiotemporal trends of legacy OCs using birds of prey as sentinels.
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Temporal trends of mercury differ across three northern White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) subpopulations
The Science of the total environment, 2019Co-Authors: Jiachen Sun, Björn Helander, Bård-jørgen Bårdsen, Jan Ove Bustnes, Veerle L.b. Jaspers, David Boertmann, Rune Dietz, Aili L Labansen, Gilles Lepoint, Ralf SchulzAbstract:Abstract The spatiotemporal trends of mercury (Hg) are crucial for the understanding of this ubiquitous and toxic contaminant. However, uncertainties often arise from comparison among studies using different species, analytical and statistical methods. The long-term temporal trends of Hg exposure were reconstructed for a key sentinel species, the White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla). Body feathers were sampled from museum collections covering 150 years in time (from 1866 to 2015) from West Greenland (n = 124), Norway (n = 102), and Sweden (n = 87). A significant non-linear trend was observed in the Norwegian subpopulation, with a 60% increase in exposure occurring from 1866 to 1957 followed by a 40% decline until 2015. In the Swedish subpopulation, studied at a later period, the Hg exposure showed a drastic decline of 70% from 1967 to 2011. In contrast, no significant trend could be observed in the Greenland subpopulation. The additional analysis of dietary proxies (δ13C and δ15N) in general increased performance of the temporal trend models, but this was dependent on the subpopulation and study period. The downward trend of Hg coincided with the decreasing δ13C and δ15N in the Norwegian subpopulation, suggesting a potential dietary mitigation of Hg contamination. Hg exposure in both the Greenland and Norwegian subpopulations was consistently below the suggested threshold for adverse health effects (40.0 μg g−1), while the maximum exposure in the Swedish subpopulation was distinctively elevated (median: 46.0 μg g−1) and still remains well above natural background concentrations (maximum 5.0 μg g−1).
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Morphological and genetic sex identification of White-Tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla nestlings
Journal of Ornithology, 2007Co-Authors: Björn Helander, Frank Hailer, Carles VilàAbstract:Identifying the sex of bird nestlings is relevant to studies of behaviour and ecology and is often a central issue in the management of endangered or captive populations. The White-Tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla is a formerly threatened Eurasian raptor which is closely monitored in many countries due to its high exposure to environmental pollutants in the food chain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of sex identification methods for White-Tailed Eagle nestlings based on morphological measurements that can be recorded at the nest by a single person and with minimum disturbance. The sex of each bird was independently determined using molecular (genetic) methods. One measure of tarsus width allowed the correct identification of sex for 96% of the nestlings from southern and central Sweden. However, we found that the criteria for sex identification were not directly applicable to the population in Swedish Lapland, where nestlings are typically thinner, probably due to a limited food supply. These results show that sexing in the field of White-Tailed Eagle nestlings can be feasible with high accuracy based on a limited number of measurements. However, the criteria employed to separate sexes may have to be adjusted for each population.
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Phylogeography of the white‐tailed Eagle, a generalist with large dispersal capacity
Journal of Biogeography, 2007Co-Authors: Frank Hailer, Björn Helander, Alv O Folkestad, Sergei A Ganusevich, Steinar Garstad, Peter Hauff, Christian Koren, V. B. Masterov, Torgeir Nygård, J. A. RudnickAbstract:Aim Late Pleistocene glacial changes had a major impact on many boreal and temperate taxa, and this impact can still be detected in the present-day phylogeographic structure of these taxa. However, only minor effects are expected in species with generalist habitat requirements and high dispersal capability. One such species is the White-Tailed Eagle, Haliaeetus albicilla, and we therefore tested for the expected weak population structure at a continental level in this species. This also allowed us to describe phylogeographic patterns, and to deduce Ice Age refugia and patterns of postglacial recolonization of Eurasia. Location Breeding populations from the easternmost Nearctic (Greenland) and across the Palaearctic (Iceland, continental Europe, central and eastern Asia, and Japan). Methods Sequencing of a 500 base-pair fragment of the mitochondrial DNA control region in 237 samples from throughout the distribution range. Results Our analysis revealed pronounced phylogeographic structure. Overall, low genetic variability was observed across the entire range. Haplotypes clustered in two distinct haplogroups with a predominantly eastern or western distribution, and extensive overlap in Europe. These two major lineages diverged during the late Pleistocene. The eastern haplogroup showed a pattern of rapid population expansion and colonization of Eurasia around the end of the Pleistocene. The western haplogroup had lower diversity and was absent from the populations in eastern Asia. These results suggest survival during the last glaciation in two refugia, probably located in central and western Eurasia, followed by postglacial population expansion and admixture. Relatively high genetic diversity was observed in northern regions that were ice-covered during the last glacial maximum. This, and phylogenetic relationships between haplotypes encountered in the north, indicates substantial population expansion at high latitudes. Areas of glacial meltwater runoff and proglacial lakes could have provided suitable habitats for such population growth. Main conclusions This study shows that glacial climate fluctuations had a substantial impact on White-Tailed Eagles, both in terms of distribution and demography. These results suggest that even species with large dispersal capabilities and relatively broad habitat requirements were strongly affected by the Pleistocene climatic shifts.
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bottlenecked but long lived high genetic diversity retained in white tailed Eagles upon recovery from population decline
Biology Letters, 2006Co-Authors: Frank Hailer, Björn Helander, Alv O Folkestad, Sergei A Ganusevich, Steinar Garstad, Peter Hauff, Christian Koren, Torgeir Nygård, Veljo Volke, Carles VilàAbstract:Most of the White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) populations in Europe experienced dramatic declines during the twentieth century. However, owing to intense conservation actions and the ban of DDT and other persistent pollutants, populations are currently recovering. We show that despite passing through demographic bottlenecks, White-Tailed Eagle populations have retained significant levels of genetic diversity. Both genetic and ringing data indicate that migration between populations has not been a major factor for the maintenance of genetic variability. We argue that the long generation time of Eagles has acted as an intrinsic buffer against loss of genetic diversity, leading to a shorter effective time of the experienced bottleneck. Notably, conservation actions taken in several small sub-populations have ensured the preservation of a larger proportion of the total genetic diversity than if conservation had focused on the population stronghold in Norway. For conservation programmes targeting other endangered, long-lived species, our results highlight the possibility for local retention of high genetic diversity in isolated remnant populations.
Gilles Lepoint - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Temporal trends of legacy organochlorines in different White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) subpopulations: A retrospective investigation using archived feathers.
Environment international, 2020Co-Authors: Jiachen Sun, Björn Helander, Bård-jørgen Bårdsen, Jan Ove Bustnes, Veerle L.b. Jaspers, David Boertmann, Rune Dietz, Aili L Labansen, Adrian Covaci, Gilles LepointAbstract:Understanding the spatiotemporal patterns of legacy organochlorines (OCs) is often difficult because monitoring practices differ among studies, fragmented study periods, and unaccounted confounding by ecological variables. We therefore reconstructed long-term (1939-2015) and large-scale (West Greenland, Norway, and central Sweden) trends of major legacy OCs using White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) body feathers, to understand the exposure dynamics in regions with different contamination sources and concentrations, as well as the effectiveness of legislations. We included dietary proxies (δ13C and δ15N) in temporal trend models to control for potential dietary plasticity. Consistent with the hypothesised high local pollution sources, levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) and hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) in the Swedish subpopulation exceeded those in the other subpopulations. In contrast, chlordanes (CHLs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) showed higher concentrations in Greenland, suggesting the importance of long-range transport. The models showed significantly decreasing trends for all OCs in Sweden in 1968-2011 except for CHLs, which only decreased since the 1980s. Nevertheless, median concentrations of DDTs and PCBs remained elevated in the Swedish subpopulation throughout the 1970s, suggesting that the decreases only commenced after the implementation of regulations during the 1970s. We observed significant trends of increasing concentrations of PCBs, CHLs and HCB in Norway from the 1930s to the 1970s/1980s and decreasing concentrations thereafter. All OC concentrations, except those of PCBs were generally significantly decreasing in the Greenland subpopulation in 1985-2013. All three subpopulations showed generally increasing proportions of the more persistent compounds (CB 153, p.p'-DDE and β-HCH) and decreasing proportions of the less persistent ones (CB 52, p.p'-DDT, α- and γ-HCH). Declining trends of OC concentrations may imply the decreasing influence of legacy OCs in these subpopulations. Finally, our results demonstrate the usefulness of archived museum feathers in retrospective monitoring of spatiotemporal trends of legacy OCs using birds of prey as sentinels.
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Temporal trends of mercury differ across three northern White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) subpopulations
The Science of the total environment, 2019Co-Authors: Jiachen Sun, Björn Helander, Bård-jørgen Bårdsen, Jan Ove Bustnes, Veerle L.b. Jaspers, David Boertmann, Rune Dietz, Aili L Labansen, Gilles Lepoint, Ralf SchulzAbstract:Abstract The spatiotemporal trends of mercury (Hg) are crucial for the understanding of this ubiquitous and toxic contaminant. However, uncertainties often arise from comparison among studies using different species, analytical and statistical methods. The long-term temporal trends of Hg exposure were reconstructed for a key sentinel species, the White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla). Body feathers were sampled from museum collections covering 150 years in time (from 1866 to 2015) from West Greenland (n = 124), Norway (n = 102), and Sweden (n = 87). A significant non-linear trend was observed in the Norwegian subpopulation, with a 60% increase in exposure occurring from 1866 to 1957 followed by a 40% decline until 2015. In the Swedish subpopulation, studied at a later period, the Hg exposure showed a drastic decline of 70% from 1967 to 2011. In contrast, no significant trend could be observed in the Greenland subpopulation. The additional analysis of dietary proxies (δ13C and δ15N) in general increased performance of the temporal trend models, but this was dependent on the subpopulation and study period. The downward trend of Hg coincided with the decreasing δ13C and δ15N in the Norwegian subpopulation, suggesting a potential dietary mitigation of Hg contamination. Hg exposure in both the Greenland and Norwegian subpopulations was consistently below the suggested threshold for adverse health effects (40.0 μg g−1), while the maximum exposure in the Swedish subpopulation was distinctively elevated (median: 46.0 μg g−1) and still remains well above natural background concentrations (maximum 5.0 μg g−1).
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Plasma concentrations of organohalogenated contaminants in White-Tailed Eagle nestlings - The role of age and diet.
Environmental pollution (Barking Essex : 1987), 2018Co-Authors: Mari Engvig Løseth, Torgeir Nygård, Dorte Herzke, Igor Eulaers, Jan Ove Bustnes, Nathalie Briels, Govindan Malarvannan, Giulia Poma, Adrian Covaci, Gilles LepointAbstract:Abstract Concentrations of organohalogenated contaminants (OHCs) can show significant temporal and spatial variation in the environment and wildlife. Most of the variation is due to changes in use and production, but environmental and biological factors may also contribute to the variation. Nestlings of top predators are exposed to maternally transferred OHCs in the egg and through their dietary intake after hatching. The present study investigated spatial and temporal variation of OHCs and the role of age and diet on these variations in plasma of Norwegian White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) nestlings. The nestlings were sampled at two locations, Smola and Steigen, in 2015 and 2016. The age of the nestlings was recorded (range: 44 – 87 days old) and stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) were applied as dietary proxies for carbon source and trophic position, respectively. In total, 14 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, range: 0.82 – 59.05 ng/mL), 7 organochlorinated pesticides (OCPs, range: 0.89 – 52.19 ng/mL), 5 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs, range: 0.03 – 2.64 ng/mL) and 8 perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs, range: 4.58 – 52.94 ng/mL) were quantified in plasma samples from each location and year. The OHC concentrations, age and dietary proxies displayed temporal and spatial variations. The age of the nestlings was indicated as the most important predictor for OHC variation as the models displayed significantly decreasing plasma concentrations of PCBs, OCPs, and PBDEs with increasing age, while concentrations of PFASs were significantly increasing with age. Together with age, the variations in PCB, OCP and PBDE concentrations were also explained by δ13C and indicated decreasing concentrations with a more marine diet. Our findings emphasise age and diet as important factors to consider when investigating variations in plasma OHC concentrations in nestlings.
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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in plasma and feathers of nestling birds of prey from northern Norway
Environmental research, 2017Co-Authors: P. Gómez-ramírez, Dorte Herzke, Trond Vidar Johnsen, Igor Eulaers, Jan Ove Bustnes, Gilles Lepoint, Juan Ma Perez-garcia, Antonio J. García-fernández, Veerle L.b. JaspersAbstract:Plasma samples from nestlings of two top predators, White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) and Northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) from northern Norway were analysed for a wide range of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). Body feathers from the White-Tailed Eagles were also analysed and significant associations between specific PFASs in blood plasma and body feathers were found (0.36
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Brominated and phosphorus flame retardants in White-Tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla nestlings: Bioaccumulation and associations with dietary proxies (δ13C, δ15N and δ34S)
The Science of the total environment, 2014Co-Authors: Igor Eulaers, Torgeir Nygård, Veerle L.b. Jaspers, Gilles Lepoint, Adrian Covaci, Duncan John Halley, Rianne Pinxten, Marcel EensAbstract:Abstract Very little is known on the exposure of high trophic level species to current-use brominated (BFRs) and phosphorus flame retardants (PFRs), although observations on their persistence, bioaccumulation potential, and toxicity have been made. We investigated the accumulation of BFRs and PFRs, and their associations with dietary proxies ( δ 13 C, δ 15 N and δ 34 S), in plasma and feathers of White-Tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla nestlings from Trondelag, Norway. In addition to accumulation of a wide range of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners in both plasma and feathers, all non-PBDE BFRs and PFRs could be measured in feathers, while in plasma only two of six PFRs, i.e. tris-(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP) and tris-(2,3-dichloropropyl) phosphate (TDCPP) were detected. PFR concentrations in feathers (0.95–3000 ng g − 1 ) were much higher than selected organochlorines (OCs), such as polychlorinated biphenyl 153 (CB 153; 2.3–15 ng g − 1 ) and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene ( p , p ′-DDE; 2.3–21 ng g − 1 ), PBDEs (0.03–2.3 ng g − 1 ) and non-PBDE BFRs (0.03–1.5 ng g − 1 ). Non-significant associations of PFR concentrations in feathers with those in plasma ( P ≥ 0.74), and their similarity to reported atmospheric PFR concentrations, may suggest atmospheric PFR deposition on feathers. Most OCs and PBDEs, as well as tris(chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), tris(phenyl) phosphate (TPHP) and tri-(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBOEP) were associated to δ 15 N and/or δ 13 C (all P ≤ 0.02). Besides δ 15 N enrichment, δ 34 S was depleted in nestlings from fjords, inherently close to an urbanised centre. As such, both may have been a spatial proxy for anthropogenic disturbance, possible confounding their use as dietary proxy.
Veerle L.b. Jaspers - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Temporal trends of legacy organochlorines in different White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) subpopulations: A retrospective investigation using archived feathers.
Environment international, 2020Co-Authors: Jiachen Sun, Björn Helander, Bård-jørgen Bårdsen, Jan Ove Bustnes, Veerle L.b. Jaspers, David Boertmann, Rune Dietz, Aili L Labansen, Adrian Covaci, Gilles LepointAbstract:Understanding the spatiotemporal patterns of legacy organochlorines (OCs) is often difficult because monitoring practices differ among studies, fragmented study periods, and unaccounted confounding by ecological variables. We therefore reconstructed long-term (1939-2015) and large-scale (West Greenland, Norway, and central Sweden) trends of major legacy OCs using White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) body feathers, to understand the exposure dynamics in regions with different contamination sources and concentrations, as well as the effectiveness of legislations. We included dietary proxies (δ13C and δ15N) in temporal trend models to control for potential dietary plasticity. Consistent with the hypothesised high local pollution sources, levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) and hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) in the Swedish subpopulation exceeded those in the other subpopulations. In contrast, chlordanes (CHLs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) showed higher concentrations in Greenland, suggesting the importance of long-range transport. The models showed significantly decreasing trends for all OCs in Sweden in 1968-2011 except for CHLs, which only decreased since the 1980s. Nevertheless, median concentrations of DDTs and PCBs remained elevated in the Swedish subpopulation throughout the 1970s, suggesting that the decreases only commenced after the implementation of regulations during the 1970s. We observed significant trends of increasing concentrations of PCBs, CHLs and HCB in Norway from the 1930s to the 1970s/1980s and decreasing concentrations thereafter. All OC concentrations, except those of PCBs were generally significantly decreasing in the Greenland subpopulation in 1985-2013. All three subpopulations showed generally increasing proportions of the more persistent compounds (CB 153, p.p'-DDE and β-HCH) and decreasing proportions of the less persistent ones (CB 52, p.p'-DDT, α- and γ-HCH). Declining trends of OC concentrations may imply the decreasing influence of legacy OCs in these subpopulations. Finally, our results demonstrate the usefulness of archived museum feathers in retrospective monitoring of spatiotemporal trends of legacy OCs using birds of prey as sentinels.
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Plasma protein fractions in free-living White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) nestlings from Norway.
BMC veterinary research, 2019Co-Authors: Jørgen Flo, Mari Engvig Løseth, Christian Sonne, Veerle L.b. Jaspers, Hege Brun-hansenAbstract:Capillary electrophoresis of plasma proteins has shown great potential as a complementary diagnostic tool for avian species. However, reference intervals for plasma proteins are sparse or lacking for several free-living avian species. The current study reports electrophoretic patterns and concentrations of plasma proteins determined for 70 free-living White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) nestlings from two locations in Norway (Steigen and Smola) in order to establish reference values for this subpopulation using capillary electrophoresis. The nestlings were between 44 and 87 days of age, and the plasma protein concentrations were investigated for age, sex, year (2015 and 2016) and location differences. To our knowledge, this is the first report of reference intervals of plasma proteins analysed by capillary electrophoresis in free-living White-Tailed Eagle nestlings. The plasma protein concentrations (% of total protein, mean ± SE) were determined for prealbumin (13.7%, 4.34 ± 0.15 g/L), albumin (46.7%, 14.81 ± 0.24 g/L), α1-globulin (2.4%, 0.74 ± 0.03 g/L), α2-globulin (11.7%, 3.72 ± 0.06 g/L), β-globulin (15.9%, 5.06 ± 0.08 g/L) and γ-globulin (9.6%, 3.05 ± 0.09 g/L). Significant differences were found between the two locations for prealbumin, α2- and γ-globulins. No significant differences were found between the two sampling years or sexes, and no effect of age was found for any of the plasma proteins. However, prealbumin levels were several folds higher than previously reported from adults of closely related birds of prey species. There were no other studies on capillary electrophoresis of nestling plasma available for comparison. Significant differences were found between sampling locations for prealbumin, α2- and γ-globulins, which may indicate differences in inflammatory or infectious status between nestlings at the two locations. Sampling year, sex or age had no significant effect on the plasma protein concentrations. These results provide novel data on plasma protein concentrations by capillary electrophoresis and may be useful for evaluation of health status in free-living White-Tailed Eagle nestlings.
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The influence of natural variation and organohalogenated contaminants on physiological parameters in White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) nestlings from Norway.
Environmental research, 2019Co-Authors: Mari Engvig Løseth, Torgeir Nygård, Jan Ove Bustnes, Jørgen Flo, Christian Sonne, Anne K. H. Krogh, Bjørn Munro Jenssen, Veerle L.b. JaspersAbstract:Environmental exposure to organohalogenated contaminants (OHCs), even at low concentrations, may cause detrimental effects on the development and health of wild birds. The present study investigated if environmental exposure to OHCs may influence the variation of multiple physiological parameters in Norwegian White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) nestlings. Plasma and feather samples were obtained from 70 nestlings at two archipelagos in Norway in 2015 and 2016. The selected physiological parameters were plasma concentrations of thyroid hormones (thyroxine, T4 and triiodothyronine, T3), plasma proteins (prealbumin, albumin, α1-, α2-, β- and γ-globulins) and selected blood clinical chemical parameters (BCCPs) associated with liver and kidney functioning. Feather concentrations of corticosterone (CORTf) were also included to investigate the overall stress level of the nestlings. Concentrations of all studied physiological parameters were within the ranges of those found in other species of free-living birds of prey nestlings and indicated that the White-Tailed Eagle nestlings were in good health. Our statistical models indicated that perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and legacy OHCs, such as polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorinated pesticides and polybrominated diphenyl ethers, influenced only a minor fraction of the variation of plasma thyroid hormones, prealbumin and CORTf (5-15%), and partly explained the selected BCCPs (
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Temporal trends of mercury differ across three northern White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) subpopulations
The Science of the total environment, 2019Co-Authors: Jiachen Sun, Björn Helander, Bård-jørgen Bårdsen, Jan Ove Bustnes, Veerle L.b. Jaspers, David Boertmann, Rune Dietz, Aili L Labansen, Gilles Lepoint, Ralf SchulzAbstract:Abstract The spatiotemporal trends of mercury (Hg) are crucial for the understanding of this ubiquitous and toxic contaminant. However, uncertainties often arise from comparison among studies using different species, analytical and statistical methods. The long-term temporal trends of Hg exposure were reconstructed for a key sentinel species, the White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla). Body feathers were sampled from museum collections covering 150 years in time (from 1866 to 2015) from West Greenland (n = 124), Norway (n = 102), and Sweden (n = 87). A significant non-linear trend was observed in the Norwegian subpopulation, with a 60% increase in exposure occurring from 1866 to 1957 followed by a 40% decline until 2015. In the Swedish subpopulation, studied at a later period, the Hg exposure showed a drastic decline of 70% from 1967 to 2011. In contrast, no significant trend could be observed in the Greenland subpopulation. The additional analysis of dietary proxies (δ13C and δ15N) in general increased performance of the temporal trend models, but this was dependent on the subpopulation and study period. The downward trend of Hg coincided with the decreasing δ13C and δ15N in the Norwegian subpopulation, suggesting a potential dietary mitigation of Hg contamination. Hg exposure in both the Greenland and Norwegian subpopulations was consistently below the suggested threshold for adverse health effects (40.0 μg g−1), while the maximum exposure in the Swedish subpopulation was distinctively elevated (median: 46.0 μg g−1) and still remains well above natural background concentrations (maximum 5.0 μg g−1).
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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in plasma and feathers of nestling birds of prey from northern Norway
Environmental research, 2017Co-Authors: P. Gómez-ramírez, Dorte Herzke, Trond Vidar Johnsen, Igor Eulaers, Jan Ove Bustnes, Gilles Lepoint, Juan Ma Perez-garcia, Antonio J. García-fernández, Veerle L.b. JaspersAbstract:Plasma samples from nestlings of two top predators, White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) and Northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) from northern Norway were analysed for a wide range of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). Body feathers from the White-Tailed Eagles were also analysed and significant associations between specific PFASs in blood plasma and body feathers were found (0.36
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Population dynamics in White-Tailed Eagle at an on-shore wind farm area in coastal Norway
2014Co-Authors: Espen Lie DahlAbstract:Collision with turbines and disturbance leading to loss of or reduced habitat quality are the two main impacts from wind energy development on birds. In addition, wind farms can act as barriers to birds. The conflict between birds and wind farms are highly site-, season- and species-specific. Among the most vulnerable group of birds are the raptorial species. Large soaring birds have proven to be particularly vulnerable to collision with turbines. In this thesis I aimed to test if a 68-turbine wind farm on the island of Smola, mid-Norway, was in conflict with a population of White-Tailed Eagles breeding at high density. The White-Tailed Eagle is a species with slow reproduction, long life span and high annual survival rates. These demographic characteristics make them particularly vulnerable to increased mortality. I found that the White-Tailed Eagle population was affected both by disturbance and collision mortality. Eagles did not significantly change their flight behavior when inside the wind farm, possibly explaining the relative high collision mortality. Territories close to the wind farm experienced reduced breeding success in the post-construction period compared to pre-construction. The effect was due to mortality and birds being displaced from their territories within the wind farm. Also, mortality among both sub-adult and adult birds was higher for birds with origin close to turbines compared to those originating further away from turbines. The growth rate in the population was reduced by the wind farm development, with the part of the population breeding close to the wind farm being most affected. Also, expected average age of adult birds in territories close to turbines was lower than for birds further away from turbines. Among the demographic parameters, adult survival was, by far, the most influential to the population growth rate. There was a clear spatial component in the impact from the wind farm on the White-Tailed Eagle population. The impact from mortality had a wider spatial component compared to the impact from disturbance. I traced the impact from increased mortality among adult Eagles in territories out to 5 km from the turbines, while the reproductive success was reduced in territories out to 1 km from the turbines. It is therefore highly important to take into consideration both disturbance and mortality when planning future wind farm. As a last option, compensation measures can be an effective tool if avoidance and mitigation of avian conflicts in wind farms are non-efficient or too expensive. Electrocution prevention measures at a nearby power line were identified as a potential compensation project, compensating for White-Tailed Eagle mortality in the Smola wind farm.
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White‐tailed Eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) at the Smøla wind‐power plant, Central Norway, lack behavioral flight responses to wind turbines
Wildlife Society Bulletin, 2013Co-Authors: Espen Lie Dahl, Roel May, Pernille Lund Hoel, Kjetil Modolv Bevanger, Hans Chr. Pedersen, Eivin Røskaft, Bård G. StokkeAbstract:Evidence is increasing of bird mortality due to large-scale wind-energy development. Soaring raptors, such as the White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), have proven particularly vulnerable to collisions. In this study, we compared White-Tailed Eagle flight behavior both inside and outside of the Smola wind-power plant on coastal Central Norway. During the Eagle breeding period (mid-Mar–end May 2008), we collected data on flight activity (directional flight, social behavior, and soaring) and flight altitude (below, within, and above the rotor-swept zone [RSZ]) at 12 vantage points; 6 within the wind-power plant and 6 outside (control area). We found that White-Tailed Eagles did not show any clear avoidance flight responses to the wind turbines. Hence, we found no significant differences in the total amount of flight activity within and outside the power-plant area. However, we found less flight activity among adults than among subadults within the power plant compared with the control area. We also found a slightly increased probability of flight activity in the RSZ within the power plant, which obviously may increase the risk of collision with wind turbines. Our findings may help explain the relatively high mortality rate of White-Tailed Eagles in the wind-power-plant area and the recorded peak in Eagle fatalities during the breeding season. © 2013 The Wildlife Society.
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Compensating white‐tailed Eagle mortality at the Smøla wind‐power plant using electrocution prevention measures
Wildlife Society Bulletin, 2013Co-Authors: Scott Cole, Espen Lie DahlAbstract:Environmental impact assessment allows for compensation of environmental injuries in the form of resource-based restoration projects. Given that compensation is a desired policy at a given site, this study suggests an interdisciplinary scaling method (Resource Equivalency Analysis) that relies on a non-monetary bird-year metric to quantify and value the impact on human welfare from ecosystem service loss. The lost value associated with White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) turbine collisions at the Smola wind-power plant (debit) in central Norway is compensated through White-Tailed Eagle electrocution-prevention measures at nearby power lines (credit), scaled using the same bird-year metric. We found that 172 actual and projected White-Tailed Eagle turbine collisions (2005–2027) led to a debit of 3,454 discounted bird-years, which captures lost life expectancy discounted to present value. Field searches indicated that annual White-Tailed Eagle electrocution mortality per electric distribution pole (or pylon) at Smola ranges from 0.002 to 0.014 (2009–2011). We suggest that retrofitting between 348 and 2,209 pylons at a present-value cost of US$1.2–7.9 million (2011 at 3%) will provide equivalent value and thus compensate the public for their welfare losses. Improved electrocution probability models will improve cost-effectiveness of retrofitting as a compensatory measure. Although Resource Equivalency Analysis may provide an approach for scaling a biodiversity offset, it cannot address the inevitable environmental trade-offs required in assessing the social profitability of choosing to compensate at a particular site. © 2013 The Wildlife Society.
