Effect of past century mining activities on sediment properties and toxicity to freshwater organisms in northern Sweden.

The release of toxic metals from local mining activities often represents a severe environmental hazard for nearby lake ecosystems. Previous studies on the impact of mining have primarily focused on single lakes, with less emphasis on spatial and temporal recovery patterns of multiple lakes within the same catchment, but with different hydrological connection and distance to the pollutant source. This knowledge gap prevents us from assessing the real environmental risk of abandoned mines and understanding ecosystem recovery.

The effect of aquatic and terrestrial prey availability on metal accumulation in pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) nestlings.

Ingestion of contaminated prey is a major route for metal exposure in terrestrial insectivores. In terrestrial ecosystems adjacent to lakes and streams, emerging aquatic insects can transport metals, accumulated during their larval stage, from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems. However, contaminant exposure via aquatic insects has often been ignored in terrestrial environments, despite such insects representing a substantial part of the diet for terrestrial insectivores living close to lakes and streams.

Measurement of metal concentrations in feathers of bird-vehicle collisions, Sabzevar, Iran.

The purpose of the present study is to compare the concentrations of lead, copper, and zinc in feathers of birds struck in collisions with vehicles. Two main assumptions were investigated: that there is a significant difference between species with different diets and that large and old species have higher concentrations of lead than small and young species because of their longer life span and longer exposure time to pollutants. Mean concentrations were obtained for lead 0.

The effect of lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) contamination on aquatic insect community composition and metamorphosis.

Metal contamination of freshwater ecosystems is a great threat to aquatic insect communities. In the past, focus has been on the toxic effects on the insect larvae, despite emerging evidence showing that negative effects can occur during metamorphosis to adults. There is therefore a risk that traditional studies on insect larvae would underestimate effect from metals.

Spatio-temporal variation of metals and organic contaminants in bank voles (Myodes glareolus).

Environmental contamination with metals and organic compounds is of increasing concern for ecosystem and human health. Still, our knowledge about spatial distribution, temporal changes and ecotoxicological fate of metals and organic contaminants in wildlife is limited. We studied concentrations of 69 elements and 50 organic compounds in 300 bank voles (Myodes glareolus), Europe's most common mammal, sampled in spring and autumn 2017-2018 in five monitoring areas, representing three biogeographic regions.

Availability of specific prey types impact pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) nestling health in a moderately lead contaminated environment in northern Sweden.

Anthropogenic metal contamination can cause increased stress in exposed organisms, but it can be difficult to disentangle the anthropogenic influence from natural variation in environmental conditions. In the proximity of a closed lead (Pb)/zinc (Zn) mine in northern Sweden, the health effects of Pb exposure, essential element (calcium [Ca] and Zn) uptake, and prey availability and composition were estimated on pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) nestlings, using hemoglobin (Hb) level as a proxy for health. Pb concentration in nestling blood range between 0.

Effects of Organic Pollutants on Bacterial Communities Under Future Climate Change Scenarios.

Coastal ecosystems are highly dynamic and can be strongly influenced by climate change, anthropogenic activities (e.g., pollution), and a combination of the two pressures.

Seasonal shift of diet in bank voles explains trophic fate of anthropogenic osmium?

Diet shifts are common in mammals and birds, but little is known about how such shifts along the food web affect contaminant exposure. Voles are staple food for many mammalian and avian predators. There is therefore a risk of transfer of contaminants accumulated in voles within the food chain.

Evaluating blood and excrement as bioindicators for metal accumulation in birds.

Birds are widely used to assess metal contamination in the environment and there are different approaches to determine the exposure level in individuals, some being destructive (collection of soft tissues) and some non-destructive (blood, feathers and excrement). The use of blood to detect internal concentrations of metals is an acknowledged method, but to what extent blood can predict the concentrations in soft tissues has been less well evaluated in wild terrestrial birds. The same is true for excrements.

Sublethal Lead Exposure Alters Movement Behavior in Free-Ranging Golden Eagles.

Lead poisoning of animals due to ingestion of fragments from lead-based ammunition in carcasses and offal of shot wildlife is acknowledged globally and raises great concerns about potential behavioral effects leading to increased mortality risks. Lead levels in blood were correlated with progress of the moose hunting season. Based on analyses of tracking data, we found that even sublethal lead concentrations in blood (25 ppb, wet weight), can likely negatively affect movement behavior (flight height and movement rate) of free-ranging scavenging Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos).

Species and abundance of ectoparasitic flies (Diptera) in pied flycatcher nests in Fennoscandia.

Background: Birds host several ectoparasitic fly species with negative effects on nestling health and reproductive output, and with the capability of transmitting avian blood parasites. Information on the abundance and distribution of the ectoparasitic fly genera Ornithomya (Hippoboscidae) and Protocalliphora (Calliphoridae) in northern Europe is still generally poor, and we thus explored their geographic range and occurrence of these flies in the nests of a common avian model species, the pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca.

Methods: Nests of F.

Temporal trends in metal pollution: using bird excrement as indicator.

Past mining and smelting activities have resulted in metal polluted environments all over the world, but long-term monitoring data is often scarce, especially in higher trophic levels. In this study we used bird (Parus major and Ficedula hypoleuca) excrement to monitor metal pollution in the terrestrial environment following 16 years of continuously reduced emissions from a copper/nickel smelter in Finland. In the early 1990s, lead and cadmium concentrations dropped significantly in excrement, but the reduction did not directly reflect the changes in atmospheric emission from the smelter.

Experimental manipulation of dietary lead levels in great tit nestlings: limited effects on growth, physiology and survival.

We manipulated dietary lead (Pb) levels of nestlings in wild populations of the great tit (Parus major L) to find out if environmentally relevant Pb levels would affect some physiological biomarkers (haematocrit [HT], fecal corticosterone metabolites [CORT], heat shock proteins [HSPs], erythrocyte delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase activity [ALAd]), growth (body mass, wing length), phenotype (plumage coloration) or survival of nestlings. The responses to three experimental manipulation (control, low and high: 0, 1 and 4 μg/g body mass/day) are compared with those in a P. major population breeding in the vicinity of a heavy metal source, a copper smelter.

Decreased metal accumulation in passerines as a result of reduced emissions.

Technological advances in industrial processes have resulted in reduced atmospheric emissions from metal industries all over the globe, but the response of the environment is not well known. The authors studied metal (As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Se) accumulation in passerine birds (pied flycatcher, Ficedula hypoleuca, and great tit, Parus major) following almost 20 years of reduced metal emissions from the largest nonferrous smelter in Finland. Close to the industry, emission reductions resulted in reduced exposure to several of the elements and, more importantly, reduced accumulation by 58 to 95% in liver tissue.

Effects of reduced lead deposition on pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) nestlings: tracing exposure routes using stable lead isotopes.

To what extent the lead burden of birds living in strongly contaminated ecosystems is responding to decreased atmospheric lead deposition is not well known. In this study, we measured lead concentrations and stable lead isotope ratios (206pb/207Pb and 208Pb/207Pb) in liver and feces from pied flycatcher nestlings (Ficedula hypoleuca) along a 90 km pollution gradient from the Rönnskär smelter in northern Sweden. Changes in lead concentration in the birds from 1984 to 2006 were used for assessing the recovery of the environment following reduced lead emissions at the smelter.

Differential resistance of melanoma cells to treatment with recombinant IFN-alpha2b and leukocyte IFN.

Background: Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) subtypes bind to the same receptor and are expected to have the same biological functions. Whether or not leukocyte IFN, containing six major IFN-alpha proteins had the same anti-tumor effect as one subtype, recombinant IFN-alpha2b, was investigated.

Materials And Methods: Three melanoma lines were treated with both types of IFN, and the effect on proliferation and survival was estimated both after short-term and prolonged treatment.

Effects of dredging in Göteborg harbor, Sweden, assessed by biomarkers in eelpout (Zoarces viviparus).

We used a battery of biomarkers in fish to study the effects of the extensive dredging in Göteborg harbor situated at the river Göta alv estuary, Sweden. Eelpout (Zoarces viviparus) were sampled along a gradient into Göteborg harbor, both before and during the dredging. Biomarker responses in the eelpout before the dredging already indicated that fish in Göteborg harbor are chronically affected by pollutants under normal conditions compared to those in a reference area.

Oxidative damage in eelpout (Zoarces viviparus), measured as protein carbonyls and TBARS, as biomarkers.

During 2002-2003 a dredging campaign was undertaken in Göteborg harbor, Sweden, to widen and deepen shipping lanes. A bunker oil spill occurred in the harbor in July 2003, thereby further exasperating the situation for marine life. Eelpout, Zoarces viviparus, was used as a sentinel species to monitor the impact of these events.