Publications by authors named "Renata Duraes Ribeiro"
Article Synopsis
- Lead exposure significantly affects urban wildlife, particularly northern mockingbirds, as demonstrated by differing blood and feather lead levels correlating with neighborhood soil lead.
- Nest success was higher in areas with lower lead levels, indicating that lead may impact reproductive outcomes, while clutch size variation suggests other factors are also at play.
- Interestingly, one-third of nestling mockingbirds were sired by extra-pair males, and no correlation was found between this promiscuity and lead levels, highlighting the complex dynamics of urban wildlife reproduction.
Many urban areas have elevated soil lead concentrations due to prior large-scale use of lead in products such as paint and automobile gasoline. This presents a potential problem for the growing numbers of wildlife living in urbanized areas as lead exposure is known to affect multiple physiological systems, including the nervous system, in vertebrate species. In humans and laboratory animals, low-level lead exposure is associated with neurological impairment, but less is known about how lead may affect the behavior of urban wildlife.
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