Hematological and plasma biochemical analyses and parasitological detection were carried out in the herring gull Larus argentatus. Hematological and plasma biochemical parameters in uninfected gulls and gulls infected by Diphyllobothrium dendriticum (Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidae) were compared. Hemoglobin content and numbers of erythrocytes were reduced; numbers of leukocytes and sorption capacity of erythrocytes were improved in blood of the infected herring gulls. Hematological index (eosinophil/lymphocyte ratio) in infected gulls increased 1.8 times in comparison with eosinophil/lymphocyte ratio in uninfected gulls. Metabolic imbalances in herring gulls infected by D. dendriticum were determined. Levels of the total protein, phospholipids, triglyceride, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium and sodium, and the activity of alkaline phosphatase decreased in plasma blood of infected gulls; at the same time, the content of the uric acid, glucose, modified albumin and circulatory immune complex and activities of transaminases and lactate dehydrogenase had increased. It is assumed that the obtained results testify to the appearance of abnormalities in the digestion processes and the activity of immune and circulatory systems caused by the invasion of gulls with D. dendriticum. 375
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J Anim Ecol
January 2025
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Pulsed resources resulting from animal migrations represent important, transient influxes of high resource availability into recipient communities. The ability of predators to respond and exploit these large increases in background resource availability, however, may be constrained when the timing and magnitude of the resource pulse vary across years. In coastal Newfoundland, Canada, we studied aggregative responses of multiple seabird predators to the annual inshore pulse of a key forage fish species, capelin (Mallotus villosus).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
November 2024
Department of Behavioural Ecology, University of Wrocław, Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335, Wrocław, Poland.
Hybridization is a common phenomenon in birds, particularly between closely related species, when reproductive isolation mechanisms are insufficiently developed. Hybrids differ from the parental species in genetic, morphological, and behavioural traits. However, the migration patterns of hybrids have been scarcely studied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChemosphere
November 2024
Ecotoxicology and Wildlife Health Division, Wildlife and Landscape Directorate, Science and Technology Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Wildlife Research Centre, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Department of Chemistry, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada. Electronic address:
Methoxylated polybrominated diphenoxybenzenes (MeO-PB-DPBs) are little known contaminants except in North American Great Lakes herring gull tissues and egg samples. MeO-PB-DPBs in gulls originate not via aquatic bioaccumulation pathways but instead likely via transformation of the tetradecabromo-1,4-diphenoxybenzene (TDB-DPB) flame retardant (FR). TDB-DPB was formerly produced as SAYTEX-120 in North America and is still produced in Asia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Total Environ
November 2024
Littoral Environnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), UMR 7266 CNRS - La Rochelle Université, 17000 La Rochelle, France.
Mercury (Hg) is a naturally occurring highly toxic element which circulation in ecosystems has been intensified by human activities. Hg is widely distributed, and marine environments act as its main final sink. Seabirds are relevant bioindicators of marine pollution and chicks are particularly suitable for biomonitoring pollutants as they reflect contamination at short spatiotemporal scales.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Hazard Mater
September 2024
Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Wildlife Research Centre, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, K1A 0H3 Ontario, Canada.
The objectives of this research were to assess ingested plastics and accumulated heavy metals in four urban gull species. Additionally, the relationships between ingested plastics and selected demographic and health metrics were assessed. Between 2020-2021 during the non-breeding seasons, 105 gulls (46 American herring gulls (HERG, Larus argentatus smithsonianus), 39 great black-backed gulls (GBBG, Larus marinus), 16 Iceland gulls (Larus glaucoides), 4 glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus)) were killed at a landfill in coastal Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, as part of separate, permitted kill-to-scare operations related to aircraft safety.
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