Oral Presentations
Telomeres: a tool to assess the impacts of mining contaminants on riparian songbirds
Presentation Type
Presentation
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Creagh Breuner
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Biology
Abstract / Artist's Statement
Mining has left massive environmental and physical scars across the landscape. Aquatic and riparian landscapes in particular have been significantly impacted by traditional mining practices. Waste products left over from hard-rock mining leech heavy metals onto the landscape and these metals spread from headwater streams to major waterways (Lottermoser, 2010). Heavy metals have been shown to cause physiological stress and challenges to organisms depending on the metal and the concentration (Baos et al., 2019; Boyd & Rajakaruna, 2013). While some impacted areas have undergone restoration efforts, is it enough? Typical restoration methods replace the contaminated floodplain, but not the riverbed itself. This raises the concern that heavy metal contaminants from the riverbed are still transferring to riparian organisms through the interconnected food webs. In an effort to assess the restoration of these contaminated areas, we have collected blood samples from five riparian songbird species to measure heavy metal concentration and relative telomere length (the size of the ends of the chromosomes that protect against replication damage) across riparian sites with different levels of contamination and remediation. Riparian songbirds are an ideal species to assess the impacts of heavy metal contamination in riparian ecosystems because their diet of both aquatic and terrestrial insects puts them at significant risk of heavy metal contamination (Walters et al., 2008, Baxter et al., 2005) and they are considered indicators of ecosystem health. We are measuring telomere length because it reflects long-term physiological stress and is considered a biomarker for life span in avian species (Powolny et al., 2020; Wilbourn et al., 2018). Thus, telomeres will be informative of the integrated organismal impacts heavy metals have on songbirds. The results of this study will allow us to broadly infer the efficacy of current riparian ecosystem restoration of mining contaminated areas and have implications for the adaptive management of songbirds, a group in overall decline.
References:
Baos, R., Blas, J., Bortolotti, G. R., Marchant, T. A., & Hiraldo, F. (2006). Adrenocortical response to stress and thyroid hormone status in free-living nestling white storks (ciconia ciconia) exposed to heavy metal and arsenic contamination. Environmental Health Perspectives, 114(10), 1497–1501. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.9099
Baxter, C. V., Fausch, K. D., & Saunders, C. W. (2005). Tangled webs: Reciprocal flows of invertebrate prey link streams and riparian zones. Freshwater Biology, 50(2), 201–220. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2004.01328.x
Boyd, R. S., & Rajakaruna, N. (2013). Heavy Metal tolerance. Oxford Bibliographies Online Datasets. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199830060-0137
Lottermoser, B. G. (2010). Mine wastes characterization, treatment and environmental impacts. Springer.
Powolny, T., Bassin, N., Crini, N., Fourel, I., Morin, C., Pottinger, T. G., Massemin, S., Zahn, S., & Coeurdassier, M. (2020). Corticosterone mediates telomere length in raptor chicks exposed to chemical mixture. Science of The Total Environment, 706, 135083. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135083
Walters, D. M., K. M. Fritz, and R. R. Otter. 2008. The Dark Side of Subsidies: Adult Stream Insects Export Organic Contaminants to Riparian Predators. Ecological Applications 18:1835–1841
Wilbourn, R. V., Moatt, J. P., Froy, H., Walling, C. A., Nussey, D. H., & Boonekamp, J. J. (2018). The relationship between telomere length and mortality risk in non-model vertebrate systems: A meta-analysis. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 373(1741), 20160447. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0447
Category
Life Sciences
Telomeres: a tool to assess the impacts of mining contaminants on riparian songbirds
UC 330
Mining has left massive environmental and physical scars across the landscape. Aquatic and riparian landscapes in particular have been significantly impacted by traditional mining practices. Waste products left over from hard-rock mining leech heavy metals onto the landscape and these metals spread from headwater streams to major waterways (Lottermoser, 2010). Heavy metals have been shown to cause physiological stress and challenges to organisms depending on the metal and the concentration (Baos et al., 2019; Boyd & Rajakaruna, 2013). While some impacted areas have undergone restoration efforts, is it enough? Typical restoration methods replace the contaminated floodplain, but not the riverbed itself. This raises the concern that heavy metal contaminants from the riverbed are still transferring to riparian organisms through the interconnected food webs. In an effort to assess the restoration of these contaminated areas, we have collected blood samples from five riparian songbird species to measure heavy metal concentration and relative telomere length (the size of the ends of the chromosomes that protect against replication damage) across riparian sites with different levels of contamination and remediation. Riparian songbirds are an ideal species to assess the impacts of heavy metal contamination in riparian ecosystems because their diet of both aquatic and terrestrial insects puts them at significant risk of heavy metal contamination (Walters et al., 2008, Baxter et al., 2005) and they are considered indicators of ecosystem health. We are measuring telomere length because it reflects long-term physiological stress and is considered a biomarker for life span in avian species (Powolny et al., 2020; Wilbourn et al., 2018). Thus, telomeres will be informative of the integrated organismal impacts heavy metals have on songbirds. The results of this study will allow us to broadly infer the efficacy of current riparian ecosystem restoration of mining contaminated areas and have implications for the adaptive management of songbirds, a group in overall decline.
References:
Baos, R., Blas, J., Bortolotti, G. R., Marchant, T. A., & Hiraldo, F. (2006). Adrenocortical response to stress and thyroid hormone status in free-living nestling white storks (ciconia ciconia) exposed to heavy metal and arsenic contamination. Environmental Health Perspectives, 114(10), 1497–1501. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.9099
Baxter, C. V., Fausch, K. D., & Saunders, C. W. (2005). Tangled webs: Reciprocal flows of invertebrate prey link streams and riparian zones. Freshwater Biology, 50(2), 201–220. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2004.01328.x
Boyd, R. S., & Rajakaruna, N. (2013). Heavy Metal tolerance. Oxford Bibliographies Online Datasets. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199830060-0137
Lottermoser, B. G. (2010). Mine wastes characterization, treatment and environmental impacts. Springer.
Powolny, T., Bassin, N., Crini, N., Fourel, I., Morin, C., Pottinger, T. G., Massemin, S., Zahn, S., & Coeurdassier, M. (2020). Corticosterone mediates telomere length in raptor chicks exposed to chemical mixture. Science of The Total Environment, 706, 135083. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135083
Walters, D. M., K. M. Fritz, and R. R. Otter. 2008. The Dark Side of Subsidies: Adult Stream Insects Export Organic Contaminants to Riparian Predators. Ecological Applications 18:1835–1841
Wilbourn, R. V., Moatt, J. P., Froy, H., Walling, C. A., Nussey, D. H., & Boonekamp, J. J. (2018). The relationship between telomere length and mortality risk in non-model vertebrate systems: A meta-analysis. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 373(1741), 20160447. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0447