Section of Ecology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland.
Oecologia. 2010 Feb;162(2):533-9. doi: 10.1007/s00442-009-1468-9. Epub 2009 Sep 26.
We studied the occurrence of laying gaps in free-living populations of the pied flycatcher, Ficedula hypoleuca, and the great tit, Parus major, in a pollution gradient of a copper smelter in south-west Finland. Laying gaps were 2.8 times more common in F. hypoleuca than in P. major. The probability of laying gaps was highest in the heavily polluted zone and lowest in the unpolluted zone for both bird species. Cold weather at the time of laying increased the number of laying gaps in both species, but in P. major this effect was most pronounced in the heavily polluted environment. In the most heavily polluted environment the laying gaps were more likely to occur near the beginning of the laying sequence in both species. The laying gap probability increased with increasing laying date in P. major but not in F. hypoleuca. We suggest that the increased number of laying gaps in the polluted environment results from limited Ca availability and the interference of heavy metals with Ca metabolism in laying females.
我们研究了在芬兰西南部一个铜冶炼厂污染梯度下自由生活的白腰文鸟和大山雀种群中产卵间隔的发生情况。产卵间隔在白腰文鸟中比大山雀常见 2.8 倍。对于这两个鸟类物种，产卵间隔的概率在污染最严重的区域最高，在未污染的区域最低。产卵时的寒冷天气增加了这两个物种的产卵间隔数量，但在污染最严重的环境中，这种影响在大山雀中最为明显。在污染最严重的环境中，产卵间隔在两个物种的产卵序列开始时更有可能发生。在大山雀中，随着产卵日期的增加，产卵间隔的概率增加，但在白腰文鸟中则不然。我们认为，污染环境中产卵间隔数量的增加是由于 Ca 供应有限，以及重金属对产卵雌鸟 Ca 代谢的干扰所致。
