Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden.
Sci Total Environ. 2011 Sep 15;409(20):4326-34. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.07.004. Epub 2011 Jul 23.
The environment around metal industries, such as smelters, is often highly contaminated due to continuous deposition of metals. We studied nest box breeding populations of pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) in a well-studied pollution gradient from a sulfide ore smelter in Northern Sweden, after reduced aerial metal emissions (by 93-99%) from the smelter. The deposition of arsenic, cadmium, copper and zinc (based on moss samples) reflected the reduced emissions fairly well. However, nestling pied flycatchers had similar concentrations of these elements and mercury in tissues (bone, liver and blood) and feces in the 2000s, as in the 1980s, when the emissions were substantially higher. The exposure to high metal concentrations in the close vicinity of the smelter resulted in inhibited ALAD activities, depressed hemoglobin and hematocrit levels and increased mortality of nestlings. Our results indicate that in the highly contaminated environment around the smelter, nestlings reflected the slowly cycling soil pool, rather than the atmospheric deposition, and the concentration in soils plays an important role for the response of pied flycatchers to reduced atmospheric deposition.
金属工业（如冶炼厂）周围的环境通常受到金属不断沉积的高度污染。我们研究了在瑞典北部一个硫化物冶炼厂的一个经过充分研究的污染梯度中，巢箱繁殖的白腰文鸟（Ficedula hypoleuca）种群，该冶炼厂的空中金属排放量已经减少（93-99%）。砷、镉、铜和锌的沉积（基于苔藓样本）很好地反映了排放量的减少。然而，在 21 世纪，巢中的白腰文鸟的组织（骨骼、肝脏和血液）和粪便中这些元素和汞的浓度与 20 世纪 80 年代基本相同，当时排放量要高得多。在冶炼厂附近接触高浓度金属会导致 ALAD 活性受到抑制、血红蛋白和血细胞比容水平降低以及雏鸟死亡率增加。我们的结果表明，在冶炼厂周围高度污染的环境中，巢中的雏鸟反映了缓慢循环的土壤库，而不是大气沉积，而土壤中的浓度对于白腰文鸟对减少大气沉积的反应起着重要作用。
