Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden.
Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden.
Nat Commun. 2016 Dec 6;7:13460. doi: 10.1038/ncomms13460.
Migration is an important life-history event in a wide range of taxa, yet many migrations are influenced by anthropogenic change. Although migration dynamics are extensively studied, the potential effects of environmental contaminants on migratory physiology are poorly understood. In this study we show that an anxiolytic drug in water can promote downward migratory behaviour of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in both laboratory setting and in a natural river tributary. Exposing salmon smolt to a dilute concentration of a GABA receptor agonist (oxazepam) increased migration intensity compared with untreated smolt. These results implicate that salmon migration may be affected by human-induced changes in water chemical properties, such as acidification and pharmaceutical residues in wastewater effluent, via alterations in the GABA receptor function.
迁移是广泛的生物类群的一个重要的生活史事件，但许多迁移受到人为变化的影响。尽管迁移动态得到了广泛的研究，但环境污染物对迁移生理的潜在影响还知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们表明水中的一种抗焦虑药物可以促进大西洋鲑（Salmo salar）在实验室环境和天然河流支流中的向下迁移行为。将鲑鱼幼鱼暴露于低浓度的 GABA 受体激动剂（奥沙西泮）中，与未处理的幼鱼相比，迁移强度增加。这些结果表明，鲑鱼的迁移可能会受到人类引起的水化学性质变化的影响，例如酸化和废水中的药物残留，通过改变 GABA 受体的功能。
