Plaza Pablo Ignacio, Lambertucci Sergio Agustin
Grupo de investigaciones en Biología de la Conservación, Laboratorio Ecotono, INIBIOMA (Universidad Nacional Del Comahue-CONICET), San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina.
PeerJ. 2018 Apr 19;6:e4645. doi: 10.7717/peerj.4645. eCollection 2018.
Organic waste is one of the most important anthropogenic food subsidies used by different species. However, there is little information about the health impact that rubbish dumps produce on species foraging in these sites.
We studied the effect that rubbish dumps produce on the health of a scavenging bird from the Americas, the black vulture (). We sampled and studied clinical and biochemical parameters in 94 adult black vultures from two different sites in North Western Patagonia, a rubbish dump and the wild steppe.
We found differences in clinical and biochemical parameters between sites. Body mass was greater in individuals from the dump, whereas in the steppe there were more individuals clinically dehydrated. Biochemical parameters such as uric acid, calcium, alkaline phosphatase, glycaemia, globulins and haematocrit had higher values in individuals using the dump than in individuals from the steppe. Other biochemical parameters such as aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, creatine phosphokinase and urea were higher in individuals from the steppe than in individuals from the dump.
Foraging in organic waste could be considered beneficial for black vultures because they increase body mass and parameters associated to nutritional status like calcium and haematocrit. However, foraging in dumps can also affect their health status due to nutritional problems, potential kidney damage or infections that are signalled by the higher values of glycaemia, uric acid and globulins found in individuals from the dump. Our results highlight the contrasting effects that rubbish dumps may produce on wildlife health. They are relevant to different species using these sites, and are also an additional instrument for managing waste.
有机废物是不同物种利用的最重要的人为食物补贴之一。然而，关于垃圾场对在这些场所觅食的物种的健康影响，几乎没有相关信息。
我们研究了垃圾场对一种来自美洲的食腐鸟类——黑兀鹫健康的影响。我们对来自巴塔哥尼亚西北部两个不同地点（一个垃圾场和野生草原）的94只成年黑兀鹫进行了采样，并研究了它们的临床和生化参数。
我们发现不同地点的临床和生化参数存在差异。来自垃圾场的个体体重更大，而在草原上，临床上脱水的个体更多。使用垃圾场的个体的尿酸、钙、碱性磷酸酶、血糖、球蛋白和血细胞比容等生化参数的值高于来自草原的个体。其他生化参数，如天冬氨酸转氨酶、丙氨酸转氨酶、肌酸磷酸激酶和尿素，草原个体的值高于垃圾场个体。
在有机废物中觅食对黑兀鹫可能被认为是有益的，因为它们增加了体重以及与营养状况相关的参数，如钙和血细胞比容。然而，在垃圾场觅食也可能由于营养问题、潜在的肾脏损伤或感染而影响它们的健康状况，这通过垃圾场个体中较高的血糖、尿酸和球蛋白值得以体现。我们的研究结果突出了垃圾场可能对野生动物健康产生的对比效应。它们与使用这些场所的不同物种相关，也是管理废物的一个额外工具。
