Grupo de investigaciones en Biología de la Conservación, Laboratorio Ecotono, INIBIOMA (Universidad Nacional del Comahue - CONICET), Quintral 1250 (R8400FRF), San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina.
Sci Total Environ. 2019 Mar 1;654:409-417. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.099. Epub 2018 Nov 8.
Vultures and condors (hereafter vultures) make up one the most threatened avian guilds in the world due to a variety of human-mediated impacts and disturbances. In fact, 70% of vulture species are currently suffering impacted by significant conservation threats, with lead contamination being particularly important. Unfortunately, lead contamination in vulture species remains poorly studied in many regions of the world. We reviewed the existing scientific knowledge about this threat to vultures. We found 62 scientific articles studying lead contamination in vultures. Seventy-two percent of these articles were from North America and Europe, with the rest corresponding to Asia (13%), South America (8%), and Africa (7%). Most (92%) were published recently (2001-2018). Published articles included information on 13 vulture species out of a total of 23 from both the Old (9) and New World (4). Eighty-eight percent of the articles showed individuals with lead concentrations above threshold levels in some tissues sampled, with New World (Cathartidae) vultures more affected than Old World vultures (Accipitridae). The most suspected but rarely probed source of lead was lead ammunition, but other sources such as pollution or industry were also reported. It is concerning that lead contamination is considered a major threat for just 8% (2/23) of the vulture species categorized by the IUCN Red list. Our review shows that lead contamination is an important threat for several vulture species worldwide, but remains undiagnosed and not well-recognized in some species and geographical areas. The effect of this contaminant on vulture demography is not well known but merits particular attention since it may be leading to population declines in several species.
秃鹫和美洲鹫（以下统称秃鹫）由于受到各种人为因素的影响和干扰，成为世界上受威胁最严重的鸟类群体之一。事实上，70%的秃鹫物种目前正受到重大保护威胁的影响，其中铅污染尤为重要。不幸的是，在世界上许多地区，对秃鹫物种中的铅污染仍研究不足。我们回顾了关于这一威胁秃鹫的现有科学知识。我们发现了 62 篇研究秃鹫铅污染的科学文章。这些文章中有 72%来自北美和欧洲，其余的来自亚洲（13%）、南美洲（8%）和非洲（7%）。大多数（92%）是最近（2001-2018 年）发表的。发表的文章包括 23 种秃鹫中的 13 种，来自旧大陆（9 种）和新大陆（4 种）。在采样的一些组织中，88%的文章显示个体的铅浓度超过了阈值水平，新大陆（秃鹫科）的秃鹫比旧大陆（鹰科）的秃鹫受影响更大。最可疑但很少被探测到的铅来源是铅弹，但也有报道称其他来源，如污染或工业。令人担忧的是，铅污染被认为是 IUCN 红色名录中 8%（2/23）的秃鹫物种的主要威胁。我们的综述表明，铅污染是世界范围内几种秃鹫物种的重要威胁，但在某些物种和地理区域仍然未被诊断和未被充分认识。这种污染物对秃鹫种群的影响尚不清楚，但值得特别关注，因为它可能导致几个物种的数量下降。
