Department of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, ul. Wojska Polskiego 71C, 60-625 Poznań, Poland; Department of Zoology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain.
Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw, ul. Banacha 2c, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland; Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, 14850, NY, USA.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Sep 10;838(Pt 2):156034. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156034. Epub 2022 May 18.
Solid waste pollution (garbage discarded by humans, such as plastic, metal, paper) has received increased attention given its importance as a global threat to biodiversity. Recent studies highlight how animals incorporate anthropogenic materials into their life-cycle, for example in avian nest construction. While increasingly monitored in natural areas, the influence of solid waste pollution on wildlife has been seldom explored in the urban habitat. There is limited data on the relationship between anthropogenic solid waste pollution, nest design, and reproductive success in an urban context. We address this knowledge gap (i) by investigating the presence of environmental solid waste pollution in the breeding habitats of great tits Parus major and blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus reproducing in a gradient of urbanisation, and (ii) by quantifying (ii) the contribution of different anthropogenic materials in their nests. We further examine potential drivers of solid waste pollution by inferring three distinct properties of the urban space: environmental solid waste pollution on the ground, human presence, and the intensity of urbanisation (e.g impervious surfaces) in nestbox vicinity. Finally, (iii) we explore the relationship between anthropogenic nest materials and reproductive success. We found that environmental solid waste pollution was positively associated with human presence and urbanisation intensity. There was also a positive relationship between increased human presence and the amount of anthropogenic materials in great tit nests. Interestingly, in both species, anthropogenic nest materials covaried negatively with nest materials of animal origin (fur and feathers). We suggest that fur and feathers - key insulating materials in nest design - may be scarcer in areas with high levels of human presence, and are consequently replaced with anthropogenic nest materials. Finally, we report a negative relationship between anthropogenic nest materials and blue tit reproductive success, suggesting species-specific vulnerability of urban birds to solid waste pollution.
固体废物污染（人类丢弃的塑料、金属、纸张等）因其对生物多样性的全球性威胁而受到越来越多的关注。最近的研究强调了动物如何将人为材料纳入其生命周期，例如在鸟类筑巢中。虽然在自然区域越来越受到监测，但在城市栖息地中，固体废物污染对野生动物的影响很少被探索。在城市环境中，关于人为固体废物污染、巢设计和繁殖成功率之间的关系的数据有限。我们通过研究在城市化梯度中繁殖的大山雀 Parus major 和蓝山雀 Cyanistes caeruleus 的繁殖栖息地中环境固体废物污染的存在，以及通过量化（ii）它们巢中的不同人为材料的贡献，来解决这一知识空白。我们进一步通过推断城市空间的三个不同属性来检查固体废物污染的潜在驱动因素：地面上的环境固体废物污染、人类存在和城市化强度（例如不透水表面）在巢箱附近。最后，（iii）我们探讨了人为巢材料与繁殖成功率之间的关系。我们发现，环境固体废物污染与人类存在和城市化强度呈正相关。人类存在的增加与大山雀巢中人为材料的数量之间也存在正相关关系。有趣的是，在这两个物种中，人为巢材料与动物来源的巢材料（皮毛和羽毛）呈负相关。我们认为，皮毛和羽毛——巢设计中的关键隔热材料——在人类存在水平较高的地区可能更为稀缺，因此被人为巢材料所取代。最后，我们报告了人为巢材料与蓝山雀繁殖成功率之间的负相关关系，这表明城市鸟类对固体废物污染的特定物种脆弱性。
