Brown Ludovick, Fuchs Boris, Arnemo Jon M, Kindberg Jonas, Rodushkin Ilia, Zedrosser Andreas, Pelletier Fanie
Département de biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada.
Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Koppang, Norway.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 May 15;873:162099. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162099. Epub 2023 Feb 9.
Lead (Pb) is heterogeneously distributed in the environment and multiple sources like Pb ammunition and fossil fuel combustion can increase the risk of exposure in wildlife. Brown bears (Ursus arctos) in Sweden have higher blood Pb levels compared to bears from other populations, but the sources and routes of exposure are unknown. The objective of this study was to quantify the contribution of two potential sources of Pb exposure in female brown bears (n = 34 individuals; n = 61 samples). We used multiple linear regressions to determine the contribution of both environmental Pb levels estimated from plant roots and moose (Alces alces) kills to blood Pb concentrations in female brown bears. We found positive relationships between blood Pb concentrations in bears and both the distribution of moose kills by hunters and environmental Pb levels around capture locations. Our results suggest that the consumption of slaughter remains discarded by moose hunters is a likely significant pathway of Pb exposure and this exposure is additive to environmental Pb exposure in female brown bears in Sweden. We suggest that spatially explicit models, incorporating habitat selection analyses of harvest data, may prove useful in predicting Pb exposure in scavengers.
铅（Pb）在环境中分布不均，铅弹和化石燃料燃烧等多种来源会增加野生动物接触铅的风险。与其他种群的熊相比，瑞典棕熊（棕熊）的血液铅含量更高，但接触的来源和途径尚不清楚。本研究的目的是量化雌性棕熊（n = 34只个体；n = 61个样本）中两个潜在铅暴露源的贡献。我们使用多元线性回归来确定从植物根系和驼鹿（驼鹿）捕杀量估算的环境铅水平对雌性棕熊血液铅浓度的贡献。我们发现熊的血液铅浓度与猎人捕杀驼鹿的分布以及捕获地点周围的环境铅水平之间存在正相关关系。我们的结果表明，食用驼鹿猎人丢弃的屠宰残骸可能是铅暴露的一个重要途径，并且这种暴露与瑞典雌性棕熊的环境铅暴露具有叠加性。我们建议，结合收获数据的栖息地选择分析的空间明确模型，可能有助于预测食腐动物的铅暴露情况。
