Department of Microbiology and Ecology, Terrestrial Vertebrates Ecology, Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, c/ Catedrático José Beltrán, 2, 46980, Paterna, Valencia, Spain.
Department of Microbiology and Ecology, Terrestrial Vertebrates Ecology, Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, c/ Catedrático José Beltrán, 2, 46980, Paterna, Valencia, Spain.
Environ Res. 2024 Aug 15;255:119117. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.119117. Epub 2024 May 9.
Plastic pollution is becoming a global problem due to its ubiquitous occurrence and the impacts detected for many species. However, the research about plastics in nests of terrestrial bird species has remained relatively overlooked in comparison to those devoted to marine ecosystems. Here we study the occurrence and patterns of use of anthropogenic material in nests of two passerine birds, the Eurasian magpie (Pica pica) and the European serin (Serinus serinus), breeding in an orange tree cultivation in Mediterranean Spain. Our results show that both species use extensively plastic debris as nest material; almost 71% of the European serin nests and 96% of nests of Eurasian magpies contained plastic debris. Furthermore, by analyzing the plastic debris availability in the agricultural landscape surveyed we confirmed a selection pattern in the two species. Thus, both species preferably select plastic filaments over other plastic debris. The Eurasian magpie does not select plastic based on size or color but the European serin avoid black plastics prefer smaller fragments in comparison to the average size available. Moreover, we suggest the apparent similarity of plastic filaments with the natural materials typically used by these species, as well as how they use the plastic in their nests could influence their selection behavior. More studies focused on terrestrial birds inhabiting human modified habitats could offer a deeper approach to how plastic debris interacts with wildlife in different ways.
由于塑料污染无处不在，而且对许多物种都产生了影响，因此它正在成为一个全球性问题。然而，与那些致力于海洋生态系统的研究相比，关于陆地鸟类巢穴中塑料的研究仍然相对被忽视。在这里，我们研究了在西班牙地中海地区的一棵桔树种植园中繁殖的两种雀形目鸟类，欧亚喜鹊（Pica pica）和欧洲燕雀（Serinus serinus）的巢穴中人为材料的出现和使用模式。我们的研究结果表明，这两个物种都广泛使用塑料碎片作为巢材；欧洲燕雀的巢穴中几乎有 71%，欧亚喜鹊的巢穴中 96%含有塑料碎片。此外，通过分析在所调查的农业景观中可用的塑料碎片，我们证实了这两个物种的选择模式。因此，这两个物种都更喜欢选择塑料细丝而不是其他塑料碎片。欧亚喜鹊不根据尺寸或颜色选择塑料，而是欧洲燕雀与可用的平均尺寸相比，更喜欢较小的碎片，而不是黑色塑料。此外，我们建议塑料细丝与这些物种通常使用的天然材料之间的明显相似性，以及它们在巢中使用塑料的方式，可能会影响它们的选择行为。更多专注于栖息在人类改造生境中的陆地鸟类的研究，可以更深入地了解塑料碎片如何以不同的方式与野生动物相互作用。
