Hall H, Hipfner M, Domalik A, Vanderpas A, Pattison V, Clyde N, Green J, Hobson K A, Williams T D
Department of Biological Sciences, Centre for Wildlife Ecology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive West, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada.
Wildlife Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 5421 Roberston Road, Delta, BC VK4 3N2, Canada.
Conserv Physiol. 2025 Jul 7;13(1):coaf048. doi: 10.1093/conphys/coaf048. eCollection 2025.
Gulls (Laridae) use natural and urban environments and are useful 'biomonitors' of coastal ecosystem health. Here, we assessed physiological health of glaucous-winged gulls (, GWGU) wintering in the Salish Sea, British Columbia, Canada, a biodiverse region undergoing rapid anthropogenic change. We measured six physiological health biomarkers (blood glucose, triglycerides, haemoglobin, haematocrit, reactive oxygen metabolites and total antioxidants). Gulls sampled on the west coast of Vancouver Island had higher blood C and N values likely reflecting more marine diets compared with birds sampled in the Lower Mainland of Vancouver and in associated urban habitats such as landfills but terrestrial isotopic inputs are confounding. We found few differences in any of the six physiological markers in relation to region and habitat, or in overall indices of 'health' and 'nutritional state' using principal components analysis, even though these were characterized by varying levels of urban development and anthropogenic activity. Furthermore, individual variation in physiological traits was independent of individual variation in blood C and N values. This likely reflects the fact that we sampled 'physiologically homeostatic' individuals at all locations and habitats. Our study establishes reference values for six putative 'health' biomarkers, highlighting important covariates that need to be considered (e.g. sex, location) and provides a foundation for long-term physiological monitoring in relation to future anthropogenic impacts in this region.
鸥科（Laridae）鸟类利用自然和城市环境，是沿海生态系统健康状况的有益“生物监测器”。在此，我们评估了在加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省萨利希海越冬的灰翅鸥（Glaucous-winged Gull，GWGU）的生理健康状况，该地区生物多样性丰富，但正经历快速的人为变化。我们测量了六种生理健康生物标志物（血糖、甘油三酯、血红蛋白、血细胞比容、活性氧代谢产物和总抗氧化剂）。与在温哥华低陆平原及相关城市栖息地（如垃圾填埋场）采集的鸟类相比，在温哥华岛西海岸采集的海鸥血液中的碳和氮值更高，这可能反映出其海洋食物摄入更多，但陆地同位素输入存在干扰。尽管不同地区和栖息地的城市发展水平及人为活动程度各异，但通过主成分分析，我们发现这六种生理指标在“健康”和“营养状况”的总体指数方面几乎没有差异。此外，生理特征的个体差异与血液中碳和氮值的个体差异无关。这可能反映出我们在所有地点和栖息地采集的都是“生理稳态”个体这一事实。我们的研究确定了六种假定的“健康”生物标志物的参考值，强调了需要考虑的重要协变量（如性别、地点），并为该地区未来人为影响下的长期生理监测奠定了基础。
