Lead exposure of mainland Australia's top avian predator

Jordan O. Hampton; Michael T. Lohr; Aaron J. Specht; Damien Nzabanita; Jasmin Hufschmid; Lee Berger; Kate McGinnis; Jane Melville; Emma Bennett; James M. Pay

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122004

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Lead exposure of mainland Australia's top avian predator

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Lead exposure of mainland Australia's top avian predator

Jordan O. Hampton, Michael T. Lohr, Aaron J. Specht, Damien Nzabanita, Jasmin Hufschmid, Lee Berger, Kate McGinnis, Jane Melville, Emma Bennett and James M. Pay

Environmental pollution (1987), Vol.332, 122004

2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122004

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Abstract

Ammunition

Australia

Avian

Biomonitoring

Environmental monitoring

Lead

Raptors

Scavengers

Lead (Pb) toxicity, through ingestion of lead ammunition in carcasses, is a threat to scavenging birds worldwide, but has received little attention in Australia. We analyzed lead exposure in the wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax), the largest raptor species found in mainland Australia and a facultative scavenger. Eagle carcasses were collected opportunistically throughout south-eastern mainland Australia between 1996 and 2022. Lead concentrations were measured in bone samples from 62 animals via portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF). Lead was detected (concentration >1 ppm) in 84% (n = 52) of the bone samples. The mean lead concentration of birds in which lead was detected was 9.10 ppm (±SE 1.66). Bone lead concentrations were elevated (10–20 ppm) in 12.9% of samples, and severe (>20 ppm) in 4.8% of samples. These proportions are moderately higher than equivalent data for the same species from the island of Tasmania, and are comparable to data from threatened eagle species from other continents. Lead exposure at these levels is likely to have negative impacts on wedge-tailed eagles at the level of the individual and perhaps at a population level. Our results suggest that studies of lead exposure in other Australian avian scavenger species are warranted.

Details

Title: Lead exposure of mainland Australia's top avian predator
Authors/Creators: Jordan O. Hampton - The University of Melbourne
Michael T. Lohr - Edith Cowan University
Aaron J. Specht - Purdue University West Lafayette
Damien Nzabanita - RMIT University
Jasmin Hufschmid - The University of Melbourne
Lee Berger - The University of Melbourne
Kate McGinnis - The University of Melbourne
Jane Melville - Monash University
Emma Bennett - Monash University
James M. Pay - University of Tasmania
Publication Details: Environmental pollution (1987), Vol.332, 122004
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
Identifiers: 991005586607307891
Murdoch Affiliation: Centre for Terrestrial Ecosystem Science and Sustainability
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Citation topics: 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology; 3.91 Contamination & Phytoremediation; 3.91.644 Mercury Dynamics
Web Of Science research areas: Environmental Sciences
ESI research areas: Environment/Ecology