Elevated mortality among birds in Chernobyl as judged from skewed age and sex ratios.

<h4>Background</h4>Radiation has negative effects on survival of animals including humans, although the generality of this claim is poorly documented under low-dose field conditions. Because females may suffer disproportionately from the effects of radiation on survival due to difference...

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Autores principales:	Anders Pape Møller, Andrea Bonisoli-Alquati, Geir Rudolfsen, Timothy A Mousseau
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/2d3625e68b614f8e948a6097dfad48ee
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:2d3625e68b614f8e948a6097dfad48ee2021-11-18T07:22:32ZElevated mortality among birds in Chernobyl as judged from skewed age and sex ratios.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0035223https://doaj.org/article/2d3625e68b614f8e948a6097dfad48ee2012-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/22514722/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203<h4>Background</h4>Radiation has negative effects on survival of animals including humans, although the generality of this claim is poorly documented under low-dose field conditions. Because females may suffer disproportionately from the effects of radiation on survival due to differences in sex roles during reproduction, radiation-induced mortality may result in male-skewed adult sex ratios.<h4>Methodology/principal finding</h4>We estimated the effects of low-dose radiation on adult survival rates in birds by determining age ratios of adults captured in mist nets during the breeding season in relation to background radiation levels around Chernobyl and in nearby uncontaminated control areas. Age ratios were skewed towards yearlings, especially in the most contaminated areas, implying that adult survival rates were reduced in contaminated areas, and that populations in such areas could only be maintained through immigration from nearby uncontaminated areas. Differential mortality in females resulted in a strongly male-skewed sex ratio in the most contaminated areas. In addition, males sang disproportionately commonly in the most contaminated areas where the sex ratio was male skewed presumably because males had difficulty finding and acquiring mates when females were rare. The results were not caused by permanent emigration by females from the most contaminated areas because none of the recaptured birds had changed breeding site, and the proportion of individuals with morphological abnormalities did not differ significantly between the sexes for areas with normal and higher levels of contamination.<h4>Conclusions/significance</h4>These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the adult survival rate of female birds is particularly susceptible to the effects of low-dose radiation, resulting in male skewed sex ratios at high levels of radiation. Such skewed age ratios towards yearlings in contaminated areas are consistent with the hypothesis that an area exceeding 30,000 km(2) in Chernobyl's surroundings constitutes an ecological trap that causes dramatic excess mortality.Anders Pape MøllerAndrea Bonisoli-AlquatiGeir RudolfsenTimothy A MousseauPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 4, p e35223 (2012)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Anders Pape Møller Andrea Bonisoli-Alquati Geir Rudolfsen Timothy A Mousseau Elevated mortality among birds in Chernobyl as judged from skewed age and sex ratios.
description	<h4>Background</h4>Radiation has negative effects on survival of animals including humans, although the generality of this claim is poorly documented under low-dose field conditions. Because females may suffer disproportionately from the effects of radiation on survival due to differences in sex roles during reproduction, radiation-induced mortality may result in male-skewed adult sex ratios.<h4>Methodology/principal finding</h4>We estimated the effects of low-dose radiation on adult survival rates in birds by determining age ratios of adults captured in mist nets during the breeding season in relation to background radiation levels around Chernobyl and in nearby uncontaminated control areas. Age ratios were skewed towards yearlings, especially in the most contaminated areas, implying that adult survival rates were reduced in contaminated areas, and that populations in such areas could only be maintained through immigration from nearby uncontaminated areas. Differential mortality in females resulted in a strongly male-skewed sex ratio in the most contaminated areas. In addition, males sang disproportionately commonly in the most contaminated areas where the sex ratio was male skewed presumably because males had difficulty finding and acquiring mates when females were rare. The results were not caused by permanent emigration by females from the most contaminated areas because none of the recaptured birds had changed breeding site, and the proportion of individuals with morphological abnormalities did not differ significantly between the sexes for areas with normal and higher levels of contamination.<h4>Conclusions/significance</h4>These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the adult survival rate of female birds is particularly susceptible to the effects of low-dose radiation, resulting in male skewed sex ratios at high levels of radiation. Such skewed age ratios towards yearlings in contaminated areas are consistent with the hypothesis that an area exceeding 30,000 km(2) in Chernobyl's surroundings constitutes an ecological trap that causes dramatic excess mortality.
format	article
author	Anders Pape Møller Andrea Bonisoli-Alquati Geir Rudolfsen Timothy A Mousseau
author_facet	Anders Pape Møller Andrea Bonisoli-Alquati Geir Rudolfsen Timothy A Mousseau
author_sort	Anders Pape Møller
title	Elevated mortality among birds in Chernobyl as judged from skewed age and sex ratios.
title_short	Elevated mortality among birds in Chernobyl as judged from skewed age and sex ratios.
title_full	Elevated mortality among birds in Chernobyl as judged from skewed age and sex ratios.
title_fullStr	Elevated mortality among birds in Chernobyl as judged from skewed age and sex ratios.
title_full_unstemmed	Elevated mortality among birds in Chernobyl as judged from skewed age and sex ratios.
title_sort	elevated mortality among birds in chernobyl as judged from skewed age and sex ratios.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2012
url	https://doaj.org/article/2d3625e68b614f8e948a6097dfad48ee
work_keys_str_mv	AT anderspapemøller elevatedmortalityamongbirdsinchernobylasjudgedfromskewedageandsexratios AT andreabonisolialquati elevatedmortalityamongbirdsinchernobylasjudgedfromskewedageandsexratios AT geirrudolfsen elevatedmortalityamongbirdsinchernobylasjudgedfromskewedageandsexratios AT timothyamousseau elevatedmortalityamongbirdsinchernobylasjudgedfromskewedageandsexratios
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Elevated mortality among birds in Chernobyl as judged from skewed age and sex ratios.

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