Search results for "MESH: Passeriformes"
showing 2 items of 2 documents
Lead concentrations in feathers and blood of common blackbirds (Turdus merula) and in earthworms inhabiting unpolluted and moderately polluted urban …
2006
9 pages; International audience; Despite the dramatic decrease of atmospheric lead (Pb) concentrations in urban areas of most industrialised countries, we hypothesised that urban common blackbirds (Turdus merula) may still be contaminated by Pb concentrations of toxicological concern due to transfer from soil through the food chain. We sampled blackbirds and earthworms, one of their main preys, in Besan?, a middle-size city of Eastern France (where atmospheric Pb concentrations decreased from 0.5 microg/m(3) in 1987 to nearly 0 in 2002) and in a rural reference site. Lead concentrations were determined in the tissues of the different functional groups of earthworms (anecic, epigeous and end…
Sensitive measure of prevalence and parasitaemia of haemosporidia from European blackbird (Turdus merula) populations: value of PCR-RFLP and quantita…
2006
8 pages; International audience; Haemosporidian parasites are common in birds in which they act as an important selective pressure. While most studies so far have focused on the effect of their prevalence on host life-history traits, no study has measured the effect of parasitaemia. We developed molecular methods to detect, identify and quantify haemosporidia in 2 natural populations of the Blackbird Turdus merula. Three different parasite genotypes were found - 1 Haemoproteus and 2 Plasmodium. A PCR-RFLP screening revealed that only approximately 3% of blackbirds were free of parasites, compared to the 34% of uninfected birds estimated by blood smear screening. A quantitative PCR (q-PCR) a…