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MARINFORSKHAV-Marine ressurser og miljø - havmiljø

Pollution in the coastal wetlands of East Asia: Cascading effects from littoral macroinvertebrates to migrating shorebirds

Alternative title: Forurensning i kystnære våtmarker i Øst-Asia: Kaskadeeffekter fra virvelløse dyr til migrerende vadefugler

Awarded: NOK 10.0 mill.

Globally, coastal ecosystems are undergoing rapid changes with respect to habitat degradation and pollution, which is especially true along the East Asian coastline due to rapid industrial and urban development. This has led to effects on coastal wetlands in terms of biodiversity and also on the quality of the stopover sites for migrating birds, such as shorebirds. Shorebird populations are declining at an alarming rate along the East Asian Australasian flyway, the reasons for which are mostly unknown. Besides habitat degradation, pollution is suspected to play a role in these declines. One way that pollutants might decrease survival during migration may be through effects on the immune system that can affect the susceptibility to infectious diseases. Pollution has indeed been related to the outbreaks and increase in infectious disease as early as the 1960s in both animals, including birds, and humans. In this project, we study the impact of pollution in combination with food availability and infectious disease (i.e. avian influensa) on migrating shorebirds, with a specific focus on pollution picked up in Chinese coastal wetlands used as stop-over sites during migration. We have analysed benthic and sediment samples collected along the Chinese coast for both legacy and emerging organic pollutants and identified Bohai bay as a hot spot for pollutant exposure to the shorebirds during migration. We have also analysed polltutants in shorebirds from Australia and along the Chinese coast. We have found that there are more PFASs in shorebirds than can be found by targeted analysis, especially high concentrations of PFAS precursors were found in the liver after TOPA (total oxidisable precursor assay) analysis. We have also identified some potential biomarkers for effects in shorebirds and ducks (oxidative stress and specific micro RNAs), which will be validated in a cell exposure study (in vitro) in the spring. We have one article published, two in revision and several articles under preparation and we have presented our work at international conferences and in MSc student courses. This project is the first to study the combined impact of pollution and infectious disease on the decline of migratory shorebirds. As there is currently no information on this, the results of the project are expected to bring scientific renewal and to help inform conservation and risk management measures for important stop-over ecosystems. The project will provide new generic knowledge about the effects of pollution on migratory birds, and the results will thus also provide important knowledge to Norwegian authorities for sustainable management of bird populations that have migratory routes along the Norwegian coast.

Globally, coastal ecosystems are undergoing rapid changes with respect to habitat degradation and pollution, which is especially true along the East Asian coastline due to rapid industrial and urban development. This has led to effects on coastal wetlands in terms of biodiversity and also on the quality of the stopover sites for migrating birds, such as shorebirds. Shorebird populations are declining at an alarming rate along the East Asian Australasian flyway (EAAF), the reasons for which are currently unknown. The role of pollution in these declines, which is unknown, is suspected to play a role. One way that pollutants might decrease survival during migration may be via immunomodulative properties that can affect the susceptibility to disease. Pollution has indeed been related to the outbreaks of disease and increase in disease as early as the 1960s in animals, including birds, and humans. In this study, we aim to study the impact of pollution in coastal wetlands along the EEAF on the health and survival of shorebirds, in addition to potential effects on immunomodulation in shorebirds and other waterbirds. The potential combined impact of pollution and resultant disease on the fitness and decline of shorebirds has been neglected until now. The proposed project will pioneer investigations into the combined impact of pollution and disease on the decline of migratory shorebirds along the EAAF, with a specific focus on pollution picked up along the Chinese coastline during migration. As there is no information on the impact of pollution (in combination with other stressors e.g. lack of food, disease and high energetic demands during migration) on migratory shorebirds along the EAAF, nor in other flyways (e.g. the East-Atlantic Flyway), the results of the project will bring scientific renewal and will inform conservation and risk management measures for important stop-over ecosystems.

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MARINFORSKHAV-Marine ressurser og miljø - havmiljø