Potential Use of Distinct Biomarkers (Trace Metals, Micronuclei and Nuclear Abnormalities) in a Heterogeneous Sample of Birds in Southern Brazil.

Abstract The analysis of metal concentrations in feathers and the micronuclei (MN) and other nuclear abnormalities (NA) test in birds are tools used for evaluating the impacts that anthropogenic actions have been causing to the environment and organisms. Here we used these biomarkers to investigate the response of birds to disturbances observed in three areas with different environmental characteristics (natural, agricultural and urban) in southern Brazil. We obtained a diverse sample (108 individuals from 25 species and 17 families) without significant differences in metal concentrations, frequency of MN and AN between sampling points. The concentrations of zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) were significantly different between trophic guilds (Zn: p = 0.0006, Cu: p = 0.04) and age classes (Zn: p = 0.01, Cu: p = 0.03). Omnivore birds contributed to the increase in the number of MN (∆AICc: 0.00; w = 0.40) and NA, which was also influenced by age classes and body condition index (BCI) (∆AICc: 0.00; w = 0.34; ∆AICc: 0.89; w = 0.22; ∆AICc: 1.15; w = 0.19; ∆AICc: 1.33; w = 0.18). We showed that in a diverse sample of birds, the variables analyzed affected each biomarker in distinct ways.