title: Inside the Redbox: applications of haematology in wildlife monitoring and ecosystem health assessment.
abstract: Blood analyses have great potential in studies of ecology, ecotoxicology and veterinary science in wild vertebrates based on advances in human and domestic animal medicine. The major caveat for field researchers, however, is that the 'rules' for human or domestic animal haematology do not always apply to wildlife. The present overview shows the strengths and limitations of blood analyses in wild vertebrates, and proposes a standardisation of pre-analytical procedures plus some suggestions for a more systematic examination of blood smears to increase the diagnostic value of blood data. By discussing the common problems that field researchers face with blood variables, we also aim to highlight common ground enabling new researchers in the field to accurately collect blood samples and interpret and place their haematological findings into the overall picture of an ecological or eco-toxicological study. Besides showing the practicality and ecological relevance of simple blood variables, this study illustrates the suitability of blood samples for the application of cutting-edge analytical procedures for expanding the current repertoire of diagnostic tools in wildlife monitoring and ecosystem health assessment.
authors: School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK; Institute of Research in Biodiversity (IRBio), Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, ES-08028 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: albertomaceda@gmail.com.
authors: Alberto
authors: A
authors: Maceda-Veiga
authors: Department of Wetland Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana-CSIC, ES-41092 Sevilla, Spain.
authors: Jordi
authors: J
authors: Figuerola
authors: Catalonian Reptile and Amphibian Rescue Centre-CRARC, ES-08783 Masquefa, Spain.
authors: Albert
authors: A
authors: Martínez-Silvestre
authors: Department of Animal Physiology (Biology), Universitat de Barcelona, ES-08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Ginés
authors: G
authors: Viscor
authors: Department of Veterinary Sciences and Public Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, IT-16 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors: Nicola
authors: N
authors: Ferrari
authors: Department of Biology, Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies-CESAM, Universidade de Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
authors: Mário
authors: M
authors: Pacheco
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006405:Hematology
keywords: Animal welfare; Bio-monitoring; Biomarkers; Blood smear; Differential leukocyte count; Plasma biochemistry; Vertebrates; Wildlife diseases