title: Mapping the spatio-temporal risk of lead exposure in apex species for more effective mitigation.
abstract: Effective mitigation of the risks posed by environmental contaminants for ecosystem integrity and human health requires knowing their sources and spatio-temporal distribution. We analysed the exposure to lead (Pb) in griffon vulture Gyps fulvus-an apex species valuable as biomonitoring sentinel. We determined vultures' lead exposure and its main sources by combining isotope signatures and modelling analyses of 691 bird blood samples collected over 5 years. We made yearlong spatially explicit predictions of the species risk of lead exposure. Our results highlight elevated lead exposure of griffon vultures (i.e. 44.9% of the studied population, approximately 15% of the European, showed lead blood levels more than 200 ng ml(-1)) partly owing to environmental lead (e.g. geological sources). These exposures to environmental lead of geological sources increased in those vultures exposed to point sources (e.g. lead-based ammunition). These spatial models and pollutant risk maps are powerful tools that identify areas of wildlife exposure to potentially harmful sources of lead that could affect ecosystem and human health.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo 12, 13005, Ciudad Real, Spain Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Calc¸ada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal rktespejos@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mateo-Tomás
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo 12, 13005, Ciudad Real, Spain Departamento de Ecología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Pedro P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Olea
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry and Food Technology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Biochemistry, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Avenida Carlos III s/n, 45071 Toledo, Spain.
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jiménez-Moreno
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo 12, 13005, Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Pablo R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Camarero
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo 12, 13005, Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Inés S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Barbudo
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry and Food Technology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Biochemistry, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Avenida Carlos III s/n, 45071 Toledo, Spain.
authors.forename: Rosa C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Rodríguez Martín-Doimeadios
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo 12, 13005, Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mateo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood*; D046093:Falconiformes / Q000097:blood*; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D062211:Spatio-Temporal Analysis
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D007854:Lead
keywords: Gyps fulvus; big game hunting; ecotoxicology; isotope analyses; species distribution models