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Using feral pigeon (Columba livia) to monitor anthropogenic debris in urban areas: a case study in Taiwan's capital city
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Analysis of 46 feral pigeon carcasses from Taipei found 224 pieces of anthropogenic debris, 71.9% fibers, primarily polyethylene (20.5%), demonstrating that urban birds ingest microplastics and can serve as terrestrial bioindicators of plastic pollution.
Abstract The terrestrial environment is a significant source of anthropogenic debris emissions. While most studies on anthropogenic debris focus on the marine environment, our research delves into human activity's effect on anthropogenic debris ingestion by studying the carcasses of feral pigeons. From January to June 2022, we collected the gastrointestinal tracts (GI tracts) of 46 pigeon carcasses in Taipei, Taiwan's capital city. The results reveal that 224 anthropogenic debris are found, with the dominant form being fibers (71.9%), primarily black (29.9%). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) shows that the main component of anthropogenic debris is polyethylene (PE) (20.5%), followed by anthropogenic cellulose (19.2%) and various other plastics. This study finds that the number of anthropogenic debris and chemical composition in the GI tract significantly increases with human activity. This result proves that feral pigeons are valuable indicators for monitoring anthropogenic debris pollution in urban ecosystems. On the other hand, past research focused on analyzing microplastic, but we confirmed that pigeons' GI tract has a high proportion of anthropogenic cellulose. It is crucial that future studies consider the potential impacts of anthropogenic cellulose in terrestrial ecosystems, as this could have significant implications for ecosystem health.
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Using feral pigeon (Columba livia) to monitor anthropogenic debris in urban areas: a case study in Taiwan’s capital city
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers collected gastrointestinal tracts from 46 feral pigeon carcasses in Taipei, Taiwan, and characterized 224 anthropogenic debris items found in them. Polyethylene fibers (20.5%) dominated, followed by anthropogenic cellulose, with 71.9% of debris being fibers and black being the most common color, demonstrating that feral pigeons can be useful bioindicators of terrestrial MP pollution in urban environments.
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Researchers surveyed regurgitated pellets from colonial wetland birds in two Indian cities, finding that over half of pellets in Coimbatore contained rubber bands, rubber balloons, and small plastic debris, demonstrating widespread ingestion of anthropogenic litter by urban birds.
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