Urbanisation-associated shifts in the avian metabolome within the annual cycle
(2024) In Science of the Total Environment 944.- Abstract
While organisms have evolved to cope with predictable changes in the environment, the rapid rate of current global change presents numerous novel and unpredictable stressors to which organisms have had less time to adapt. To persist in the urban environment, organisms must modify their physiology, morphology and behaviour accordingly. Metabolomics offers great potential for characterising organismal responses to natural and anthropogenic stressors at the systems level and can be applied to any species, even without genomic knowledge. Using metabolomic profiling of blood, we investigated how two closely related species of passerine bird respond to the urban environment. Great tits Parus major and blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus residing in... (More)
While organisms have evolved to cope with predictable changes in the environment, the rapid rate of current global change presents numerous novel and unpredictable stressors to which organisms have had less time to adapt. To persist in the urban environment, organisms must modify their physiology, morphology and behaviour accordingly. Metabolomics offers great potential for characterising organismal responses to natural and anthropogenic stressors at the systems level and can be applied to any species, even without genomic knowledge. Using metabolomic profiling of blood, we investigated how two closely related species of passerine bird respond to the urban environment. Great tits Parus major and blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus residing in urban and forest habitats were sampled during the breeding (spring) and non-breeding (winter) seasons across replicated sites in southern Sweden. During breeding, differences in the plasma metabolome between urban and forest birds were characterised by higher levels of amino acids in urban-dwelling tits and higher levels of fatty acyls in forest-dwelling tits. The suggested higher rates of fatty acid oxidation in forest tits could be driven by habitat-associated differences in diet and could explain the higher reproductive investment and success of forest tits. High levels of amino acids in breeding urban tits could reflect the lack of lipid-rich caterpillars in the urban environment and a dietary switch to protein-rich spiders, which could be of benefit for tackling inflammation and oxidative stress associated with pollution. In winter, metabolomic profiles indicated lower overall levels of amino acids and fatty acyls in urban tits, which could reflect relaxed energetic demands in the urban environment. Our metabolomic profiling of two urban-adapted species suggests that their metabolism is modified by urban living, though whether these changes represent adaptative or non-adaptive mechanisms to cope with anthropogenic challenges remains to be determined.
(Less)
- author
- Watson, Hannah
LU
; Nilsson, Jan Åke
LU
; Smith, Einar
LU
; Ottosson, Filip
LU
; Melander, Olle
LU
; Hegemann, Arne LU ; Urhan, Utku LU and Isaksson, Caroline LU
- organization
-
- Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology (research group)
- Evolutionary ecology and infection biology
- Molecular Ecology and Evolution Lab (research group)
- Cardiovascular Research - Hypertension (research group)
- EXODIAB: Excellence of Diabetes Research in Sweden
- EpiHealth: Epidemiology for Health
- MultiPark: Multidisciplinary research focused on Parkinson´s disease
- Aquatic Ecology (research group)
- BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
- LTH Profile Area: Aerosols
- publishing date
- 2024-09
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Anthropogenic change, Birds, Ecological metabolomics, Environmental change, Metabolomics, Urbanisation
- in
- Science of the Total Environment
- volume
- 944
- article number
- 173624
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85196041041
- pmid:38821291
- ISSN
- 0048-9697
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173624
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 7f741baf-652c-4983-95d1-00a962c6f488
- date added to LUP
- 2024-08-23 13:17:14
- date last changed
- 2024-08-27 13:27:43
@article{7f741baf-652c-4983-95d1-00a962c6f488, abstract = {{<p>While organisms have evolved to cope with predictable changes in the environment, the rapid rate of current global change presents numerous novel and unpredictable stressors to which organisms have had less time to adapt. To persist in the urban environment, organisms must modify their physiology, morphology and behaviour accordingly. Metabolomics offers great potential for characterising organismal responses to natural and anthropogenic stressors at the systems level and can be applied to any species, even without genomic knowledge. Using metabolomic profiling of blood, we investigated how two closely related species of passerine bird respond to the urban environment. Great tits Parus major and blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus residing in urban and forest habitats were sampled during the breeding (spring) and non-breeding (winter) seasons across replicated sites in southern Sweden. During breeding, differences in the plasma metabolome between urban and forest birds were characterised by higher levels of amino acids in urban-dwelling tits and higher levels of fatty acyls in forest-dwelling tits. The suggested higher rates of fatty acid oxidation in forest tits could be driven by habitat-associated differences in diet and could explain the higher reproductive investment and success of forest tits. High levels of amino acids in breeding urban tits could reflect the lack of lipid-rich caterpillars in the urban environment and a dietary switch to protein-rich spiders, which could be of benefit for tackling inflammation and oxidative stress associated with pollution. In winter, metabolomic profiles indicated lower overall levels of amino acids and fatty acyls in urban tits, which could reflect relaxed energetic demands in the urban environment. Our metabolomic profiling of two urban-adapted species suggests that their metabolism is modified by urban living, though whether these changes represent adaptative or non-adaptive mechanisms to cope with anthropogenic challenges remains to be determined.</p>}}, author = {{Watson, Hannah and Nilsson, Jan Åke and Smith, Einar and Ottosson, Filip and Melander, Olle and Hegemann, Arne and Urhan, Utku and Isaksson, Caroline}}, issn = {{0048-9697}}, keywords = {{Anthropogenic change; Birds; Ecological metabolomics; Environmental change; Metabolomics; Urbanisation}}, language = {{eng}}, publisher = {{Elsevier}}, series = {{Science of the Total Environment}}, title = {{Urbanisation-associated shifts in the avian metabolome within the annual cycle}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173624}}, doi = {{10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173624}}, volume = {{944}}, year = {{2024}}, }