Urban health and ecology: the promise of an avian biomonitoring tool

Abstract

Urban-dwelling birds have the potential to serve as powerful biomonitors that reveal the impact of environmental change due to urbanization. Specifically, urban bird populations can be used to survey cities for factors that may pose both public and wildlife health concerns. Here, we review evidence supporting the use of avian biomonitors to identify threats associated with urbanization, including bioaccumulation of toxicants and the dysregulation of behavior and physiology by related stressors. In addition, we consider the use of birds to examine how factors in the urban environment can impact immunity against communicable pathogens. By studying the behavior, physiology, and ecology of urban bird populations, we can elucidate not only how avian populations are responding to environmental change, but also how unintended consequences of urbanization affect the well-being of human and non-human inhabitants.

Keywords: avian biomonitor; pollutant bioaccumulation; urban ecology; zoonotic disease..

Figure 1

Flowchart representing the use of avian biomonitors to examine the effects of urban factors on health and behavior in humans. Humans and birds in urban habitats are exposed to many of the same potential threats, such as chemical pollution and disease-causing pathogens (arrows A and B), which in turn can have effects on health and behavior (arrows E and F). By measuring toxicant bioaccumulation in urban birds, researchers can use these species as biomonitors for toxicant exposure risk in human populations (dashed line D). Because of their potential status as reservoirs and vectors for zoonotic diseases, monitoring pathogen loads and disease incidence in urban birds can inform our understanding of human disease risk (arrow C). Finally, the use of avian biomonitors may provide insight into the influence of urbanization on wildlife behavior and physiology, as well as provide initiative and direction for parallel investigations in humans (dashed line G).