elevated mortality among birds in chernobyl as judged from skewed age and sex ratios高死亡率鸟类在切尔诺贝利从年龄和性别比例失衡.pdfVIP

Elevated Mortality among Birds in Chernobyl as Judged from Skewed Age and Sex Ratios 1 2 3 2 Anders Pape Møller *, Andrea Bonisoli-Alquati , Geir Rudolfsen , Timothy A. Mousseau ´ ´ ˆ 1 Laboratoire d’Ecologie, Systematique et Evolution, CNRS UMR 8079, Universite Paris-Sud, Batiment 362, Orsay, France, 2 Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, United States of America, 3 Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA), Department of Environmental Radioactivity, The Fram Center, Tromsø, Norway Abstract Background: Radiation has negative effects on survival of animals including humans, although the generality of this claim is poorly documented under low-dose field conditions. Because females may suffer disproportionately from the effects of radiation on survival due to differences in sex roles during reproduction, radiation-induced mortality may result in male- skewed adult sex ratios. Methodology/Principal Finding: We estimated the effects of low-dose radiation on adult survival rates in birds by determining age ratios of adults captured in mist nets during the breeding season in relation to background radiation levels around Chernobyl and in nearby uncontaminated control areas. Age ratios were skewed towards yearlings, especially in the most contaminated areas, implying that adult survival rates were reduced in contaminated areas, and that populations in such areas could only be maintained through immigration from nearby uncontaminated areas. Differential mortality in females resulted in a strongly male-skewed sex ratio in