Do spotless starlings place feathers at their nests by ultraviolet color?

A considerable number of bird species carry feathers to their nests. Feathers’ presence in the nests has traditionally been explained by their insulating properties. Recently, however, it has been suggested that feathers carried to the nests by females of the spotted starling (Sturnus unicolor L.) could have an ornamental function based on their ultraviolet (300–400 nm) and human-visible longer wavelength (400–700 nm) coloration. In our population, 95.7% of feathers found inside next-boxes occupied by nesting starlings were rock dove fly feathers. Of these feathers, 82.7% were naturally positioned with their reverse side oriented toward the entrance hole and 42.4% of all found feathers were situated within the nest-cup. Here we experimentally assess the signaling function of ultraviolet coloration of feathers in nests of spotless starlings by providing nests with a number of pigeon flight feathers that were respectively treated on their obverse, reverse, both, or neither side with a UV blocker. Starlings placed 42.5% of the experimental feathers in the nest-cup irrespective of the UV block treatment. Orientation of feathers toward the entrance hole was not related with their ultraviolet radiation. However, feathers placed within the nest-cup were more likely found with their reverse side oriented toward the entrance hole confirming our correlative findings. These results suggest a minor role of ultraviolet coloration on feather location by spotless starlings.     

Removal of emerging pollutant dibutylhydroxytoluene from water with CNT/TiO2 catalysts in a visible LED photoreactor

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - For the photocatalytic degradation of antioxidant 2,6-di-tert-butyl-hydroxytoluene (BHT), several TiO2-based composites have been prepared in MWCNT...     

The effect of humic acid in chronic deoxynivalenol intoxication

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The most common mycotoxin found in European foodstuffs, especially unprocessed grains, is deoxynivalenol (DON), which inhibits proteosynthesis and...     

The use of Odonata species for environmental assessment: a meta-analysis for the Neotropical region

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The order Odonata has been regularly used as an indicator of the ecosystem’s condition. The objective of this review was to analyze the...     

Appraisal of water matrix on the removal of fungicide residues by heterogeneous photocatalytic treatment using UV-LED lamp as light source

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this study, the photocatalytic degradation of four fungicides, myclobutanil, penconazole and difenoconazole (triazole compounds) and boscalid...     

Enhanced activated persulfate oxidation of ciprofloxacin using a low-grade titanium ore under sunlight: influence of the irradiation source on its transformation products

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this work, the activated persulfate oxidation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) using a low-grade titanium ore under sunlight or simulated sunlight were...     

Biomass yield and carbon abatement potential of banana crops (Musa spp.) in Ecuador

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Banana is one of the most important agricultural products of Ecuador. It relies on intensive monoculture cropping systems with a large volume of...     

Can we take the pulse of environmental governance the way we take the pulse of nature? Applying the Freshwater Health Index in Latin America

Quantitative assessments have long been used to evaluate the condition of the natural environment, providing information for standard setting, adaptive management, and monitoring. Similar approaches have been developed to measure environmental governance, however, the end result (e.g., numeric indicators) belies the subjective and normative judgments that are involved in evaluating governance. We demonstrate a framework that makes this information transparent, through an application of the Freshwater Health Index in three different river basins in Latin America. Water Governance is measured on a 0–100 scale, using data derived from perception-based surveys administered to stakeholders. Results suggest that water governance is a primary area of concern in all three places, with low overall scores (Guandu-26, Alto Mayo-38, Bogotá-43). We conclude that this approach to measuring governance at the river basin scale provides valuable information to support monitoring and decision making, and we offer suggestions on how it can be improved.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01407-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Effect on plant growth parameters and secondary metabolite content of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), coriander (Coriandrum sativum), and chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) watered with disinfected water by Ag-TiO2 nanoparticles

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Nowadays, the use of different nanoscale structures has been introduced to a large number of research areas. One of these is the treatment and...