Birds/bird species case studies

The principal insects that attack wool are the common clothes moth (7)i-neola bisselliella), the case-bearing clothes moths Tinea metonella, T. dubiella, T translucens, and T. pellionella), the brown house moth Hofmannophila pseu-dospretella), the variegated carpet beetle Anthrenus verbasci), the black carpet beetle (Attagenus piceus), and a few others. The taxonomy of the Tineid species has been comprehensively reviewed (143). These insects have difierent temperature sensitivities and tend to be found in different climates. Studies in Australia have shown that the native Tineids are rarely involved in domestic infestations. The introduced species, such as T. translucens, are the major textile pests and these are often associated with the nests of introduced urban bird species such as sparrows and swallows (144), while T. bisselliella is widely distributed and is common in domestic infestations. 

Gomez de Silva, H. and MedeUin, R. A. (2001). Evaluating completeness of species lists for conservation and macroecology a case study of Mexican land birds. Conservation Biology, 15 1384-1395. 

The effects of EDCs were first discovered in wildlife in the 1970s. It was found that extremely low concentration levels of these can have powerful deleterious effects on the reproduction of wildlife. Human effects were not studied until much later because most EDCs are neither mutagenic nor acutely toxic at the ambient concentrations found to have endocrine disruption effects on wildlife. It was also believed that effects on birds and turtles were not necessarily indicators of human toxicity. This, however, turned out to be exactly the case. Though toxic effects of chemicals are not always similar for different species of animals, they are just that for endocrine disruptors. The effects of EDCs on birds and amphibians are exactly analogous to those on humans. 

Several data sources for a refinement of risk assessments for birds and mammals can be used (1) information from other parts of the data package, for example, from the residue section of the dossier, (2) data from scientific literature or official research projects [e.g., CSL (DEFRA-UK) projects on wildlife in agricultural landscape], (3) results from (generic) field studies, which can obtain very focused data sets for refinements (to refine focal species (FIR/bw), PT, PD or RUD (e.g., arthropods)). In all cases, it is necessary to quantify parameters so that they can be used in the ETE-calculation. 

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