Non-linear uptake and hormesis effects of selenium in red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Effects of selenium on reproductive success were assessed in red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus). Mean egg selenium (MES) ranged from 2.96 to 21.7 mg/kg dry weight with individual eggs up to 40 mg/kg. Uptake was non-linear: increments in MES declined as aqueous selenium increased; the asymptote was approximately 23 mg/kg. Eggs were heavier and more were laid in 2004 compared to 2005, a year of record rainfall and below-normal temperatures. Mortality of embryos that were incubated to full term was low (2.6% in 2004 and 3.2% in 2005), as was the prevalence of embryonic defects (2.7% in 2004 and 5.1% in 2005). Abnormalities in nestlings were also rare. Egg mortality was caused by predation, weather, and parental abandonment. Nestlings died from predation, starvation, and hypothermia associated with rain and cold, drowning, and bacterial infections. Nestling liver concentrations reached 81 mg/kg dry wt. selenium and were highest at the most highly selenium-exposed sites. Blood glutathione peroxidase (a selenium-dependent enzyme indicative of selenium exposure) was unrelated to liver selenium concentrations, egg selenium, or ambient selenium exposure. The selenium concentration in prey that parents fed to nestlings was higher at the selenium-exposed sites (up to 37 mg/kg dry wt. Se) compared to reference sites. Aqueous selenate:selenite ratios were related to redox differences and were much higher at the site with the highest MES, liver selenium, and prey item selenium concentrations. Hatchability showed U-shaped, or hormesis, relationships with MES: productivity increased with selenium concentrations at low exposures and decreased at high exposures. The effects threshold was approximately 22 mg/kg dry wt. MES.