Tolerance to Sodium Fluoroacetate in Some Australian Birds

摘要

Increases in plasma citrate concentration in response to dosing with sodium fluoroacetate were shownnto reflect the sensitivity to fluoroacetate intoxication of birds with similar metabolic rates and phylogeneticnaffinities. Platycercus icterotis and Purpureicephalus spurius are indigenous to the south-westnof Western Australia where fluoroacetate-bearing vegetation is abundant and they were more tolerantnto fluoroacetate than Barnardius zonarius, Polytelis anthopeplus and Cacatua roseicapilla whosendistributions include areas outside the range of the toxic plants. Streptopelia senegalensis and thenBarbary dove (Streptopelia sp.) have had little or no exposure to naturally occurring fluoroacetatenand were much more sensitive to fluoroacetate poisoning than were Phaps chalcoptera and Ocyphapsnlophotes, regardless to the extent of exposure of the latter species to the toxic plants. Phaps chalcoptera,n0. lophotes, Anus superciliosa and Chenonetta jubata in eastern Australia are not exposed to fluoroacetate-nbearing vegetation, but had tolerances similar to that of their conspecifics in the south-westnof Western Australia. The level of tolerance to fluoroacetate appears dependent upon the length ofnevolutionary exposure to the toxic plants, and the degree of mobility in each species.