The Impact of Pb from Ammunition on the Vegetation of a Bird Shooting Range

Eva De La Peña,José Manuel Seoane,Juan Carranza

doi:10.3390/su14053124

Abstract

Hunting with lead ammunition represents a source of heavy metal pollution to the environment that can be potentially high at the local scale. Intensive hunting of small game species can concentrate high levels of ammunition discharging in small areas. This type of hunting is a relevant economic resource for private landowners in some regions of Spain, and current legislation allows the use of lead ammunition in these scenarios. It becomes, therefore, highly relevant to study whether this activity may pose concerns to the conservation of the environment in the areas where it takes place. Using a red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) shooting range as a study area, we examined the effect of intensive hunting on this species on the vegetation present. We found significantly higher lead levels in the sprouts of plants of shooting areas related to control sites of the same property where partridge shooting does not occur. We found differences in the presence of lead between sprouts of different plant species. In addition, old sprouts of existing vegetation in shooting areas also showed higher lead levels than newly emerged sprouts of the same plants. These results demonstrate the impact of lead ammunition on vegetation in terms of persistence over time and differences between species. Further analyses using chemical and ecotoxicological data are necessary to evaluate the extent of environmental pollution risks. Our results provide new support in favor of the use of alternative ammunition, with particular emphasis on scenarios where hunting activity is intensive.

Highlights

Received: 27 January 2022Despite heavy metals, such as lead (Pb), which occur naturally on the earth’s surface numerous previous studies suggest that the extensive release of Pb in nature has been largely the outcome of human activities
The concentration of Pb was higher in individuals from shooting sites than from non-shooting sites. No differences between both sites were detected in Pb concentrations of Q. ilex, C. monspeliensis, P. lentiscus and R. ulmifolius
This study shows the effect of Pb contamination from hunting ammunition on the This study shows the effect of Pb contamination hunting ammunition on the vegetation from the red ledged partridge shooting range.from

Summary

Introduction

Despite heavy metals, such as lead (Pb), which occur naturally on the earth’s surface numerous previous studies suggest that the extensive release of Pb in nature has been largely the outcome of human activities. This includes mining [1–3], industrial waste [4], pollution in past years from lead in gasoline [5,6] and Pb ammunition still used for hunting and civilian/military shooting activities [7–10]. Pb shot degrades into particulate or molecular Pb species [14] at a specific rate that depends on the environmental characteristics of the site (e.g., soil acidity, organic matter content, etc.) Depending on both soil use and characteristics [15] and agricultural practice (e.g., the application of sludge to agricultural land [16]), the persistence of Pb pellets in the soil varies between 30 and 300 years. Pb in the environment accumulates in sediments but may be present as charged or complexed ions in interstitial and estuarine waters

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Conclusion