Alligator Tales: New Lessons about Environmental Contaminants from a Sentinel Species

Wildlife species have been recognized as sentinels of environmental health for decades. In fact, ecological data on various wildlife populations provided the impetus for banning some organochlorine pesticides over the last few decades. Alligators are important sentinels of ecosystem health in the we...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bioscience 2008-12, Vol.58 (11), p.1027-1036
Main Authors: Milnes, Matthew R., Guillette, Louis J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alligator
Alligators
animal reproduction
Animals
Aquatic animals
Aquatic ecosystems
Aquatic reptiles
Chemicals
Contaminants
ecosystems
ecotoxicology
Eggs
Endocrine disruptors
Endocrine system
endocrine-disrupting chemicals
Endocrinology
Environmental aspects
environmental contaminants
Environmental health
Enzymes
Gene expression
gonads
Human populations
indicator species
Interdisciplinary Approach
Laboratory Experiments
literature reviews
Organic compounds
Organochlorine pesticides
Overview s
Pesticides
Physiological aspects
Pollution
Population density
Proteins
Receptors
reproductive endocrinology
Reproductive success
Reproductive system
sentinel animals
steroidogenesis
Success
Testosterone
Toxicology
water pollution
wetlands
Wildlife
Wildlife conservation
Xenobiotics
Young animals
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Description
Summary:Wildlife species have been recognized as sentinels of environmental health for decades. In fact, ecological data on various wildlife populations provided the impetus for banning some organochlorine pesticides over the last few decades. Alligators are important sentinels of ecosystem health in the wetlands of the southeastern United States. Over the last 15 years, a series of studies have demonstrated that environmental exposure to a complex mixture of contaminants from agricultural and municipal activities alters the development and functioning of alligators' reproductive and endocrine systems. Further studies of basic developmental and reproductive endocrinology in alligators and exposure studies performed under controlled laboratory conditions support the role of contaminants as causal agents of abnormalities in gonadal steroidogenesis and in reproductive tract development. These studies offer potential insight into environmentally induced defects reported in other wildlife and human populations exposed to a wide array of endocrine-disruptive contaminants.
ISSN:0006-3568
1525-3244
DOI:10.1641/B581106