Abstract：
Urban sprawl threatens biodiversity and is responsible for significant changes in the species that live in these environments. Given the high cost of comprehensive surveillance, monitoring disease indirectly, such as detecting skin lesions in birds, may help us better understand the prevalence of diseases affecting wild populations. We assessed the frequency of leg skin lesions, as a proxy of disease presence, in 1,565 individuals of 25 species, along the urban matrix of a large Neotropical city, Brasília, Federal District, Brazil. We tested the hypothesis that there is an increase in the frequency of skin lesions in birds due to urban intensification. We observed an increasing trend in some bird species between the frequency of occurrence of lesions and the intensity of urbanization. Species with a higher number of captures had an increase in the percentage of lesions, indicating that the occurrence of lesions may be linked to higher population density or that detection of the effect occurs only when sample sizes are high and controlled among urbanization categories. Our study highlights how the intensity of urbanization may increase the risk of disease transmission for these species. Unfortunately, studies on this topic are scarce in Neotropical regions, despite the region\'s high biodiversity and urban expansion.
摘要：
城市扩张威胁着生物多样性，并导致生活在这些环境中的物种发生重大变化。鉴于全面监测的成本很高，间接监测疾病，例如检测鸟类的皮肤损伤，可以帮助我们更好地了解影响野生种群的疾病的患病率。我们评估了腿部皮肤损伤的频率，作为疾病存在的代表，在25个物种的1,565个个体中，沿着一个大型新热带城市的城市矩阵，巴西利亚,联邦区,巴西。我们检验了以下假设：由于城市加剧，鸟类的皮肤病变频率增加。我们观察到某些鸟类在病变发生频率和城市化强度之间呈增加趋势。捕获数量较多的物种的病变百分比增加，这表明病变的发生可能与更高的人口密度有关，或者只有当样本量较高且在城市化类别中受到控制时才会检测到这种影响。我们的研究强调了城市化的强度如何增加这些物种的疾病传播风险。不幸的是,在新热带地区，关于这一主题的研究很少，尽管该地区的高度生物多样性和城市扩张。
