Data from: Effects of short-term multi-pollutant exposure on the oxidative stress status of captive songbirds

The human influence on Earth's ecosystems is omnipresent. Artificial
light at night (ALAN), anthropogenic noise and air pollution, are inherent
features of human activities and infrastructure and pose novel
environmental challenges to urban-dwelling wildlife. So far, most of the
studies investigating the impacts of exposure to urban pollutants on
animals have either investigated the effects of urban environments per se,
or of single pollutants. However, urban pollutants co-occur, and
interactive effects may arise when acting in combination, but we lack a
deeper understanding of the effects of combined exposures. Here, we
experimentally exposed captive zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata in a
full-factorial design to increased levels of ALAN, anthropogenic noise
and/or soot and measured oxidative stress status in blood before and after
a five-day exposure. We found that the combined exposure to ALAN and noise
led to a positive synergistic effect (higher levels than the sum of
individual effects) on the antioxidant glutathione (tGSH) and negative
synergistic effect (lower levels than the sum of individual effects) on
the levels of oxidative damage, measured as concentration of reactive
oxygen metabolites (ROM). Soot had no effect on the avian oxidative stress
status in the blood immediately after the exposure, neither singly nor in
combination with other pollutants. To conclude, our results indicate that
a combination of stressors can have complex non-additive interactive
effects on oxidative stress status after a short-term exposure.
Surprisingly, a combined exposure to ALAN and anthropogenic noise leads to
a stronger antioxidant response that seem to prevent oxidative damage than
exposure to only one of the stressors. Whether the increased antioxidant
defense entails any long-term costs remains to be determined in future
studies.