Data: Living in polluted and urban habitats across Europe is related to altered gut microbiota and nestling performance in a common passerine bird (Parus major)
Description
In our research article ‘Living in polluted and urban habitats across Europe is related to altered gut microbiota and nestling performance in a common passerine bird (Parus major)’ (manuscript submitted in October 2025), we investigated the connections between metal pollution, bird gut microbiota, and life-history traits in six rural-urban setups across Europe. The dataset includes bird breeding data and samples from Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Czechia, Portugal, and Spain. To capture a range of pollution profiles, both city settings and industrial areas (a copper-nickel smelter, a metallurgical plant, a pulp mill, and a lead mine) were examined. Fecal samples from 191 broods were analyzed for bacterial 16S rRNA and concentrations of 18 elements, nine of which (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Ni, Se, and Zn) were used for nestling microbiota and performance analyses. Increased metal levels, indicative of exposure to pollution, were found in most urban and industrial areas, with links to various gut microbiota alterations and nestling growth and fledging. This study highlights how urbanization and pollution may shape wildlife microbiota across locations, with potential consequences for growth and survival. The dataset provided here is the basis for this research article and includes four entities covering the sample metadata (.xlsx), technical verification for the metal analysis (.xlsx), raw bacterial sequence files (.fastq) in a compressed folder (4.25 GB), and an R-compatible phyloseq object combining the sample data and bacterial data for easy analysis (.rds). Importantly, the Data clarification file (.pdf) discloses details of these files.
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Steps to reproduce
Steps to reproduce are disclosed in the original research paper and its supplementary materials.