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Abstract
The release of coal combustion residuals and nuclear fission products creates contaminated landscapes where resident wildlife are exposed to excess metals, metalloids, and radionuclides. The threat that these contaminants pose to wildlife can be difficult to characterize given their diverse physiological and environmental fates and varying toxicities. We use a multiscale approach to address variation in contaminant uptake and sublethal effects among the passerine bird community inhabiting coal combustion and nuclear fission legacy waste areas on the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. We 1) investigated how contaminant uptake varies with habit use strategies among the passerine community, 2) examined the effects of contamination on the dynamics of passerine hosts, dipteran vectors, and haemosporidian parasites, and 3) used acoustic indices to evaluate shifts in dawn and dusk chorus activity across contaminated landscapes. The transfer of waste-derived contaminants to passerines varied with species traits and is associated with nuanced disruptions to their ecological roles. Our findings provide insight into the behavior of waste-derived contaminants in the environment, their impacts on sensitive wildlife, and their cascading effects on ecosystems.