TY - JOUR
T1 - Influence of Species-Specific Feeding Ecology on Mercury Concentrations in Seabirds Breeding on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand
AU - Thébault, Justine
AU - Bustamante, Paco
AU - Massaro, Melanie
AU - Taylor, Graeme
AU - Quillfeldt, Petra
N1 - Funding Information:
The present study was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in the framework of the priority programme ?Antarctic Research with Comparative Investigations in Arctic Ice Areas? (SPP 1158; QU 148/18-1 and QU 148/16). Sampling of Chatham Island seabirds was conducted with the approval of the Animal Ethics Committee at Charles Sturt University (15/092) and the Department of Conservation, Biodiversity Group. The Chatham Islands Area Office of the Department of Conservation provided valuable logistical help and we especially thank D. Houston. H. Mihailou and D. Paris for their assistance with data collection in the field. We are grateful to M. Brault-Favrou and C. Churlaud from the Plateforme Analyses El?mentaires of the LIENSs laboratory for their help during mercury and bulk stable isotope analyses; G. Guillou from the Plateforme Analyses Isotopiques of the LIENSs laboratory for running the bulk stable isotope analyses; and C. Yarnes for conducting the compound-specific isotopic analyses of amino acids at the University of California?Davis. The Institut Universitaire de France is acknowledged for its support to P. Bustamante as a senior member. We are grateful to the Contrat de Projet Etat-R?gion and the Fonds Europ?en de D?veloppement R?gional for funding the Advanded Mercury Analyzer and the isotope-ratio mass spectrometers of LIENSs laboratory. Open access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - Mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal that accumulates in organisms and biomagnifies along food webs; hence, long-lived predators such as seabirds are at risk as a result of high Hg bioaccumulation. Seabirds have been widely used to monitor the contamination of marine ecosystems. In the present study, we investigated Hg concentrations in blood, muscle, and feathers of 7 procellariform seabirds breeding on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. Using bulk and compound-specific stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen as a proxy of trophic position and distribution, we also tested whether Hg contamination is related to the species-specific feeding ecology. Mercury exposure varied widely within the seabird community. The highest contaminated species, the Magenta petrel, had approximately 29 times more Hg in its blood than the broad-billed prion, and approximately 35 times more Hg in its feathers than the grey-backed storm petrel. Variations of Hg concentrations in blood and feathers were significantly and positively linked to feeding habitats and trophic position, highlighting the occurrence of efficient Hg biomagnification processes along the food web. Species and feeding habitats were the 2 main drivers of Hg exposure within the seabird community. The Pterodroma species had high blood and feather Hg concentrations, which can be caused by their specific physiology and/or because of their foraging behavior during the interbreeding period (i.e., from the Tasman Sea to the Humboldt Current system). These 2 threatened species are at risk of suffering detrimental effects from Hg contamination and further studies are required to investigate potential negative impacts, especially on their reproduction capability. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:454–472.
AB - Mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal that accumulates in organisms and biomagnifies along food webs; hence, long-lived predators such as seabirds are at risk as a result of high Hg bioaccumulation. Seabirds have been widely used to monitor the contamination of marine ecosystems. In the present study, we investigated Hg concentrations in blood, muscle, and feathers of 7 procellariform seabirds breeding on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. Using bulk and compound-specific stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen as a proxy of trophic position and distribution, we also tested whether Hg contamination is related to the species-specific feeding ecology. Mercury exposure varied widely within the seabird community. The highest contaminated species, the Magenta petrel, had approximately 29 times more Hg in its blood than the broad-billed prion, and approximately 35 times more Hg in its feathers than the grey-backed storm petrel. Variations of Hg concentrations in blood and feathers were significantly and positively linked to feeding habitats and trophic position, highlighting the occurrence of efficient Hg biomagnification processes along the food web. Species and feeding habitats were the 2 main drivers of Hg exposure within the seabird community. The Pterodroma species had high blood and feather Hg concentrations, which can be caused by their specific physiology and/or because of their foraging behavior during the interbreeding period (i.e., from the Tasman Sea to the Humboldt Current system). These 2 threatened species are at risk of suffering detrimental effects from Hg contamination and further studies are required to investigate potential negative impacts, especially on their reproduction capability. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:454–472.
KW - Bioaccumulation
KW - Bulk stable isotopes
KW - Compound-specific isotopic analyses of amino acids
KW - Food web
KW - Heavy metal
KW - Pterodroma
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U2 - 10.1002/etc.4933
DO - 10.1002/etc.4933
M3 - Article
C2 - 33201544
AN - SCOPUS:85099551644
VL - 40
SP - 454
EP - 472
JO - Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
JF - Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
SN - 0730-7268
IS - 2
ER -