Seasonal variation of mercury contamination in Arctic seabirds: a pan- arctic assessment

• Published in: Science of The Total Environment
• Main Authors: Albert, Céline, Helgason, Hálfdán Helgi, Brault-Favrou, Maud, Robertson, Gregory, J, Descamps, Sébastien, Amélineau, Françoise, Danielsen, Jóhannis, Dietz, Rune, Elliott, Kyle, Erikstad, Kjell Einar, Eulaers, Igor, Ezhov, Alexey, Fitzsimmons, Michelle, G, Gavrilo, Maria, Golubova, Elena, Grémillet, David, Hatch, Scott, Huffeldt, Nicholas, P, Jakubas, Dariusz, Kitaysky, Alexander, Systad, Geir Helge, Thórarinsson, Thorkell Lindberg, Helgason, Hálfdán, Helgi, Erikstad, Kjell, Einar, Kolbeinsson, Yann, Krasnov, Yuri, Lorentsen, Svein-Håkon, Lorentzen, Erlend, Mallory, Mark, L, Merkel, Benjamin, Merkel, Flemming, Ravn, Montevecchi, William, Mosbech, Anders, Olsen, Bergur, Orben, Rachael, A, Patterson, Allison, Provencher, Jennifer, Merkel, Flemming Ravn, Reiertsen, Tone Kristin, Plumejeaud, Christine, Pratte, Isabeau, Reiertsen, Kristin, Renner, Heather, Rojek, Nora, Romano, Marc, Strøm, Hallvard, Systad, Helge, Takahashi, Akinori, Thiebot, Jean-Baptiste, Lindberg Thórarinsson, Thorkell, Will, Alexis, P, Wojczulanis-Jakubas, Katarzyna, Bustamante, Paco, Fort, Jérôme
• Other Authors: LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut Agro - Montpellier SupAgro, Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Institut universitaire de France (IUF), Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche (M.E.N.E.S.R.), ANR-16-TERC-0004,MAMBA,Contamination par le mercure des écosystèmes arctiques : sources, niveaux et impacts(2016), ANR-16-CE34-0005,ILETOP,Impact des polluants historiques et émergents sur les prédateurs supérieurs marins de l'Arctique(2016), European Project: 631203,EC:FP7:PEOPLE,FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG,ARCTOX(2014)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: polar; top predators; metal; seasonal variation; feathers; [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology; Arctic
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02949049; https://hal.science/hal-02949049/document; https://hal.science/hal-02949049/file/Albert%20et%20al%202021%20STOTEN.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142201

International audience Mercury (Hg) is a natural trace element found in high concentrations in top predators, including Arctic seabirds. Most current knowledge about Hg concentrations in Arctic seabirds relates to exposure during the summer breeding period when researchers can easily access seabirds at colonies. However, the few studies focused on winter have shown higher Hg concentrations during the non-breeding period than breeding period in several tissues. Hence, improving knowledge about Hg exposure during the non-breeding period is crucial to understanding the threats and risks encountered by these species year-round. We used feathers of nine migratory alcid species occurring at high latitudes to study bird Hg exposure during both the breeding and non-breeding periods. Overall, Hg concentrations during the non-breeding period were ~3 times higher than during the breeding period. In addition, spatial differences were apparent within and between the Atlantic and Pacific regions. While Hg concentrations during the non-breeding period were ~9 times and ~3 times higher than during the breeding period for the West and East Atlantic respectively, Hg concentrations in the Pacific during the non-breeding period were only ~1.7 times higher than during the breeding period. In addition, individual Hg concentrations during the non-breeding period for most of the seabird colonies were above 5.00 µg g-1 dry weight (dw), which is considered to be the threshold at which deleterious effects are observed, suggesting that some breeding populations might be vulnerable to non-breeding Hg exposure. Since wintering area locations, and migration routes may influence seasonal Hg concentrations, it is crucial to improve our knowledge about spatial ecotoxicology to fully understand the risks associated with Hg contamination in Arctic seabirds.