Mercury concentration in the eggs of four Canadian Arctic-breeding shorebirds not predicted based on their population statuses
Methylmercury is a toxic form of mercury which persists in food webs for long periods of time and biomagnifies up successive trophic levels. Shorebirds breeding in the Arctic are exposed to methylmercury, derived from both natural and anthropogenic sources, when they ingest their invertebrate prey....
Published in: | SpringerPlus |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2013
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://ir.library.carleton.ca/pub/13437 https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-2-567 |
id |
ftcarletonunivir:oai:carleton.ca:13437 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftcarletonunivir:oai:carleton.ca:13437 2023-05-15T14:41:57+02:00 Mercury concentration in the eggs of four Canadian Arctic-breeding shorebirds not predicted based on their population statuses McCloskey, M. (Meagan) Robinson, S. (Stacey) Smith, P.A. (Paul A.) Forbes, M. (Mark) 2013-11-14 https://ir.library.carleton.ca/pub/13437 https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-2-567 en eng https://ir.library.carleton.ca/pub/13437 doi:10.1186/2193-1801-2-567 SpringerPlus vol. 2 no. 1, pp. 1-8 Arctic Egg Mercury Methylmercury Population status Shorebird info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2013 ftcarletonunivir https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-2-567 2022-02-06T21:48:05Z Methylmercury is a toxic form of mercury which persists in food webs for long periods of time and biomagnifies up successive trophic levels. Shorebirds breeding in the Arctic are exposed to methylmercury, derived from both natural and anthropogenic sources, when they ingest their invertebrate prey. Populations of many shorebird species are believed to be declining and one hypothesis for these declines is that they are due to detrimental effects of contaminants, including methylmercury. To test this hypothesis, we assessed mercury contamination in eggs of four Canadian Arctic-breeding shorebird species: black-bellied plover (Pluvialis squatarola), ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres), semipalmated plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) and white-rumped sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis). Black-bellied plovers and ruddy turnstones are declining in the western hemisphere, whereas white-rumped sandpipers and semipalmated plovers have stable or slightly increasing populations. We found no relationship between egg mercury concentration and population trend for these four shorebird species. Intraspecific variation in mercury concentration was high. Notably, the mercury concentrations were much higher than levels found in a previous study of eggs of the same shorebird species from this same site, suggesting that mercury contamination may be subject to substantial inter-annual variation in the Canadian Arctic food web. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arenaria interpres Ruddy Turnstone Carleton University's Institutional Repository Arctic SpringerPlus 2 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Carleton University's Institutional Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftcarletonunivir |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic Egg Mercury Methylmercury Population status Shorebird |
spellingShingle |
Arctic Egg Mercury Methylmercury Population status Shorebird McCloskey, M. (Meagan) Robinson, S. (Stacey) Smith, P.A. (Paul A.) Forbes, M. (Mark) Mercury concentration in the eggs of four Canadian Arctic-breeding shorebirds not predicted based on their population statuses |
topic_facet |
Arctic Egg Mercury Methylmercury Population status Shorebird |
description |
Methylmercury is a toxic form of mercury which persists in food webs for long periods of time and biomagnifies up successive trophic levels. Shorebirds breeding in the Arctic are exposed to methylmercury, derived from both natural and anthropogenic sources, when they ingest their invertebrate prey. Populations of many shorebird species are believed to be declining and one hypothesis for these declines is that they are due to detrimental effects of contaminants, including methylmercury. To test this hypothesis, we assessed mercury contamination in eggs of four Canadian Arctic-breeding shorebird species: black-bellied plover (Pluvialis squatarola), ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres), semipalmated plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) and white-rumped sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis). Black-bellied plovers and ruddy turnstones are declining in the western hemisphere, whereas white-rumped sandpipers and semipalmated plovers have stable or slightly increasing populations. We found no relationship between egg mercury concentration and population trend for these four shorebird species. Intraspecific variation in mercury concentration was high. Notably, the mercury concentrations were much higher than levels found in a previous study of eggs of the same shorebird species from this same site, suggesting that mercury contamination may be subject to substantial inter-annual variation in the Canadian Arctic food web. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
McCloskey, M. (Meagan) Robinson, S. (Stacey) Smith, P.A. (Paul A.) Forbes, M. (Mark) |
author_facet |
McCloskey, M. (Meagan) Robinson, S. (Stacey) Smith, P.A. (Paul A.) Forbes, M. (Mark) |
author_sort |
McCloskey, M. (Meagan) |
title |
Mercury concentration in the eggs of four Canadian Arctic-breeding shorebirds not predicted based on their population statuses |
title_short |
Mercury concentration in the eggs of four Canadian Arctic-breeding shorebirds not predicted based on their population statuses |
title_full |
Mercury concentration in the eggs of four Canadian Arctic-breeding shorebirds not predicted based on their population statuses |
title_fullStr |
Mercury concentration in the eggs of four Canadian Arctic-breeding shorebirds not predicted based on their population statuses |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mercury concentration in the eggs of four Canadian Arctic-breeding shorebirds not predicted based on their population statuses |
title_sort |
mercury concentration in the eggs of four canadian arctic-breeding shorebirds not predicted based on their population statuses |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://ir.library.carleton.ca/pub/13437 https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-2-567 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Arenaria interpres Ruddy Turnstone |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arenaria interpres Ruddy Turnstone |
op_source |
SpringerPlus vol. 2 no. 1, pp. 1-8 |
op_relation |
https://ir.library.carleton.ca/pub/13437 doi:10.1186/2193-1801-2-567 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-2-567 |
container_title |
SpringerPlus |
container_volume |
2 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766313641148153856 |