A century of mercury: Ecosystem-wide changes drive increasing contamination of a tropical seabird species in the South Atlantic Ocean
International audience Mercury (Hg) is a highly toxic metal that adversely impacts human and wildlife health. The amount of Hg released globally in the environment has increased steadily since the Industrial Revolution, resulting in growing contamination in biota. Seabirds have been extensively stud...
Published in: | Environmental Pollution |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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HAL CCSD
2023
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Online Access: | https://hal-univ-pau.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-04015879 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121187 |
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Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) |
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language |
English |
topic |
Ecosystems Isotopes Marine pollution Oceanography Tropics [CHIM]Chemical Sciences [SDE]Environmental Sciences [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology |
spellingShingle |
Ecosystems Isotopes Marine pollution Oceanography Tropics [CHIM]Chemical Sciences [SDE]Environmental Sciences [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology Cusset, Fanny Reynolds, S. James Carravieri, Alice Amouroux, David Asensio, Océane Dickey, Roger Fort, Jérôme Hughes, B. John Paiva, Vitor Ramos, Jaime Shearer, Laura Tessier, Emmanuel Wearn, Colin Cherel, Yves Bustamante, Paco A century of mercury: Ecosystem-wide changes drive increasing contamination of a tropical seabird species in the South Atlantic Ocean |
topic_facet |
Ecosystems Isotopes Marine pollution Oceanography Tropics [CHIM]Chemical Sciences [SDE]Environmental Sciences [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology |
description |
International audience Mercury (Hg) is a highly toxic metal that adversely impacts human and wildlife health. The amount of Hg released globally in the environment has increased steadily since the Industrial Revolution, resulting in growing contamination in biota. Seabirds have been extensively studied to monitor Hg contamination in the world's oceans. Multidecadal increases in seabird Hg contamination have been documented in polar, temperate and subtropical regions, whereas in tropical regions they are largely unknown. Since seabirds accumulate Hg mainly from their diet, their trophic ecology is fundamental inunderstanding their Hg exposure over time. Here, we used the sooty tern (Onychoprion fuscatus), the most abundant tropical seabird, as bioindicator of temporal variations in Hg transfer to marine predators in tropical ecosystems, in response to trophic changes and other potential drivers. Body feathers were sampled from 220 sooty terns, from museum specimens (n = 134) and free-living birds (n = 86) from Ascension Island, in the South Atlantic Ocean, over 145 years (1876–2021). Chemical analyses included (i) total- and methyl-Hg, and (ii) carbon (δ1³C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotopes, as proxies of foraging habitat and trophic position, respectively, to investigate the relationship between trophic ecology and Hg contamination over time. Despite current regulations on its global emissions, mean Hg concentrations were 58.9% higher in the 2020s (2.0 μg g−1, n = 34) than in the 1920s (1.2 μg g−1, n = 107). Feather Hg concentrations were negatively and positively associated with δ1³C and δ15N values, respectively. The sharp decline of 2.9 ‰ in δ1³C values over time indicates ecosystem-wide changes (shifting primary productivity) in the tropical South Atlantic Ocean and can help explain the observed increase in terns' feather Hg concentrations. Overall, this study provides invaluable information on how ecosystem-wide changes can increase Hg contamination of tropical marine predators and reinforces the need ... |
author2 |
LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs) La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 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) University of Birmingham Birmingham Institut des sciences analytiques et de physico-chimie pour l'environnement et les materiaux (IPREM) Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Army Ornithological Society (AOS) UNIVERSITY OF COIMBRA MARE PRT Partenaires IRSTEA Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA) Ascension Island Government Conservation and Fisheries Directorate (AIGCFD) Royal Air Force Ornithological Society (RAFOS) Institut Universitaire de France (IUF) Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche (M.E.N.E.S.R.) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cusset, Fanny Reynolds, S. James Carravieri, Alice Amouroux, David Asensio, Océane Dickey, Roger Fort, Jérôme Hughes, B. John Paiva, Vitor Ramos, Jaime Shearer, Laura Tessier, Emmanuel Wearn, Colin Cherel, Yves Bustamante, Paco |
author_facet |
Cusset, Fanny Reynolds, S. James Carravieri, Alice Amouroux, David Asensio, Océane Dickey, Roger Fort, Jérôme Hughes, B. John Paiva, Vitor Ramos, Jaime Shearer, Laura Tessier, Emmanuel Wearn, Colin Cherel, Yves Bustamante, Paco |
author_sort |
Cusset, Fanny |
title |
A century of mercury: Ecosystem-wide changes drive increasing contamination of a tropical seabird species in the South Atlantic Ocean |
title_short |
A century of mercury: Ecosystem-wide changes drive increasing contamination of a tropical seabird species in the South Atlantic Ocean |
title_full |
A century of mercury: Ecosystem-wide changes drive increasing contamination of a tropical seabird species in the South Atlantic Ocean |
title_fullStr |
A century of mercury: Ecosystem-wide changes drive increasing contamination of a tropical seabird species in the South Atlantic Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
A century of mercury: Ecosystem-wide changes drive increasing contamination of a tropical seabird species in the South Atlantic Ocean |
title_sort |
century of mercury: ecosystem-wide changes drive increasing contamination of a tropical seabird species in the south atlantic ocean |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hal-univ-pau.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-04015879 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121187 |
genre |
South Atlantic Ocean |
genre_facet |
South Atlantic Ocean |
op_source |
ISSN: 0269-7491 EISSN: 1873-6424 Environmental Pollution https://hal-univ-pau.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-04015879 Environmental Pollution, 2023, 323, pp.121187. ⟨10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121187⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121187 hal-04015879 https://hal-univ-pau.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-04015879 doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121187 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121187 |
container_title |
Environmental Pollution |
container_volume |
323 |
container_start_page |
121187 |
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1766199783450476544 |
spelling |
ftccsdartic:oai:HAL:hal-04015879v1 2023-05-15T18:20:55+02:00 A century of mercury: Ecosystem-wide changes drive increasing contamination of a tropical seabird species in the South Atlantic Ocean Cusset, Fanny Reynolds, S. James Carravieri, Alice Amouroux, David Asensio, Océane Dickey, Roger Fort, Jérôme Hughes, B. John Paiva, Vitor Ramos, Jaime Shearer, Laura Tessier, Emmanuel Wearn, Colin Cherel, Yves Bustamante, Paco LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs) La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 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) University of Birmingham Birmingham Institut des sciences analytiques et de physico-chimie pour l'environnement et les materiaux (IPREM) Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Army Ornithological Society (AOS) UNIVERSITY OF COIMBRA MARE PRT Partenaires IRSTEA Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA) Ascension Island Government Conservation and Fisheries Directorate (AIGCFD) Royal Air Force Ornithological Society (RAFOS) Institut Universitaire de France (IUF) Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche (M.E.N.E.S.R.) 2023-04 https://hal-univ-pau.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-04015879 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121187 en eng HAL CCSD Elsevier info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121187 hal-04015879 https://hal-univ-pau.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-04015879 doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121187 ISSN: 0269-7491 EISSN: 1873-6424 Environmental Pollution https://hal-univ-pau.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-04015879 Environmental Pollution, 2023, 323, pp.121187. ⟨10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121187⟩ Ecosystems Isotopes Marine pollution Oceanography Tropics [CHIM]Chemical Sciences [SDE]Environmental Sciences [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2023 ftccsdartic https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121187 2023-03-12T01:21:36Z International audience Mercury (Hg) is a highly toxic metal that adversely impacts human and wildlife health. The amount of Hg released globally in the environment has increased steadily since the Industrial Revolution, resulting in growing contamination in biota. Seabirds have been extensively studied to monitor Hg contamination in the world's oceans. Multidecadal increases in seabird Hg contamination have been documented in polar, temperate and subtropical regions, whereas in tropical regions they are largely unknown. Since seabirds accumulate Hg mainly from their diet, their trophic ecology is fundamental inunderstanding their Hg exposure over time. Here, we used the sooty tern (Onychoprion fuscatus), the most abundant tropical seabird, as bioindicator of temporal variations in Hg transfer to marine predators in tropical ecosystems, in response to trophic changes and other potential drivers. Body feathers were sampled from 220 sooty terns, from museum specimens (n = 134) and free-living birds (n = 86) from Ascension Island, in the South Atlantic Ocean, over 145 years (1876–2021). Chemical analyses included (i) total- and methyl-Hg, and (ii) carbon (δ1³C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotopes, as proxies of foraging habitat and trophic position, respectively, to investigate the relationship between trophic ecology and Hg contamination over time. Despite current regulations on its global emissions, mean Hg concentrations were 58.9% higher in the 2020s (2.0 μg g−1, n = 34) than in the 1920s (1.2 μg g−1, n = 107). Feather Hg concentrations were negatively and positively associated with δ1³C and δ15N values, respectively. The sharp decline of 2.9 ‰ in δ1³C values over time indicates ecosystem-wide changes (shifting primary productivity) in the tropical South Atlantic Ocean and can help explain the observed increase in terns' feather Hg concentrations. Overall, this study provides invaluable information on how ecosystem-wide changes can increase Hg contamination of tropical marine predators and reinforces the need ... Article in Journal/Newspaper South Atlantic Ocean Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) Environmental Pollution 323 121187 |