Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure
The ability of animals to respond to changes in their environment is critical to their persistence. In the Arctic, climate change and mercury exposure are two of the most important environmental threats for top predators. 1–3 Rapid warming is causing precipitous sea-ice loss, with consequences on th...
Published in: | Current Biology |
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Language: | English |
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2021
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Online Access: | https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/analysis-of-narwhal-tusks-reveals-lifelong-feeding-ecology-and-mercury-exposure(b4ff357d-66f5-47c0-8163-7dec70317ac9).html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.018 https://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/273586281/Analysis_of_narwhal_tusks_reveals_lifelong_feeding_ecology_and_mercury_exposure.pdf |
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ftcopenhagenunip:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/b4ff357d-66f5-47c0-8163-7dec70317ac9 2024-06-09T07:43:24+00:00 Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure Dietz, Rune Desforges, Jean-Pierre Rigét, Frank F. Aubail, Aurore Garde, Eva Ambus, Per Drimmie, Robert Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter Sonne, Christian 2021 application/pdf https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/analysis-of-narwhal-tusks-reveals-lifelong-feeding-ecology-and-mercury-exposure(b4ff357d-66f5-47c0-8163-7dec70317ac9).html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.018 https://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/273586281/Analysis_of_narwhal_tusks_reveals_lifelong_feeding_ecology_and_mercury_exposure.pdf eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Dietz , R , Desforges , J-P , Rigét , F F , Aubail , A , Garde , E , Ambus , P , Drimmie , R , Heide-Jørgensen , M P & Sonne , C 2021 , ' Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure ' , Current Biology , vol. 31 , no. 9 , pp. 2012-2019.e2 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.018 biogeochemical markers climate change feeding ecology mercury narwhal stable isotopes temporal trend tusk article 2021 ftcopenhagenunip https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.018 2024-05-16T11:29:20Z The ability of animals to respond to changes in their environment is critical to their persistence. In the Arctic, climate change and mercury exposure are two of the most important environmental threats for top predators. 1–3 Rapid warming is causing precipitous sea-ice loss, with consequences on the distribution, composition, and dietary ecology of species 4–7 and, thus, exposure to food-borne mercury. 8 Current understanding of global change and pollution impacts on Arctic wildlife relies on single-time-point individual data representing a snapshot in time. These data often lack comprehensive temporal resolution and overlook the cumulative lifelong nature of stressors as well as individual variation. To overcome these challenges, we explore the unique capacity of narwhal tusks to characterize chronological lifetime biogeochemical profiles, allowing for investigations of climate-induced dietary changes and contaminant trends. Using temporal patterns of stable isotopes (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) and mercury concentrations in annually deposited dentine growth layer groups in 10 tusks from Northwest Greenland (1962–2010), we show surprising plasticity in narwhal feeding ecology likely resulting from climate-induced changes in sea-ice cover, biological communities, and narwhal migration. Dietary changes consequently impacted mercury exposure primarily through trophic magnification effects. Mercury increased log-linearly over the study period, albeit with an unexpected rise in recent years, likely caused by increased emissions and/or greater bioavailability in a warmer, ice-free Arctic. Our findings are consistent with an emerging pattern in the Arctic of reduced sea-ice leading to changes in the migration, habitat use, food web, and contaminant exposure in Arctic top predators. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Greenland narwhal* Sea ice University of Copenhagen: Research Arctic Greenland Current Biology 31 9 2012 2019.e2 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Copenhagen: Research |
op_collection_id |
ftcopenhagenunip |
language |
English |
topic |
biogeochemical markers climate change feeding ecology mercury narwhal stable isotopes temporal trend tusk |
spellingShingle |
biogeochemical markers climate change feeding ecology mercury narwhal stable isotopes temporal trend tusk Dietz, Rune Desforges, Jean-Pierre Rigét, Frank F. Aubail, Aurore Garde, Eva Ambus, Per Drimmie, Robert Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter Sonne, Christian Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure |
topic_facet |
biogeochemical markers climate change feeding ecology mercury narwhal stable isotopes temporal trend tusk |
description |
The ability of animals to respond to changes in their environment is critical to their persistence. In the Arctic, climate change and mercury exposure are two of the most important environmental threats for top predators. 1–3 Rapid warming is causing precipitous sea-ice loss, with consequences on the distribution, composition, and dietary ecology of species 4–7 and, thus, exposure to food-borne mercury. 8 Current understanding of global change and pollution impacts on Arctic wildlife relies on single-time-point individual data representing a snapshot in time. These data often lack comprehensive temporal resolution and overlook the cumulative lifelong nature of stressors as well as individual variation. To overcome these challenges, we explore the unique capacity of narwhal tusks to characterize chronological lifetime biogeochemical profiles, allowing for investigations of climate-induced dietary changes and contaminant trends. Using temporal patterns of stable isotopes (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) and mercury concentrations in annually deposited dentine growth layer groups in 10 tusks from Northwest Greenland (1962–2010), we show surprising plasticity in narwhal feeding ecology likely resulting from climate-induced changes in sea-ice cover, biological communities, and narwhal migration. Dietary changes consequently impacted mercury exposure primarily through trophic magnification effects. Mercury increased log-linearly over the study period, albeit with an unexpected rise in recent years, likely caused by increased emissions and/or greater bioavailability in a warmer, ice-free Arctic. Our findings are consistent with an emerging pattern in the Arctic of reduced sea-ice leading to changes in the migration, habitat use, food web, and contaminant exposure in Arctic top predators. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dietz, Rune Desforges, Jean-Pierre Rigét, Frank F. Aubail, Aurore Garde, Eva Ambus, Per Drimmie, Robert Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter Sonne, Christian |
author_facet |
Dietz, Rune Desforges, Jean-Pierre Rigét, Frank F. Aubail, Aurore Garde, Eva Ambus, Per Drimmie, Robert Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter Sonne, Christian |
author_sort |
Dietz, Rune |
title |
Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure |
title_short |
Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure |
title_full |
Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure |
title_fullStr |
Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure |
title_full_unstemmed |
Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure |
title_sort |
analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/analysis-of-narwhal-tusks-reveals-lifelong-feeding-ecology-and-mercury-exposure(b4ff357d-66f5-47c0-8163-7dec70317ac9).html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.018 https://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/273586281/Analysis_of_narwhal_tusks_reveals_lifelong_feeding_ecology_and_mercury_exposure.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Greenland narwhal* Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Greenland narwhal* Sea ice |
op_source |
Dietz , R , Desforges , J-P , Rigét , F F , Aubail , A , Garde , E , Ambus , P , Drimmie , R , Heide-Jørgensen , M P & Sonne , C 2021 , ' Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure ' , Current Biology , vol. 31 , no. 9 , pp. 2012-2019.e2 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.018 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.018 |
container_title |
Current Biology |
container_volume |
31 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
2012 |
op_container_end_page |
2019.e2 |
_version_ |
1801372172619350016 |