Mercury in wintering seabirds, an aggravating factor to winter wrecks?
International audience Every year, thousands of seabirds cast ashore and are found dead along the coasts of North America and Western Europe. These massive mortality events called ‘winter wrecks’ have generally been attributed to harsh climatic conditions and prolonged storms which affect bird energ...
Published in: | Science of The Total Environment |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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HAL CCSD
2015
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-01186129 https://hal.science/hal-01186129/document https://hal.science/hal-01186129/file/Fort%20et%20al_revised_publication%20ready.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.018 |
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ftinsu:oai:HAL:hal-01186129v1 |
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Open Polar |
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Institut national des sciences de l'Univers: HAL-INSU |
op_collection_id |
ftinsu |
language |
English |
topic |
Bay of Biscay Massive mortality Mercury North Atlantic Seabirds Winter wreck [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology |
spellingShingle |
Bay of Biscay Massive mortality Mercury North Atlantic Seabirds Winter wreck [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology Fort, Jérôme Lacoue-Labarthe, Thomas Nguyen, Hanh Linh Boué, Amélie Spitz, Jérôme Bustamante, Paco Mercury in wintering seabirds, an aggravating factor to winter wrecks? |
topic_facet |
Bay of Biscay Massive mortality Mercury North Atlantic Seabirds Winter wreck [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology |
description |
International audience Every year, thousands of seabirds cast ashore and are found dead along the coasts of North America and Western Europe. These massive mortality events called ‘winter wrecks’ have generally been attributed to harsh climatic conditions and prolonged storms which affect bird energy balance and impact their body condition. Nevertheless, additional stress factors, such as contaminant body burden, could potentially cumulate to energy constraints and actively contribute to winter wrecks. However, the role played by these additional factors in seabird massive winter mortality has received little attention to date. In February/March 2014, an unprecedented seabird wreck occurred along the Atlantic French coasts during which >43.000 seabirds were found dead. By analyzing mercury (Hg) concentrations in various tissues collected on stranded birds, we tested the hypothesis that Hg played a significant role in this mortality. More specifically, we aimed to (1) describe Hg contamination in wintering seabirds found along the French coasts in 2014, and (2) determine if Hg concentrations measured in some vital organs such as kidney or brain reached toxicity thresholds that could have led to deleterious effects and to an enhanced mortality. We found some of the highest Hg levels ever reported in Atlantic puffins, common guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes. Measured concentrations ranged from 0.8 to 3.6 μg.g-1 of dry weight in brain, 1.3 to 7.2 μg.g-1 in muscle, 2.5 to 13.5 μg.g-1 in kidney, 2.9 to 18.6 μg.g-1 in blood and from 3.1 to 19.5 μg.g-1 in liver. Hg concentrations in liver and brain were generally below estimated acute toxicity levels. However, kidney concentrations were not different than those measured in the liver, and above levels associated to renal sub-lethal effects, suggesting a potential Hg poisoning. We concluded that although Hg was not directly responsible for the high observed mortality, it has been a major aggravating stress factor for emaciated birds already on the edge. ... |
author2 |
LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés - UMR 7266 (LIENSs) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Marine Environment Laboratories Monaco (IAEA-MEL) International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna (IAEA) University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (USTH) LPO/ Birdlife France Observatoire PELAGIS UMS 3462 (PELAGIS) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) European Project: 631203,EC:FP7:PEOPLE,FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG,ARCTOX(2014) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fort, Jérôme Lacoue-Labarthe, Thomas Nguyen, Hanh Linh Boué, Amélie Spitz, Jérôme Bustamante, Paco |
author_facet |
Fort, Jérôme Lacoue-Labarthe, Thomas Nguyen, Hanh Linh Boué, Amélie Spitz, Jérôme Bustamante, Paco |
author_sort |
Fort, Jérôme |
title |
Mercury in wintering seabirds, an aggravating factor to winter wrecks? |
title_short |
Mercury in wintering seabirds, an aggravating factor to winter wrecks? |
title_full |
Mercury in wintering seabirds, an aggravating factor to winter wrecks? |
title_fullStr |
Mercury in wintering seabirds, an aggravating factor to winter wrecks? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mercury in wintering seabirds, an aggravating factor to winter wrecks? |
title_sort |
mercury in wintering seabirds, an aggravating factor to winter wrecks? |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-01186129 https://hal.science/hal-01186129/document https://hal.science/hal-01186129/file/Fort%20et%20al_revised_publication%20ready.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.018 |
genre |
Arctic North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Arctic North Atlantic |
op_source |
ISSN: 0048-9697 EISSN: 1879-1026 Science of the Total Environment https://hal.science/hal-01186129 Science of the Total Environment, 2015, 527-528, pp.448-454. ⟨10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.018⟩ |
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info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.018 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/631203/EU/SEA-ICE SHRINKING AND INCREASING HUMAN ACTIVITIES IN THE ARCTIC: WHAT RISKS FOR THE AVIAN BIODIVERSITY?/ARCTOX hal-01186129 https://hal.science/hal-01186129 https://hal.science/hal-01186129/document https://hal.science/hal-01186129/file/Fort%20et%20al_revised_publication%20ready.pdf doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.018 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.018 |
container_title |
Science of The Total Environment |
container_volume |
527-528 |
container_start_page |
448 |
op_container_end_page |
454 |
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1766301510624346112 |
spelling |
ftinsu:oai:HAL:hal-01186129v1 2023-05-15T14:27:40+02:00 Mercury in wintering seabirds, an aggravating factor to winter wrecks? Fort, Jérôme Lacoue-Labarthe, Thomas Nguyen, Hanh Linh Boué, Amélie Spitz, Jérôme Bustamante, Paco LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés - UMR 7266 (LIENSs) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Marine Environment Laboratories Monaco (IAEA-MEL) International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna (IAEA) University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (USTH) LPO/ Birdlife France Observatoire PELAGIS UMS 3462 (PELAGIS) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) European Project: 631203,EC:FP7:PEOPLE,FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG,ARCTOX(2014) 2015-09-15 https://hal.science/hal-01186129 https://hal.science/hal-01186129/document https://hal.science/hal-01186129/file/Fort%20et%20al_revised_publication%20ready.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.018 en eng HAL CCSD Elsevier info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.018 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/631203/EU/SEA-ICE SHRINKING AND INCREASING HUMAN ACTIVITIES IN THE ARCTIC: WHAT RISKS FOR THE AVIAN BIODIVERSITY?/ARCTOX hal-01186129 https://hal.science/hal-01186129 https://hal.science/hal-01186129/document https://hal.science/hal-01186129/file/Fort%20et%20al_revised_publication%20ready.pdf doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.018 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 0048-9697 EISSN: 1879-1026 Science of the Total Environment https://hal.science/hal-01186129 Science of the Total Environment, 2015, 527-528, pp.448-454. ⟨10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.018⟩ Bay of Biscay Massive mortality Mercury North Atlantic Seabirds Winter wreck [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2015 ftinsu https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.018 2023-02-08T18:32:08Z International audience Every year, thousands of seabirds cast ashore and are found dead along the coasts of North America and Western Europe. These massive mortality events called ‘winter wrecks’ have generally been attributed to harsh climatic conditions and prolonged storms which affect bird energy balance and impact their body condition. Nevertheless, additional stress factors, such as contaminant body burden, could potentially cumulate to energy constraints and actively contribute to winter wrecks. However, the role played by these additional factors in seabird massive winter mortality has received little attention to date. In February/March 2014, an unprecedented seabird wreck occurred along the Atlantic French coasts during which >43.000 seabirds were found dead. By analyzing mercury (Hg) concentrations in various tissues collected on stranded birds, we tested the hypothesis that Hg played a significant role in this mortality. More specifically, we aimed to (1) describe Hg contamination in wintering seabirds found along the French coasts in 2014, and (2) determine if Hg concentrations measured in some vital organs such as kidney or brain reached toxicity thresholds that could have led to deleterious effects and to an enhanced mortality. We found some of the highest Hg levels ever reported in Atlantic puffins, common guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes. Measured concentrations ranged from 0.8 to 3.6 μg.g-1 of dry weight in brain, 1.3 to 7.2 μg.g-1 in muscle, 2.5 to 13.5 μg.g-1 in kidney, 2.9 to 18.6 μg.g-1 in blood and from 3.1 to 19.5 μg.g-1 in liver. Hg concentrations in liver and brain were generally below estimated acute toxicity levels. However, kidney concentrations were not different than those measured in the liver, and above levels associated to renal sub-lethal effects, suggesting a potential Hg poisoning. We concluded that although Hg was not directly responsible for the high observed mortality, it has been a major aggravating stress factor for emaciated birds already on the edge. ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic North Atlantic Institut national des sciences de l'Univers: HAL-INSU Science of The Total Environment 527-528 448 454 |