Mercury Contamination Challenges the Behavioral Response of a Keystone Species to Arctic Climate Change

• Published in: Environmental Science & Technology
• Main Authors: Grunst, Andrea, Grunst, Melissa, Grémillet, David, Kato, Akiko, Bustamante, Paco, Albert, Céline, Brisson-Curadeau, Émile, Clairbaux, Manon, Cruz-Flores, Marta, Gentès, Sophie, Perret, Samuel, Ste-Marie, Eric, Wojczulanis-Jakubas, Katarzyna, Fort, Jérôme
• Other Authors: 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), 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)-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, 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)-Université de Montpellier (UM), Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, 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.), McGill University = Université McGill Montréal, Canada, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences Cork (BEES), University College Cork (UCC), Department of Vertebrate Ecology and Zoology, University of Gdańsk (UG), ANR-16-CE34-0005,ILETOP,Impact des polluants historiques et émergents sur les prédateurs supérieurs marins de l'Arctique(2016)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: climate change; behavioral ecotoxicology; toxicant-induced climate change sensitivity; multiple stressors; behavioral plasticity; mercury (Hg); diving behavior; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Arctic; Alle alle; Climate change; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03988489; https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c08893

International audience Combined effects of multiple, climate change-associated stressors are of mounting concern, especially in Arctic ecosystems. Elevated mercury (Hg) exposure in Arctic animals could affect behavioral responses to changes in foraging landscapes caused by climate change, generating interactive effects on behavior and population resilience. We investigated this hypothesis in little auks (Alle alle), a keystone Arctic seabird. We compiled behavioral data for 44 birds across 5 years using accelerometers while also quantifying blood Hg and environmental conditions. Warm sea surface temperature (SST) and low sea ice coverage reshaped time activity budgets (TABs) and diving patterns, causing decreased resting, increased flight, and longer dives. Mercury contamination was not associated with TABs. However, highly contaminated birds lengthened interdive breaks when making long dives, suggesting Hg-induced physiological limitations. As dive durations increased with warm SST, subtle toxicological effects threaten to increasingly constrain diving and foraging efficiency as climate change progresses, with ecosystem-wide repercussions.