Influence of age, sex and breeding status on mercury accumulation patterns in the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans
Although mercury bio-amplifies through the food chain and accumulates in top predators, mercury concentrations in tissues of the wandering albatross are greater than in any other vertebrate, including closely related species. In order to explore the alternative explanations for this pattern, we meas...
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Elsevier
2013
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:502674 2023-05-15T16:00:55+02:00 Influence of age, sex and breeding status on mercury accumulation patterns in the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans Tavares, S. Xavier, J.C. Phillips, R.A. Pereira, M.E. Pardal, M.A. 2013-10 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/502674/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/502674/1/Paper%20Hg%20WA%20ENVPOL_%20short%20communication_final.docx https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2013.06.032 en eng Elsevier https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/502674/1/Paper%20Hg%20WA%20ENVPOL_%20short%20communication_final.docx Tavares, S.; Xavier, J.C. orcid:0000-0002-9621-6660 Phillips, R.A.; Pereira, M.E.; Pardal, M.A. 2013 Influence of age, sex and breeding status on mercury accumulation patterns in the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans. Environmental Pollution, 181. 315-320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2013.06.032 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2013.06.032> Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2013 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2013.06.032 2023-02-04T19:37:25Z Although mercury bio-amplifies through the food chain and accumulates in top predators, mercury concentrations in tissues of the wandering albatross are greater than in any other vertebrate, including closely related species. In order to explore the alternative explanations for this pattern, we measured total mercury concentrations in feathers, plasma and blood cells of wandering albatrosses of known age, sex and breeding status sampled at South Georgia. Mercury concentrations were low in feathers and blood components of chicks, and higher in the feathers of young pre-breeders than in feathers or blood of older pre-breeders and breeding adults. There was no effect of sex on mercury concentrations in the feathers of pre-breeders or breeding adults, whereas levels were significantly higher in blood cells of breeding females than males. The high feather mercury concentrations of young pre-breeders compared with older birds suggest an increase in moult frequency as birds approach maturity. Article in Journal/Newspaper Diomedea exulans Wandering Albatross Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Environmental Pollution 181 315 320 |
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Open Polar |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
Although mercury bio-amplifies through the food chain and accumulates in top predators, mercury concentrations in tissues of the wandering albatross are greater than in any other vertebrate, including closely related species. In order to explore the alternative explanations for this pattern, we measured total mercury concentrations in feathers, plasma and blood cells of wandering albatrosses of known age, sex and breeding status sampled at South Georgia. Mercury concentrations were low in feathers and blood components of chicks, and higher in the feathers of young pre-breeders than in feathers or blood of older pre-breeders and breeding adults. There was no effect of sex on mercury concentrations in the feathers of pre-breeders or breeding adults, whereas levels were significantly higher in blood cells of breeding females than males. The high feather mercury concentrations of young pre-breeders compared with older birds suggest an increase in moult frequency as birds approach maturity. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tavares, S. Xavier, J.C. Phillips, R.A. Pereira, M.E. Pardal, M.A. |
spellingShingle |
Tavares, S. Xavier, J.C. Phillips, R.A. Pereira, M.E. Pardal, M.A. Influence of age, sex and breeding status on mercury accumulation patterns in the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans |
author_facet |
Tavares, S. Xavier, J.C. Phillips, R.A. Pereira, M.E. Pardal, M.A. |
author_sort |
Tavares, S. |
title |
Influence of age, sex and breeding status on mercury accumulation patterns in the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans |
title_short |
Influence of age, sex and breeding status on mercury accumulation patterns in the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans |
title_full |
Influence of age, sex and breeding status on mercury accumulation patterns in the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans |
title_fullStr |
Influence of age, sex and breeding status on mercury accumulation patterns in the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans |
title_full_unstemmed |
Influence of age, sex and breeding status on mercury accumulation patterns in the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans |
title_sort |
influence of age, sex and breeding status on mercury accumulation patterns in the wandering albatross diomedea exulans |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/502674/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/502674/1/Paper%20Hg%20WA%20ENVPOL_%20short%20communication_final.docx https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2013.06.032 |
genre |
Diomedea exulans Wandering Albatross |
genre_facet |
Diomedea exulans Wandering Albatross |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/502674/1/Paper%20Hg%20WA%20ENVPOL_%20short%20communication_final.docx Tavares, S.; Xavier, J.C. orcid:0000-0002-9621-6660 Phillips, R.A.; Pereira, M.E.; Pardal, M.A. 2013 Influence of age, sex and breeding status on mercury accumulation patterns in the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans. Environmental Pollution, 181. 315-320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2013.06.032 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2013.06.032> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2013.06.032 |
container_title |
Environmental Pollution |
container_volume |
181 |
container_start_page |
315 |
op_container_end_page |
320 |
_version_ |
1766396931478650880 |