Mercury exposure in an endangered seabird: long-term changes and relationships with trophic ecology and breeding success
Mercury (Hg) is an environmental contaminant which, at high concentrations, can negatively influence avian physiology and demography. Albatrosses (Diomedeidae) have higher Hg burdens than all other avian families. Here, we measure total Hg (THg) concentrations of body feathers from adult grey-headed...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:7779510 2023-05-15T13:52:02+02:00 Mercury exposure in an endangered seabird: long-term changes and relationships with trophic ecology and breeding success Mills, William F. Bustamante, Paco McGill, Rona A. R. Anderson, Orea R. J. Bearhop, Stuart Cherel, Yves Votier, Stephen C. Phillips, Richard A. 2020-12-23 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7779510/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33352077 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.2683 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7779510/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33352077 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.2683 © 2020 The Authors. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. CC-BY Proc Biol Sci Global Change and Conservation Text 2020 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.2683 2021-01-10T01:35:09Z Mercury (Hg) is an environmental contaminant which, at high concentrations, can negatively influence avian physiology and demography. Albatrosses (Diomedeidae) have higher Hg burdens than all other avian families. Here, we measure total Hg (THg) concentrations of body feathers from adult grey-headed albatrosses (Thalassarche chrysostoma) at South Georgia. Specifically, we (i) analyse temporal trends at South Georgia (1989–2013) and make comparisons with other breeding populations; (ii) identify factors driving variation in THg concentrations and (iii) examine relationships with breeding success. Mean ± s.d. feather THg concentrations were 13.0 ± 8.0 µg g(−1) dw, which represents a threefold increase over the past 25 years at South Georgia and is the highest recorded in the Thalassarche genus. Foraging habitat, inferred from stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ(13)C), significantly influenced THg concentrations—feathers moulted in Antarctic waters had far lower THg concentrations than those moulted in subantarctic or subtropical waters. THg concentrations also increased with trophic level (δ(15)N), reflecting the biomagnification process. There was limited support for the influence of sex, age and previous breeding outcome on feather THg concentrations. However, in males, Hg exposure was correlated with breeding outcome—failed birds had significantly higher feather THg concentrations than successful birds. These results provide key insights into the drivers and consequences of Hg exposure in this globally important albatross population. Text Antarc* Antarctic PubMed Central (PMC) Antarctic Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 287 1941 20202683 |
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PubMed Central (PMC) |
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ftpubmed |
language |
English |
topic |
Global Change and Conservation |
spellingShingle |
Global Change and Conservation Mills, William F. Bustamante, Paco McGill, Rona A. R. Anderson, Orea R. J. Bearhop, Stuart Cherel, Yves Votier, Stephen C. Phillips, Richard A. Mercury exposure in an endangered seabird: long-term changes and relationships with trophic ecology and breeding success |
topic_facet |
Global Change and Conservation |
description |
Mercury (Hg) is an environmental contaminant which, at high concentrations, can negatively influence avian physiology and demography. Albatrosses (Diomedeidae) have higher Hg burdens than all other avian families. Here, we measure total Hg (THg) concentrations of body feathers from adult grey-headed albatrosses (Thalassarche chrysostoma) at South Georgia. Specifically, we (i) analyse temporal trends at South Georgia (1989–2013) and make comparisons with other breeding populations; (ii) identify factors driving variation in THg concentrations and (iii) examine relationships with breeding success. Mean ± s.d. feather THg concentrations were 13.0 ± 8.0 µg g(−1) dw, which represents a threefold increase over the past 25 years at South Georgia and is the highest recorded in the Thalassarche genus. Foraging habitat, inferred from stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ(13)C), significantly influenced THg concentrations—feathers moulted in Antarctic waters had far lower THg concentrations than those moulted in subantarctic or subtropical waters. THg concentrations also increased with trophic level (δ(15)N), reflecting the biomagnification process. There was limited support for the influence of sex, age and previous breeding outcome on feather THg concentrations. However, in males, Hg exposure was correlated with breeding outcome—failed birds had significantly higher feather THg concentrations than successful birds. These results provide key insights into the drivers and consequences of Hg exposure in this globally important albatross population. |
format |
Text |
author |
Mills, William F. Bustamante, Paco McGill, Rona A. R. Anderson, Orea R. J. Bearhop, Stuart Cherel, Yves Votier, Stephen C. Phillips, Richard A. |
author_facet |
Mills, William F. Bustamante, Paco McGill, Rona A. R. Anderson, Orea R. J. Bearhop, Stuart Cherel, Yves Votier, Stephen C. Phillips, Richard A. |
author_sort |
Mills, William F. |
title |
Mercury exposure in an endangered seabird: long-term changes and relationships with trophic ecology and breeding success |
title_short |
Mercury exposure in an endangered seabird: long-term changes and relationships with trophic ecology and breeding success |
title_full |
Mercury exposure in an endangered seabird: long-term changes and relationships with trophic ecology and breeding success |
title_fullStr |
Mercury exposure in an endangered seabird: long-term changes and relationships with trophic ecology and breeding success |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mercury exposure in an endangered seabird: long-term changes and relationships with trophic ecology and breeding success |
title_sort |
mercury exposure in an endangered seabird: long-term changes and relationships with trophic ecology and breeding success |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7779510/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33352077 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.2683 |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_source |
Proc Biol Sci |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7779510/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33352077 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.2683 |
op_rights |
© 2020 The Authors. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.2683 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
287 |
container_issue |
1941 |
container_start_page |
20202683 |
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1766256221831036928 |