Do population parameters influence the role of seabird colonies as secondary pollutants source? A case study for Antarctic ecosystems

International audience Pollutants in Antarctic ecosystems are largely attributed to long range atmospheric transport. However, previous studies confirmed seabird colonies as relevant secondary sources of organic and inorganic pollutants. When comparing these data, higher trophic level seabird coloni...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine Pollution Bulletin
Main Authors: Cipro, Caio, Bustamante, Paco, Montone, Rosalinda, Oliveira, Lucas, Petry, Maria
Other Authors: LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés - UMRi 7266 (LIENSs), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratório de Química Orgânica Marinha, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Laboratório de Ornitologia e Animais Marinhos, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS)
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2019
Subjects:
colonies
population
seabird
Pollutants
Secondary sources
Antarctica
envir
geo
Antarctic
Antarc*
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110534
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02358024/file/Cipro%20et%20al%202019%20MPB.pdf
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02358024
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Summary:International audience Pollutants in Antarctic ecosystems are largely attributed to long range atmospheric transport. However, previous studies confirmed seabird colonies as relevant secondary sources of organic and inorganic pollutants. When comparing these data, higher trophic level seabird colonies, small and sparse, did not influence results as strongly as lower trophic level birds large dense colonies. Thus, we cross examined results of stable isotopes and pollutants from lichens, moss and soil samples from Antarctic seabird colonies with their data for population parameters to understand how these variables influence each other. Results showed colonies clearly supplying As, Cd, Hg, Se, Zn, HCB and PCBs and corroborated other local sources. Penguin colonies were the most important pollutants sources hereby studied due to their sheer size and also their recent relative growth. Finally, results suggest climate change should likely increase the concentration of contaminants and the overall burden trapped in Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems.

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