Stable isotope food-web analysis and mercury biomagnification in polar bears ( Ursus maritimus )

Mercury (Hg) biomagnification occurs in many ecosystems, resulting in a greater potential for toxicological effects in higher-level trophic feeders. However, Hg transport pathways through different food-web channels are not well known, particularly in high-latitude systems affected by the atmospheri...

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Published in:	Polar Research
Main Authors:	Horton, Travis W., Blum, Joel D, Xie, Zhouqing, Hren, Michael, Chamberlain, C. Page
Other Authors:	2 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1005, USA, 1 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand, 3 Geology and Geophysics Department, Yale University, P.O. Box 208109, New Haven, CT 06520-8109, USA, 4 Geological and Environmental Science Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2115, USA
Format:	Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:	unknown
Published:	Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2009
Subjects:	Arctic Food Webs Pelagic Polar Bears Stable Isotopes Sympagic Geology and Earth Sciences Science Antarctica Journal Polar Research Ursus maritimus
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/73930 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-8369.2009.00114.x

id	ftumdeepblue:oai:deepblue.lib.umich.edu:2027.42/73930
record_format	openpolar
institution	Open Polar
collection	University of Michigan: Deep Blue
op_collection_id	ftumdeepblue
language	unknown
topic	Arctic Food Webs Pelagic Polar Bears Stable Isotopes Sympagic Geology and Earth Sciences Science
spellingShingle	Arctic Food Webs Pelagic Polar Bears Stable Isotopes Sympagic Geology and Earth Sciences Science Horton, Travis W. Blum, Joel D Xie, Zhouqing Hren, Michael Chamberlain, C. Page Stable isotope food-web analysis and mercury biomagnification in polar bears ( Ursus maritimus )
topic_facet	Arctic Food Webs Pelagic Polar Bears Stable Isotopes Sympagic Geology and Earth Sciences Science
description	Mercury (Hg) biomagnification occurs in many ecosystems, resulting in a greater potential for toxicological effects in higher-level trophic feeders. However, Hg transport pathways through different food-web channels are not well known, particularly in high-latitude systems affected by the atmospheric Hg deposition associated with snow and ice. Here, we report on stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios, and Hg concentrations, determined for 26, late 19th and early 20th century, polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) hair specimens, collected from catalogued museum collections. These data elucidate relationships between the high-latitude marine food-web structure and Hg concentrations in polar bears. The carbon isotope compositions of polar bear hairs suggest that polar bears derive nutrition from coupled food-web channels, based in pelagic and sympagic primary producers, whereas the nitrogen isotope compositions indicate that polar bears occupy > fourth-level trophic positions. Our results show a positive correlation between polar bear hair Hg concentrations and δ 15 N. Interpretation of the stable isotope data in combination with Hg concentrations tentatively suggests that polar bears participating in predominantly pelagic food webs exhibit higher mercury concentrations than polar bears participating in predominantly sympagic food webs. Peer Reviewed http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73930/1/j.1751-8369.2009.00114.x.pdf
author2	2 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1005, USA 1 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand 3 Geology and Geophysics Department, Yale University, P.O. Box 208109, New Haven, CT 06520-8109, USA 4 Geological and Environmental Science Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2115, USA
format	Article in Journal/Newspaper
author	Horton, Travis W. Blum, Joel D Xie, Zhouqing Hren, Michael Chamberlain, C. Page
author_facet	Horton, Travis W. Blum, Joel D Xie, Zhouqing Hren, Michael Chamberlain, C. Page
author_sort	Horton, Travis W.
title	Stable isotope food-web analysis and mercury biomagnification in polar bears ( Ursus maritimus )
title_short	Stable isotope food-web analysis and mercury biomagnification in polar bears ( Ursus maritimus )
title_full	Stable isotope food-web analysis and mercury biomagnification in polar bears ( Ursus maritimus )
title_fullStr	Stable isotope food-web analysis and mercury biomagnification in polar bears ( Ursus maritimus )
title_full_unstemmed	Stable isotope food-web analysis and mercury biomagnification in polar bears ( Ursus maritimus )
title_sort	stable isotope food-web analysis and mercury biomagnification in polar bears ( ursus maritimus )
publisher	Blackwell Publishing Ltd
publishDate	2009
url	http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/73930 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-8369.2009.00114.x
geographic	Arctic
geographic_facet	Arctic
genre	Antarctica Journal Arctic Arctic Polar Research Ursus maritimus
genre_facet	Antarctica Journal Arctic Arctic Polar Research Ursus maritimus
op_relation	Horton, Travis W.; Blum, Joel D.; Xie, Zhouqing; Hren, Michael; Chamberlain, C. Page (2009). "Stable isotope food-web analysis and mercury biomagnification in polar bears ( Ursus maritimus )." Polar Research 28(3): 443-454. <http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/73930> 0800-0395 1751-8369 http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/73930 doi:10.1111/j.1751-8369.2009.00114.x Polar Research Applequist H., Drabaek I. & Asbirk S. 1985. Variation in mercury content of guillemot feathers over 150 years. Marine Pollution Bulletin 16, 244 – 248. Ariya P.A., Dastoor A.P., Amyot M., Schroeder W.H., Barrie L., Anlauf K., Raofie F., Ryzhkov A., Davignon D., Lalonde J. & Steffen A. 2004. The Arctic: a sink for mercury. Tellus, Series B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology 56, 397 – 403. Arrigo K.R., Robinson D.H., Dunbar R.B., Leventer A.R. & Lizotte M.P. 2003. Physical control of chlorophyll a, POC, and TPN distributions in the pack ice of the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research—Oceans 108, article no. 3316, doi:10.1029/2001JC001138. Atkinson A. 1998. Life cycle strategies of epipelagic copepods in the Southern Ocean. Journal of Marine Systems 15, 289 – 311. Atwell L., Hobson K.A. & Welch H.E. 1998. Biomagnification and bioaccumulation of mercury in an Arctic marine food web: Insights from stable nitrogen isotope analysis. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 55, 1114 – 1121. Bentzen T.W., Follmann E.H., Amstrup S.C., York G.S., Wooler M.L. & O'Hara T.M. 2007. Variation in winter diet of southern Beaufort Sea polar bears inferred from stable isotope analysis. Canadian Journal of Zoology 85, 596 – 608. Bradstreet S.W. & Cross W.E. 1982. Trophic relationships at high ice edges. Arctic 35, 1 – 12. Braune B.M., Outridge P.M., Fisk A.T., Muir D.C.G., Helm P.A., Hobbs K., Hoekstra P.F., Kuzyk Z.A., Kwan M., Letcher R.J., Lockhart W.L., Norstrom R.J., Stern G.A. & Stirling I. 2005. Persistent organic pollutants and mercury in marine biota of the Canadian Arctic: an overview of spatial and temporal trends. Science of the Total Environment 351–352, 4 – 56. Budge S.M., Wooller M.J., Springer A.M., Iverson S.J., McRoy C.P. & Divoky G.J. 2008. Tracing carbon flow in an Arctic marine food web using fatty acid-stable isotope analysis. Oecologia 157, 117 – 129. Campbell L.M., Norstrom R.J., Hobson K.A., Muir D.C.G., Backus S. & Fisk A.T. 2005. Mercury and other trace elements in a pelagic Arctic marine food web (Northwater Polynya, Baffin Bay). Science of the Total Environment 351–352, 247 – 263. Dehn L., Follmann E.H., Thomas D.L., Sheffield G.G., Rosa C., Duffy L.K. & O'Hara T.M. 2006. Trophic relationships in an Arctic food web and implications for trace metal transfer. Science of the Total Environment 362, 103 – 123. Dehn L., Sheffield G.G., Follmann E.H., Duffy L.K., Thomas D.L., Bratton G.R., Taylor R.J. & O'Hara T.M. 2005. Trace elements in tissues of phocid seals harvested in the Alaskan and Canadian Arctic: influence of age on feeding ecology. Canadian Journal of Zoology 83, 726 – 746. Dietz R., Riget F., Boertmann D., Sonne C., Olsen M.T., Fjeldsa J., Falk K., Kirkegaard M., Egevang C., Asmucd G., Wille F. & Moller S. 2006. Time trends of mercury in feathers of west Greenland birds of prey during 1851–2003. Environmental Science and Technology 40, 5911 – 5916. Dietz R., Riget F., Born E.W., Sonne C., Grandjean P., Kirkegaard M., Olsen M.T., Asmund G., Renzoni A., BaagØe H. & Andreasen C. 2006. Trends in mercury in hair of Greenlandic polar bears ( Ursus maritimus ) during 1892–2001. Environmental Science and Technology 40, 1120 – 1125. Dietz R., Riget F. & Johansen P. 1996. Lead, cadmium, mercury, and selenium in Greenland marine animals. Science of the Total Environment 186, 67 – 93. Douglas T.A., Sturm M., Simpson W.R., Blum J.D., Alvarez-Aviles L., Keeler G.J., Perovich D.K., Biswas A. & Johnson K. 2008. Influence of snow and ice crystal formation and accumulation on mercury deposition to the Arctic. Environmental Science and Technology 42, 1542 – 1551. Eaton R.D.P. & Farant J.P. 1982. The polar bear as a biological indicator of the environmental mercury burden. Arctic 35, 422 – 425. Fitzgerald W.F., Engstrom D.R., Lamborg C.H., Tseng C.M., Balcom P.H. & Hammerschmidt C.R. 2005. Modern and historic atmospheric mercury fluxes in northern Alaska: global sources and Arctic depletion. Environmental Science and Technology 39, 557 – 568. Gosselin M., LeVasseur M., Wheeler P.A., Horner R.A. & Booth B.C. 1997. New measurements of phytoplankton and ice algal production in the Arctic Ocean. Deep Sea Research Part I 44, 1623 – 1644. Hassol S.J. 2004. Impacts of a warming Arctic. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Hilderbrand G.V., Farley S.D., Robbins C.T., Hanley T.A., Titus K. & Servheen C. 1996. Use of stable isotopes to determine diets of living and extinct bears. Canadian Journal of Zoology 74, 2080 – 2088. Hobson K.A., Fisk A., Karnovsky N., Holst M., Gagnon J.M. & Fortier M. 2002. A stable isotope (δ 13 C, δ 15 N) model for the North Water food web: implications for evaluating trophodynamics and the flow of energy and contaminants. Deep Sea Research Part II 49, 5131 – 5150. Hobson K.A., Sease J.L., Merrick R.L. & Piatt J.F. 1997. Investigating trophic relationships of pinnipeds in Alaska and Washington using stable isotope ratios of nitrogen and carbon. Marine Mammal Science 13, 114 – 132. Hobson K.A. & Welch H.E. 1992. Determination of trophic relationships within a High Arctic marine food web using δ 13 C and δ 15 N analysis. Marine Ecology Progress Series 84, 9 – 18. Kelly J.F. 2000. Stable isotopes of carbon and in the study of avian and mammalian trophic ecology. Canadian Journal of Zoology 78, 1 – 27. Kurle C.M. 2002. Stable-isotope ratios of blood components from captive northern fur seals ( Callorhinus ursinus ) and their diet: applications for studying the foraging ecology of wild otariids. Canadian Journal of Zoology 80, 902 – 909. Lu J.Y., Schroeder W.H., Barrie L.A., Steften A., Welch H.E., Martin K., Lockhart L., Hunt R.V., Boila G. & Richter A. 2001. Magnification of atmospheric mercury deposition to polar regions in springtime: the link to tropospheric ozone depletion chemistry. Geophysical Research Letters 28, 3219 – 3222. McMahon K.W., Ambrose W.G. Jr., Johnson B.J., Sun M.Y., Lopez G.R., Clough L.M. & Carroll M.L. 2006. Benthic community response to ice algae and phytoplankton in Ny Ålesund, Svalbard. Marine Ecology Progress Series 310, 1 – 14. Muir D.C.G., Segstro M.D., Hobson K.A., Ford C.A., Stewart R.E.A. & Olpinski S. 1995. Can seal eating explain elevated levels of PCBs and organochlorine pesticides in walrus blubber from Eastern Hudson Bay (Canada)? Environmental Pollution 90, 335 – 348. Norstrom R.J., Schweinsberg R.E. & Collins B.T. 1986. Heavy metals and essential elements in livers of the polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) in the Canadian Arctic. Science of the Total Environment 48, 195 – 212. Outridge P.M., Hobson K.A. & Savelle J.M. 2005. Changes in mercury and cadmium concentrations and the feeding behaviour of beluga ( Delphinapterus leucas ) near Somerset Island, Canada, during the 20th century. Science of the Total Environment 350, 106 – 118. Outridge P.M., Stern G.A., Hamilton P.B., Percival J.B., McNeely R. & Lockhart W.L. 2005. Trace metal profiles in the varved sediment of an Arctic lake. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 69, 4881 – 4894. Overpeck J.T., Sturm M., Francis J.A., Perovich D.K., Serreze M.C., Benner R., Carmack E.C., Chapin Iii F.S., Gerlach S.C., Hamilton L.C., Hinzman L.D., Holland M., Huntington H.P., Key J.R., Lloyd A.H., MacDonald G.M., McFadden J., Noone D., Prowse T.D., Schlosser P. & VÖrÖsmarty C. 2005. Arctic system on trajectory to new, seasonally ice-free state. EOS, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 86, 312 – 313. Poulain A.J., Garcia E., Amyot M., Campbell P.G.C., Raofie F. & Ariya P.A. 2007. Biological and chemical redox transformations of mercury in fresh and salt waters of the High Arctic during spring and summer. Environmental Science and Technology 41, 1883 – 1888. Quevauviller P., Maier E.A., Vercoutere K., Muntau H. & Griepink B. 1992. Certified reference material (CRM 397) for the quality control of trace element analysis of human hair. Fresenius' Journal of Analytical Chemistry 343, 335 – 338. Ramsay M.A. & Hobson K.A. 1991. Polar bears make little use of terrestrial food webs: evidence from stable-carbon isotope analysis. Oecologia 86, 598 – 600. Schell D.M., Barnett B.A. & Vinette K.A. 1998. Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in zooplankton of the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Marine Ecology Progress Series 162, 11 – 23. Schuster P.F., Krabbenhoft D.P., Naftz D.L., Cecil L.D., Olson M.L., Dewild J.F., Susong D.D., Green J.R. & Abbott M.L. 2002. Atmospheric mercury deposition during the last 270 years: a glacial ice core record of natural and anthropogenic sources. Environmental Science and Technology 36, 2303 – 2310. Smetacek V. & Nicol S. 2005. Polar ocean ecosystems in a changing world. Nature 437, 362 – 368. Smith T.G. & Armstrong F.A.J. 1975. Mercury in seals, terrestrial carnivores, and principal food items of the Inuit, from Holman, N.W.T. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 32, 795 – 801. Tamelander T., Renaud P.E., Hop H., Carroll M.L., Ambrose W.G. Jr. & Hobson K.A. 2006. Trophic relationships and pelagic–benthic coupling during summer in the Barents Sea Marginal Ice Zone, revealed by stable carbon and nitrogen isotope measurements. Marine Ecology Progress Series 310, 33 – 46. Tremblay J.E., Michel C., Hobson K.A., Gosselin M. & Price N.M. 2006. Bloom dynamics in early opening waters of the Arctic Ocean. Limnology and Oceanography 51, 900 – 912. Wagemann R., Innes S. & Richard P.R. 1996. Overview and regional and temporal differences of heavy metals in Arctic whales and ringed seals in the Canadian Arctic. Science of the Total Environment 186, 41 – 66. Wagemann R., Trebacz E., Boila G. & Lockhart W.L. 1998. Methylmercury and total mercury in tissue of Arctic marine mammals. Science of the Total Environment 218, 19 – 31.
op_rights	© 2009 Norwegian Polar Institute
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spelling	ftumdeepblue:oai:deepblue.lib.umich.edu:2027.42/73930 2023-08-20T04:02:37+02:00 Stable isotope food-web analysis and mercury biomagnification in polar bears ( Ursus maritimus ) Horton, Travis W. Blum, Joel D Xie, Zhouqing Hren, Michael Chamberlain, C. Page 2 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1005, USA 1 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand 3 Geology and Geophysics Department, Yale University, P.O. Box 208109, New Haven, CT 06520-8109, USA 4 Geological and Environmental Science Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2115, USA 2009-12 885028 bytes 3109 bytes application/pdf text/plain http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/73930 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-8369.2009.00114.x unknown Blackwell Publishing Ltd Horton, Travis W.; Blum, Joel D.; Xie, Zhouqing; Hren, Michael; Chamberlain, C. Page (2009). "Stable isotope food-web analysis and mercury biomagnification in polar bears ( Ursus maritimus )." Polar Research 28(3): 443-454. <http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/73930> 0800-0395 1751-8369 http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/73930 doi:10.1111/j.1751-8369.2009.00114.x Polar Research Applequist H., Drabaek I. & Asbirk S. 1985. Variation in mercury content of guillemot feathers over 150 years. Marine Pollution Bulletin 16, 244 – 248. Ariya P.A., Dastoor A.P., Amyot M., Schroeder W.H., Barrie L., Anlauf K., Raofie F., Ryzhkov A., Davignon D., Lalonde J. & Steffen A. 2004. The Arctic: a sink for mercury. Tellus, Series B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology 56, 397 – 403. Arrigo K.R., Robinson D.H., Dunbar R.B., Leventer A.R. & Lizotte M.P. 2003. Physical control of chlorophyll a, POC, and TPN distributions in the pack ice of the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research—Oceans 108, article no. 3316, doi:10.1029/2001JC001138. Atkinson A. 1998. Life cycle strategies of epipelagic copepods in the Southern Ocean. Journal of Marine Systems 15, 289 – 311. Atwell L., Hobson K.A. & Welch H.E. 1998. Biomagnification and bioaccumulation of mercury in an Arctic marine food web: Insights from stable nitrogen isotope analysis. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 55, 1114 – 1121. Bentzen T.W., Follmann E.H., Amstrup S.C., York G.S., Wooler M.L. & O'Hara T.M. 2007. Variation in winter diet of southern Beaufort Sea polar bears inferred from stable isotope analysis. Canadian Journal of Zoology 85, 596 – 608. Bradstreet S.W. & Cross W.E. 1982. Trophic relationships at high ice edges. Arctic 35, 1 – 12. Braune B.M., Outridge P.M., Fisk A.T., Muir D.C.G., Helm P.A., Hobbs K., Hoekstra P.F., Kuzyk Z.A., Kwan M., Letcher R.J., Lockhart W.L., Norstrom R.J., Stern G.A. & Stirling I. 2005. Persistent organic pollutants and mercury in marine biota of the Canadian Arctic: an overview of spatial and temporal trends. Science of the Total Environment 351–352, 4 – 56. Budge S.M., Wooller M.J., Springer A.M., Iverson S.J., McRoy C.P. & Divoky G.J. 2008. Tracing carbon flow in an Arctic marine food web using fatty acid-stable isotope analysis. Oecologia 157, 117 – 129. Campbell L.M., Norstrom R.J., Hobson K.A., Muir D.C.G., Backus S. & Fisk A.T. 2005. Mercury and other trace elements in a pelagic Arctic marine food web (Northwater Polynya, Baffin Bay). Science of the Total Environment 351–352, 247 – 263. Dehn L., Follmann E.H., Thomas D.L., Sheffield G.G., Rosa C., Duffy L.K. & O'Hara T.M. 2006. Trophic relationships in an Arctic food web and implications for trace metal transfer. Science of the Total Environment 362, 103 – 123. Dehn L., Sheffield G.G., Follmann E.H., Duffy L.K., Thomas D.L., Bratton G.R., Taylor R.J. & O'Hara T.M. 2005. Trace elements in tissues of phocid seals harvested in the Alaskan and Canadian Arctic: influence of age on feeding ecology. Canadian Journal of Zoology 83, 726 – 746. Dietz R., Riget F., Boertmann D., Sonne C., Olsen M.T., Fjeldsa J., Falk K., Kirkegaard M., Egevang C., Asmucd G., Wille F. & Moller S. 2006. Time trends of mercury in feathers of west Greenland birds of prey during 1851–2003. Environmental Science and Technology 40, 5911 – 5916. Dietz R., Riget F., Born E.W., Sonne C., Grandjean P., Kirkegaard M., Olsen M.T., Asmund G., Renzoni A., BaagØe H. & Andreasen C. 2006. Trends in mercury in hair of Greenlandic polar bears ( Ursus maritimus ) during 1892–2001. Environmental Science and Technology 40, 1120 – 1125. Dietz R., Riget F. & Johansen P. 1996. Lead, cadmium, mercury, and selenium in Greenland marine animals. Science of the Total Environment 186, 67 – 93. Douglas T.A., Sturm M., Simpson W.R., Blum J.D., Alvarez-Aviles L., Keeler G.J., Perovich D.K., Biswas A. & Johnson K. 2008. Influence of snow and ice crystal formation and accumulation on mercury deposition to the Arctic. Environmental Science and Technology 42, 1542 – 1551. Eaton R.D.P. & Farant J.P. 1982. The polar bear as a biological indicator of the environmental mercury burden. Arctic 35, 422 – 425. Fitzgerald W.F., Engstrom D.R., Lamborg C.H., Tseng C.M., Balcom P.H. & Hammerschmidt C.R. 2005. Modern and historic atmospheric mercury fluxes in northern Alaska: global sources and Arctic depletion. Environmental Science and Technology 39, 557 – 568. Gosselin M., LeVasseur M., Wheeler P.A., Horner R.A. & Booth B.C. 1997. New measurements of phytoplankton and ice algal production in the Arctic Ocean. Deep Sea Research Part I 44, 1623 – 1644. Hassol S.J. 2004. Impacts of a warming Arctic. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Hilderbrand G.V., Farley S.D., Robbins C.T., Hanley T.A., Titus K. & Servheen C. 1996. Use of stable isotopes to determine diets of living and extinct bears. Canadian Journal of Zoology 74, 2080 – 2088. Hobson K.A., Fisk A., Karnovsky N., Holst M., Gagnon J.M. & Fortier M. 2002. A stable isotope (δ 13 C, δ 15 N) model for the North Water food web: implications for evaluating trophodynamics and the flow of energy and contaminants. Deep Sea Research Part II 49, 5131 – 5150. Hobson K.A., Sease J.L., Merrick R.L. & Piatt J.F. 1997. Investigating trophic relationships of pinnipeds in Alaska and Washington using stable isotope ratios of nitrogen and carbon. Marine Mammal Science 13, 114 – 132. Hobson K.A. & Welch H.E. 1992. Determination of trophic relationships within a High Arctic marine food web using δ 13 C and δ 15 N analysis. Marine Ecology Progress Series 84, 9 – 18. Kelly J.F. 2000. Stable isotopes of carbon and in the study of avian and mammalian trophic ecology. Canadian Journal of Zoology 78, 1 – 27. Kurle C.M. 2002. Stable-isotope ratios of blood components from captive northern fur seals ( Callorhinus ursinus ) and their diet: applications for studying the foraging ecology of wild otariids. Canadian Journal of Zoology 80, 902 – 909. Lu J.Y., Schroeder W.H., Barrie L.A., Steften A., Welch H.E., Martin K., Lockhart L., Hunt R.V., Boila G. & Richter A. 2001. Magnification of atmospheric mercury deposition to polar regions in springtime: the link to tropospheric ozone depletion chemistry. Geophysical Research Letters 28, 3219 – 3222. McMahon K.W., Ambrose W.G. Jr., Johnson B.J., Sun M.Y., Lopez G.R., Clough L.M. & Carroll M.L. 2006. Benthic community response to ice algae and phytoplankton in Ny Ålesund, Svalbard. Marine Ecology Progress Series 310, 1 – 14. Muir D.C.G., Segstro M.D., Hobson K.A., Ford C.A., Stewart R.E.A. & Olpinski S. 1995. Can seal eating explain elevated levels of PCBs and organochlorine pesticides in walrus blubber from Eastern Hudson Bay (Canada)? Environmental Pollution 90, 335 – 348. Norstrom R.J., Schweinsberg R.E. & Collins B.T. 1986. Heavy metals and essential elements in livers of the polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) in the Canadian Arctic. Science of the Total Environment 48, 195 – 212. Outridge P.M., Hobson K.A. & Savelle J.M. 2005. Changes in mercury and cadmium concentrations and the feeding behaviour of beluga ( Delphinapterus leucas ) near Somerset Island, Canada, during the 20th century. Science of the Total Environment 350, 106 – 118. Outridge P.M., Stern G.A., Hamilton P.B., Percival J.B., McNeely R. & Lockhart W.L. 2005. Trace metal profiles in the varved sediment of an Arctic lake. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 69, 4881 – 4894. Overpeck J.T., Sturm M., Francis J.A., Perovich D.K., Serreze M.C., Benner R., Carmack E.C., Chapin Iii F.S., Gerlach S.C., Hamilton L.C., Hinzman L.D., Holland M., Huntington H.P., Key J.R., Lloyd A.H., MacDonald G.M., McFadden J., Noone D., Prowse T.D., Schlosser P. & VÖrÖsmarty C. 2005. Arctic system on trajectory to new, seasonally ice-free state. EOS, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 86, 312 – 313. Poulain A.J., Garcia E., Amyot M., Campbell P.G.C., Raofie F. & Ariya P.A. 2007. Biological and chemical redox transformations of mercury in fresh and salt waters of the High Arctic during spring and summer. Environmental Science and Technology 41, 1883 – 1888. Quevauviller P., Maier E.A., Vercoutere K., Muntau H. & Griepink B. 1992. Certified reference material (CRM 397) for the quality control of trace element analysis of human hair. Fresenius' Journal of Analytical Chemistry 343, 335 – 338. Ramsay M.A. & Hobson K.A. 1991. Polar bears make little use of terrestrial food webs: evidence from stable-carbon isotope analysis. Oecologia 86, 598 – 600. Schell D.M., Barnett B.A. & Vinette K.A. 1998. Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in zooplankton of the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Marine Ecology Progress Series 162, 11 – 23. Schuster P.F., Krabbenhoft D.P., Naftz D.L., Cecil L.D., Olson M.L., Dewild J.F., Susong D.D., Green J.R. & Abbott M.L. 2002. Atmospheric mercury deposition during the last 270 years: a glacial ice core record of natural and anthropogenic sources. Environmental Science and Technology 36, 2303 – 2310. Smetacek V. & Nicol S. 2005. Polar ocean ecosystems in a changing world. Nature 437, 362 – 368. Smith T.G. & Armstrong F.A.J. 1975. Mercury in seals, terrestrial carnivores, and principal food items of the Inuit, from Holman, N.W.T. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 32, 795 – 801. Tamelander T., Renaud P.E., Hop H., Carroll M.L., Ambrose W.G. Jr. & Hobson K.A. 2006. Trophic relationships and pelagic–benthic coupling during summer in the Barents Sea Marginal Ice Zone, revealed by stable carbon and nitrogen isotope measurements. Marine Ecology Progress Series 310, 33 – 46. Tremblay J.E., Michel C., Hobson K.A., Gosselin M. & Price N.M. 2006. Bloom dynamics in early opening waters of the Arctic Ocean. Limnology and Oceanography 51, 900 – 912. Wagemann R., Innes S. & Richard P.R. 1996. Overview and regional and temporal differences of heavy metals in Arctic whales and ringed seals in the Canadian Arctic. Science of the Total Environment 186, 41 – 66. Wagemann R., Trebacz E., Boila G. & Lockhart W.L. 1998. Methylmercury and total mercury in tissue of Arctic marine mammals. Science of the Total Environment 218, 19 – 31. © 2009 Norwegian Polar Institute Arctic Food Webs Pelagic Polar Bears Stable Isotopes Sympagic Geology and Earth Sciences Science Article 2009 ftumdeepblue https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-8369.2009.00114.x 2023-07-31T20:56:03Z Mercury (Hg) biomagnification occurs in many ecosystems, resulting in a greater potential for toxicological effects in higher-level trophic feeders. However, Hg transport pathways through different food-web channels are not well known, particularly in high-latitude systems affected by the atmospheric Hg deposition associated with snow and ice. Here, we report on stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios, and Hg concentrations, determined for 26, late 19th and early 20th century, polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) hair specimens, collected from catalogued museum collections. These data elucidate relationships between the high-latitude marine food-web structure and Hg concentrations in polar bears. The carbon isotope compositions of polar bear hairs suggest that polar bears derive nutrition from coupled food-web channels, based in pelagic and sympagic primary producers, whereas the nitrogen isotope compositions indicate that polar bears occupy > fourth-level trophic positions. Our results show a positive correlation between polar bear hair Hg concentrations and δ 15 N. Interpretation of the stable isotope data in combination with Hg concentrations tentatively suggests that polar bears participating in predominantly pelagic food webs exhibit higher mercury concentrations than polar bears participating in predominantly sympagic food webs. Peer Reviewed http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73930/1/j.1751-8369.2009.00114.x.pdf Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarctica Journal Arctic Arctic Polar Research Ursus maritimus University of Michigan: Deep Blue Arctic Polar Research 28 3 443 454

Stable isotope food-web analysis and mercury biomagnification in polar bears ( Ursus maritimus )

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