Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure
The ability of animals to respond to changes in their environment is critical to their persistence. In the Arctic, climate change and mercury exposure are two of the most important environmental threats for top predators.1-3 Rapid warming is causing precipitous sea-ice loss, with consequences on the...
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2021
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ftuniaarhuspubl:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/e90fb5bc-d3cd-424c-953d-ef4296abb389 2023-05-15T14:47:06+02:00 Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure Dietz, Rune Desforges, Jean-Pierre Rigét, Frank F Aubail, Aurore Garde, Eva Ambus, Per Drimmie, Robert Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter Sonne, Christian 2021-05 application/pdf https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/publications/analysis-of-narwhal-tusks-reveals-lifelong-feeding-ecology-and-mercury-exposure(e90fb5bc-d3cd-424c-953d-ef4296abb389).html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.018 https://pure.au.dk/ws/files/279519031/1_s2.0_S0960982221002256_main.pdf eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Dietz , R , Desforges , J-P , Rigét , F F , Aubail , A , Garde , E , Ambus , P , Drimmie , R , Heide-Jørgensen , M P & Sonne , C 2021 , ' Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure ' , Current Biology , vol. 31 , no. 9 , pp. 2012-2019.e2 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.018 article 2021 ftuniaarhuspubl https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.018 2023-04-05T22:57:33Z The ability of animals to respond to changes in their environment is critical to their persistence. In the Arctic, climate change and mercury exposure are two of the most important environmental threats for top predators.1-3 Rapid warming is causing precipitous sea-ice loss, with consequences on the distribution, composition, and dietary ecology of species4-7 and, thus, exposure to food-borne mercury.8 Current understanding of global change and pollution impacts on Arctic wildlife relies on single-time-point individual data representing a snapshot in time. These data often lack comprehensive temporal resolution and overlook the cumulative lifelong nature of stressors as well as individual variation. To overcome these challenges, we explore the unique capacity of narwhal tusks to characterize chronological lifetime biogeochemical profiles, allowing for investigations of climate-induced dietary changes and contaminant trends. Using temporal patterns of stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) and mercury concentrations in annually deposited dentine growth layer groups in 10 tusks from Northwest Greenland (1962-2010), we show surprising plasticity in narwhal feeding ecology likely resulting from climate-induced changes in sea-ice cover, biological communities, and narwhal migration. Dietary changes consequently impacted mercury exposure primarily through trophic magnification effects. Mercury increased log-linearly over the study period, albeit with an unexpected rise in recent years, likely caused by increased emissions and/or greater bioavailability in a warmer, ice-free Arctic. Our findings are consistent with an emerging pattern in the Arctic of reduced sea-ice leading to changes in the migration, habitat use, food web, and contaminant exposure in Arctic top predators. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Greenland narwhal* Sea ice Aarhus University: Research Arctic Greenland Current Biology 31 9 2012 2019.e2 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Aarhus University: Research |
op_collection_id |
ftuniaarhuspubl |
language |
English |
description |
The ability of animals to respond to changes in their environment is critical to their persistence. In the Arctic, climate change and mercury exposure are two of the most important environmental threats for top predators.1-3 Rapid warming is causing precipitous sea-ice loss, with consequences on the distribution, composition, and dietary ecology of species4-7 and, thus, exposure to food-borne mercury.8 Current understanding of global change and pollution impacts on Arctic wildlife relies on single-time-point individual data representing a snapshot in time. These data often lack comprehensive temporal resolution and overlook the cumulative lifelong nature of stressors as well as individual variation. To overcome these challenges, we explore the unique capacity of narwhal tusks to characterize chronological lifetime biogeochemical profiles, allowing for investigations of climate-induced dietary changes and contaminant trends. Using temporal patterns of stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) and mercury concentrations in annually deposited dentine growth layer groups in 10 tusks from Northwest Greenland (1962-2010), we show surprising plasticity in narwhal feeding ecology likely resulting from climate-induced changes in sea-ice cover, biological communities, and narwhal migration. Dietary changes consequently impacted mercury exposure primarily through trophic magnification effects. Mercury increased log-linearly over the study period, albeit with an unexpected rise in recent years, likely caused by increased emissions and/or greater bioavailability in a warmer, ice-free Arctic. Our findings are consistent with an emerging pattern in the Arctic of reduced sea-ice leading to changes in the migration, habitat use, food web, and contaminant exposure in Arctic top predators. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dietz, Rune Desforges, Jean-Pierre Rigét, Frank F Aubail, Aurore Garde, Eva Ambus, Per Drimmie, Robert Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter Sonne, Christian |
spellingShingle |
Dietz, Rune Desforges, Jean-Pierre Rigét, Frank F Aubail, Aurore Garde, Eva Ambus, Per Drimmie, Robert Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter Sonne, Christian Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure |
author_facet |
Dietz, Rune Desforges, Jean-Pierre Rigét, Frank F Aubail, Aurore Garde, Eva Ambus, Per Drimmie, Robert Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter Sonne, Christian |
author_sort |
Dietz, Rune |
title |
Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure |
title_short |
Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure |
title_full |
Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure |
title_fullStr |
Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure |
title_full_unstemmed |
Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure |
title_sort |
analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/publications/analysis-of-narwhal-tusks-reveals-lifelong-feeding-ecology-and-mercury-exposure(e90fb5bc-d3cd-424c-953d-ef4296abb389).html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.018 https://pure.au.dk/ws/files/279519031/1_s2.0_S0960982221002256_main.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Greenland narwhal* Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Greenland narwhal* Sea ice |
op_source |
Dietz , R , Desforges , J-P , Rigét , F F , Aubail , A , Garde , E , Ambus , P , Drimmie , R , Heide-Jørgensen , M P & Sonne , C 2021 , ' Analysis of narwhal tusks reveals lifelong feeding ecology and mercury exposure ' , Current Biology , vol. 31 , no. 9 , pp. 2012-2019.e2 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.018 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.018 |
container_title |
Current Biology |
container_volume |
31 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
2012 |
op_container_end_page |
2019.e2 |
_version_ |
1766318248895184896 |