Influence of Species-Specific Feeding Ecology on Mercury Concentrations in Seabirds Breeding on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand
Mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal that accumulates in organisms and biomagnifies along food webs; hence, long-lived predators such as seabirds are at risk as a result of high Hg bioaccumulation. Seabirds have been widely used to monitor the contamination of marine ecosystems. In the present study, we in...
Published in: | Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry |
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Online Access: | https://jlupub.ub.uni-giessen.de//handle/jlupub/164 https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.4933 https://doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-109 |
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ftunivgiessen:oai:jlupub.ub.uni-giessen.de:jlupub/164 2023-12-24T10:10:25+01:00 Influence of Species-Specific Feeding Ecology on Mercury Concentrations in Seabirds Breeding on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand Thébault, Justine Bustamante, Paco Massaro, Melanie Taylor, Graeme Quillfeldt, Petra 2021-02-01 application/pdf https://jlupub.ub.uni-giessen.de//handle/jlupub/164 https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.4933 https://doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-109 en eng https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.4933 https://jlupub.ub.uni-giessen.de//handle/jlupub/164 http://dx.doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-109 Attribution 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Bioaccumulation Bulk stable isotopes Compound-specific isotopic analyses of amino acids Food web Heavy metal Pterodroma ddc:570 article 2021 ftunivgiessen https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.493310.22029/jlupub-109 2023-11-26T23:24:46Z Mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal that accumulates in organisms and biomagnifies along food webs; hence, long-lived predators such as seabirds are at risk as a result of high Hg bioaccumulation. Seabirds have been widely used to monitor the contamination of marine ecosystems. In the present study, we investigated Hg concentrations in blood, muscle, and feathers of 7 procellariform seabirds breeding on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. Using bulk and compound-specific stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen as a proxy of trophic position and distribution, we also tested whether Hg contamination is related to the species-specific feeding ecology. Mercury exposure varied widely within the seabird community. The highest contaminated species, the Magenta petrel, had approximately 29 times more Hg in its blood than the broad-billed prion, and approximately 35 times more Hg in its feathers than the grey-backed storm petrel. Variations of Hg concentrations in blood and feathers were significantly and positively linked to feeding habitats and trophic position, highlighting the occurrence of efficient Hg biomagnification processes along the food web. Species and feeding habitats were the 2 main drivers of Hg exposure within the seabird community. The Pterodroma species had high blood and feather Hg concentrations, which can be caused by their specific physiology and/or because of their foraging behavior during the interbreeding period (i.e., from the Tasman Sea to the Humboldt Current system). These 2 threatened species are at risk of suffering detrimental effects from Hg contamination and further studies are required to investigate potential negative impacts, especially on their reproduction capability. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:454-472. © 2020 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in the framework of the priority programme “Antarctic Research with Comparative Investigations in Arctic Ice Areas” (SPP 1158; QU ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen: JLUpub Arctic Antarctic New Zealand Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 40 2 454 472 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen: JLUpub |
op_collection_id |
ftunivgiessen |
language |
English |
topic |
Bioaccumulation Bulk stable isotopes Compound-specific isotopic analyses of amino acids Food web Heavy metal Pterodroma ddc:570 |
spellingShingle |
Bioaccumulation Bulk stable isotopes Compound-specific isotopic analyses of amino acids Food web Heavy metal Pterodroma ddc:570 Thébault, Justine Bustamante, Paco Massaro, Melanie Taylor, Graeme Quillfeldt, Petra Influence of Species-Specific Feeding Ecology on Mercury Concentrations in Seabirds Breeding on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand |
topic_facet |
Bioaccumulation Bulk stable isotopes Compound-specific isotopic analyses of amino acids Food web Heavy metal Pterodroma ddc:570 |
description |
Mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal that accumulates in organisms and biomagnifies along food webs; hence, long-lived predators such as seabirds are at risk as a result of high Hg bioaccumulation. Seabirds have been widely used to monitor the contamination of marine ecosystems. In the present study, we investigated Hg concentrations in blood, muscle, and feathers of 7 procellariform seabirds breeding on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. Using bulk and compound-specific stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen as a proxy of trophic position and distribution, we also tested whether Hg contamination is related to the species-specific feeding ecology. Mercury exposure varied widely within the seabird community. The highest contaminated species, the Magenta petrel, had approximately 29 times more Hg in its blood than the broad-billed prion, and approximately 35 times more Hg in its feathers than the grey-backed storm petrel. Variations of Hg concentrations in blood and feathers were significantly and positively linked to feeding habitats and trophic position, highlighting the occurrence of efficient Hg biomagnification processes along the food web. Species and feeding habitats were the 2 main drivers of Hg exposure within the seabird community. The Pterodroma species had high blood and feather Hg concentrations, which can be caused by their specific physiology and/or because of their foraging behavior during the interbreeding period (i.e., from the Tasman Sea to the Humboldt Current system). These 2 threatened species are at risk of suffering detrimental effects from Hg contamination and further studies are required to investigate potential negative impacts, especially on their reproduction capability. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:454-472. © 2020 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in the framework of the priority programme “Antarctic Research with Comparative Investigations in Arctic Ice Areas” (SPP 1158; QU ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thébault, Justine Bustamante, Paco Massaro, Melanie Taylor, Graeme Quillfeldt, Petra |
author_facet |
Thébault, Justine Bustamante, Paco Massaro, Melanie Taylor, Graeme Quillfeldt, Petra |
author_sort |
Thébault, Justine |
title |
Influence of Species-Specific Feeding Ecology on Mercury Concentrations in Seabirds Breeding on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand |
title_short |
Influence of Species-Specific Feeding Ecology on Mercury Concentrations in Seabirds Breeding on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand |
title_full |
Influence of Species-Specific Feeding Ecology on Mercury Concentrations in Seabirds Breeding on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand |
title_fullStr |
Influence of Species-Specific Feeding Ecology on Mercury Concentrations in Seabirds Breeding on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand |
title_full_unstemmed |
Influence of Species-Specific Feeding Ecology on Mercury Concentrations in Seabirds Breeding on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand |
title_sort |
influence of species-specific feeding ecology on mercury concentrations in seabirds breeding on the chatham islands, new zealand |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://jlupub.ub.uni-giessen.de//handle/jlupub/164 https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.4933 https://doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-109 |
geographic |
Arctic Antarctic New Zealand |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Antarctic New Zealand |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.4933 https://jlupub.ub.uni-giessen.de//handle/jlupub/164 http://dx.doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-109 |
op_rights |
Attribution 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.493310.22029/jlupub-109 |
container_title |
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry |
container_volume |
40 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
454 |
op_container_end_page |
472 |
_version_ |
1786215853804486656 |