Wide Range of Mercury Contamination in Chicks of Southern Ocean Seabirds
International audience Using top predators as sentinels of the marine environment, Hg contamination was investigated within the large subantarctic seabird community of Kerguelen Islands, a remote area from the poorly known Southern Indian Ocean. Chicks of 21 sympatric seabirds presented a wide range...
Published in: | PLoS ONE |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
HAL CCSD
2013
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-00778491 https://hal.science/hal-00778491/document https://hal.science/hal-00778491/file/Blevin_et_al._2013_PLOS_ONE.pdf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054508 |
id |
ftunivnantes:oai:HAL:hal-00778491v1 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivnantes:oai:HAL:hal-00778491v1 2023-05-15T17:02:02+02:00 Wide Range of Mercury Contamination in Chicks of Southern Ocean Seabirds Blévin, Pierre Alice, Carravieri Jaeger, Audrey Olivier, Chastel Bustamante, Paco Cherel, Yves LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs) La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC) Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 2013-01-17 https://hal.science/hal-00778491 https://hal.science/hal-00778491/document https://hal.science/hal-00778491/file/Blevin_et_al._2013_PLOS_ONE.pdf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054508 en eng HAL CCSD Public Library of Science info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0054508 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/23349912 hal-00778491 https://hal.science/hal-00778491 https://hal.science/hal-00778491/document https://hal.science/hal-00778491/file/Blevin_et_al._2013_PLOS_ONE.pdf doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054508 PUBMED: 23349912 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 1932-6203 EISSN: 1932-6203 PLoS ONE https://hal.science/hal-00778491 PLoS ONE, 2013, 8 (1), pp.e54508. ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0054508⟩ Biomagnification Diet Foraging habitat Kerguelen Southern Ocean Stable isotopes Trophic level [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2013 ftunivnantes https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054508 2023-03-08T00:03:41Z International audience Using top predators as sentinels of the marine environment, Hg contamination was investigated within the large subantarctic seabird community of Kerguelen Islands, a remote area from the poorly known Southern Indian Ocean. Chicks of 21 sympatric seabirds presented a wide range of Hg concentrations, with the highest contaminated species containing ~102 times more feather Hg than the less contaminated species. Hence, Kerguelen seabirds encompass the whole range of chick feather Hg values that were previously collected worldwide in poorly industrialized localities. Using stable isotopes, the effects of foraging habitats (reflected by δ13C) and trophic positions (reflected by δ15N) on Hg concentrations were investigated. Species-related Hg variations were highly and positively linked to feather δ15N values, thus highlighting the occurrence of efficient Hg biomagnification processes within subantarctic marine trophic webs. By contrast, Hg contamination overall correlated poorly with feeding habitats, because of the pooling of species foraging within different isotopic gradients corresponding to distinct seabird habitats (benthic, pelagic, neritic and oceanic). However, when focusing on oceanic seabirds, Hg concentration was related to feather δ13C values, with species feeding in colder waters (lower δ13C values) south of Kerguelen Islands being less prone to be contaminated than species feeding in northern warmer waters (higher δ13C values). Within the context of continuous increase in global Hg emissions, Kerguelen Islands that are located far away from anthropogenic sources can be considered as an ideal study site to monitor the temporal trend of global Hg contamination. The present work helps selecting some seabird species as sentinels of environmental pollution according to their high Hg concentrations and their contrasted foraging ecology. Article in Journal/Newspaper Kerguelen Islands Southern Ocean Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES Indian Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands Southern Ocean PLoS ONE 8 1 e54508 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnantes |
language |
English |
topic |
Biomagnification Diet Foraging habitat Kerguelen Southern Ocean Stable isotopes Trophic level [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology |
spellingShingle |
Biomagnification Diet Foraging habitat Kerguelen Southern Ocean Stable isotopes Trophic level [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology Blévin, Pierre Alice, Carravieri Jaeger, Audrey Olivier, Chastel Bustamante, Paco Cherel, Yves Wide Range of Mercury Contamination in Chicks of Southern Ocean Seabirds |
topic_facet |
Biomagnification Diet Foraging habitat Kerguelen Southern Ocean Stable isotopes Trophic level [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology |
description |
International audience Using top predators as sentinels of the marine environment, Hg contamination was investigated within the large subantarctic seabird community of Kerguelen Islands, a remote area from the poorly known Southern Indian Ocean. Chicks of 21 sympatric seabirds presented a wide range of Hg concentrations, with the highest contaminated species containing ~102 times more feather Hg than the less contaminated species. Hence, Kerguelen seabirds encompass the whole range of chick feather Hg values that were previously collected worldwide in poorly industrialized localities. Using stable isotopes, the effects of foraging habitats (reflected by δ13C) and trophic positions (reflected by δ15N) on Hg concentrations were investigated. Species-related Hg variations were highly and positively linked to feather δ15N values, thus highlighting the occurrence of efficient Hg biomagnification processes within subantarctic marine trophic webs. By contrast, Hg contamination overall correlated poorly with feeding habitats, because of the pooling of species foraging within different isotopic gradients corresponding to distinct seabird habitats (benthic, pelagic, neritic and oceanic). However, when focusing on oceanic seabirds, Hg concentration was related to feather δ13C values, with species feeding in colder waters (lower δ13C values) south of Kerguelen Islands being less prone to be contaminated than species feeding in northern warmer waters (higher δ13C values). Within the context of continuous increase in global Hg emissions, Kerguelen Islands that are located far away from anthropogenic sources can be considered as an ideal study site to monitor the temporal trend of global Hg contamination. The present work helps selecting some seabird species as sentinels of environmental pollution according to their high Hg concentrations and their contrasted foraging ecology. |
author2 |
LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs) La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC) Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Blévin, Pierre Alice, Carravieri Jaeger, Audrey Olivier, Chastel Bustamante, Paco Cherel, Yves |
author_facet |
Blévin, Pierre Alice, Carravieri Jaeger, Audrey Olivier, Chastel Bustamante, Paco Cherel, Yves |
author_sort |
Blévin, Pierre |
title |
Wide Range of Mercury Contamination in Chicks of Southern Ocean Seabirds |
title_short |
Wide Range of Mercury Contamination in Chicks of Southern Ocean Seabirds |
title_full |
Wide Range of Mercury Contamination in Chicks of Southern Ocean Seabirds |
title_fullStr |
Wide Range of Mercury Contamination in Chicks of Southern Ocean Seabirds |
title_full_unstemmed |
Wide Range of Mercury Contamination in Chicks of Southern Ocean Seabirds |
title_sort |
wide range of mercury contamination in chicks of southern ocean seabirds |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-00778491 https://hal.science/hal-00778491/document https://hal.science/hal-00778491/file/Blevin_et_al._2013_PLOS_ONE.pdf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054508 |
geographic |
Indian Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Indian Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands Southern Ocean |
genre |
Kerguelen Islands Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Kerguelen Islands Southern Ocean |
op_source |
ISSN: 1932-6203 EISSN: 1932-6203 PLoS ONE https://hal.science/hal-00778491 PLoS ONE, 2013, 8 (1), pp.e54508. ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0054508⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0054508 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/23349912 hal-00778491 https://hal.science/hal-00778491 https://hal.science/hal-00778491/document https://hal.science/hal-00778491/file/Blevin_et_al._2013_PLOS_ONE.pdf doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054508 PUBMED: 23349912 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054508 |
container_title |
PLoS ONE |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
e54508 |
_version_ |
1766055257070108672 |