Accumulate or eliminate? Seasonal mercury dynamics in albatrosses, the most contaminated family of birds
International audience Albatrosses (Diomedeidae) are iconic pelagic seabirds whose life-history traits (longevity, high trophic position) put them at risk of high levels of exposure to methylmercury (MeHg), a powerful neurotoxin that threatens humans and wildlife. Here, we report total Hg (THg) conc...
Published in: | Environmental Pollution |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
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Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-01844106 https://hal.science/hal-01844106/document https://hal.science/hal-01844106/file/Cherel%20et%20al%202018%20ENPO.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.05.048 |
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ftunivrochelle:oai:HAL:hal-01844106v1 2024-05-19T07:31:28+00:00 Accumulate or eliminate? Seasonal mercury dynamics in albatrosses, the most contaminated family of birds Cherel, Yves Barbraud, Christophe Lahournat, Maxime Jaeger, Audrey Jaquemet, Sébastien Wanless, Ross Phillips, Richard, T. Thompson, David Bustamante, Paco Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC) Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs) La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Ecologie marine tropicale dans les Océans Pacifique et Indien (ENTROPIE Réunion ) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) University of Cape Town British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) 2018 https://hal.science/hal-01844106 https://hal.science/hal-01844106/document https://hal.science/hal-01844106/file/Cherel%20et%20al%202018%20ENPO.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.05.048 en eng HAL CCSD Elsevier info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.05.048 hal-01844106 https://hal.science/hal-01844106 https://hal.science/hal-01844106/document https://hal.science/hal-01844106/file/Cherel%20et%20al%202018%20ENPO.pdf doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2018.05.048 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 0269-7491 EISSN: 1873-6424 Environmental Pollution https://hal.science/hal-01844106 Environmental Pollution, 2018, 241, pp.124 - 135. ⟨10.1016/j.envpol.2018.05.048⟩ Southern ocean Antarctica Feathers Seabirds Stable isotopes Moult Methylmercury Foraging [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2018 ftunivrochelle https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.05.048 2024-04-24T00:36:21Z International audience Albatrosses (Diomedeidae) are iconic pelagic seabirds whose life-history traits (longevity, high trophic position) put them at risk of high levels of exposure to methylmercury (MeHg), a powerful neurotoxin that threatens humans and wildlife. Here, we report total Hg (THg) concentrations in body feathers from 516 individual albatrosses from 35 populations, including all 20 taxa breeding in the Southern Ocean. Our key finding is that albatrosses constitute the family of birds with the highest levels of contamination by Hg, with mean feather THg concentrations in different populations ranging from moderate (3.8 mg/g) to exceptionally high (34.6 mg/g). Phylogeny had a significant effect on feather THg concentrations, with the mean decreasing in the order Diomedea > Phoebetria > Thalassarche. Unexpectedly, moulting habitats (reflected in feather d13C values) was the main driver of feather THg concentrations, indicating increasing MeHg exposure with decreasing latitude, from Antarctic to subtropical waters. The role of moulting habitat suggests that the majority of MeHg eliminated into feathers by albatrosses is from recent food intake (income strategy). They thus differ from species that depurate MeHg into feathers that has been accumulated in internal tissues between two successive moults (capital strategy). Since albatrosses are amongst the most threatened families of birds, it is noteworthy that two albatrosses listed as Critical by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) that moult and breed in temperate waters are the most Hg-contaminated species (the Amsterdam and Tristan albatrosses). These data emphasize the urgent need for robust assessment of the impact of Hg contamination on the biology of albatrosses and they docu-ment the high MeHg level exposure of wildlife living in the most remote marine areas on Earth. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean HAL - Université de La Rochelle Environmental Pollution 241 124 135 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HAL - Université de La Rochelle |
op_collection_id |
ftunivrochelle |
language |
English |
topic |
Southern ocean Antarctica Feathers Seabirds Stable isotopes Moult Methylmercury Foraging [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology |
spellingShingle |
Southern ocean Antarctica Feathers Seabirds Stable isotopes Moult Methylmercury Foraging [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology Cherel, Yves Barbraud, Christophe Lahournat, Maxime Jaeger, Audrey Jaquemet, Sébastien Wanless, Ross Phillips, Richard, T. Thompson, David Bustamante, Paco Accumulate or eliminate? Seasonal mercury dynamics in albatrosses, the most contaminated family of birds |
topic_facet |
Southern ocean Antarctica Feathers Seabirds Stable isotopes Moult Methylmercury Foraging [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology |
description |
International audience Albatrosses (Diomedeidae) are iconic pelagic seabirds whose life-history traits (longevity, high trophic position) put them at risk of high levels of exposure to methylmercury (MeHg), a powerful neurotoxin that threatens humans and wildlife. Here, we report total Hg (THg) concentrations in body feathers from 516 individual albatrosses from 35 populations, including all 20 taxa breeding in the Southern Ocean. Our key finding is that albatrosses constitute the family of birds with the highest levels of contamination by Hg, with mean feather THg concentrations in different populations ranging from moderate (3.8 mg/g) to exceptionally high (34.6 mg/g). Phylogeny had a significant effect on feather THg concentrations, with the mean decreasing in the order Diomedea > Phoebetria > Thalassarche. Unexpectedly, moulting habitats (reflected in feather d13C values) was the main driver of feather THg concentrations, indicating increasing MeHg exposure with decreasing latitude, from Antarctic to subtropical waters. The role of moulting habitat suggests that the majority of MeHg eliminated into feathers by albatrosses is from recent food intake (income strategy). They thus differ from species that depurate MeHg into feathers that has been accumulated in internal tissues between two successive moults (capital strategy). Since albatrosses are amongst the most threatened families of birds, it is noteworthy that two albatrosses listed as Critical by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) that moult and breed in temperate waters are the most Hg-contaminated species (the Amsterdam and Tristan albatrosses). These data emphasize the urgent need for robust assessment of the impact of Hg contamination on the biology of albatrosses and they docu-ment the high MeHg level exposure of wildlife living in the most remote marine areas on Earth. |
author2 |
Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC) Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs) La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Ecologie marine tropicale dans les Océans Pacifique et Indien (ENTROPIE Réunion ) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) University of Cape Town British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cherel, Yves Barbraud, Christophe Lahournat, Maxime Jaeger, Audrey Jaquemet, Sébastien Wanless, Ross Phillips, Richard, T. Thompson, David Bustamante, Paco |
author_facet |
Cherel, Yves Barbraud, Christophe Lahournat, Maxime Jaeger, Audrey Jaquemet, Sébastien Wanless, Ross Phillips, Richard, T. Thompson, David Bustamante, Paco |
author_sort |
Cherel, Yves |
title |
Accumulate or eliminate? Seasonal mercury dynamics in albatrosses, the most contaminated family of birds |
title_short |
Accumulate or eliminate? Seasonal mercury dynamics in albatrosses, the most contaminated family of birds |
title_full |
Accumulate or eliminate? Seasonal mercury dynamics in albatrosses, the most contaminated family of birds |
title_fullStr |
Accumulate or eliminate? Seasonal mercury dynamics in albatrosses, the most contaminated family of birds |
title_full_unstemmed |
Accumulate or eliminate? Seasonal mercury dynamics in albatrosses, the most contaminated family of birds |
title_sort |
accumulate or eliminate? seasonal mercury dynamics in albatrosses, the most contaminated family of birds |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-01844106 https://hal.science/hal-01844106/document https://hal.science/hal-01844106/file/Cherel%20et%20al%202018%20ENPO.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.05.048 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean |
op_source |
ISSN: 0269-7491 EISSN: 1873-6424 Environmental Pollution https://hal.science/hal-01844106 Environmental Pollution, 2018, 241, pp.124 - 135. ⟨10.1016/j.envpol.2018.05.048⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.05.048 hal-01844106 https://hal.science/hal-01844106 https://hal.science/hal-01844106/document https://hal.science/hal-01844106/file/Cherel%20et%20al%202018%20ENPO.pdf doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2018.05.048 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.05.048 |
container_title |
Environmental Pollution |
container_volume |
241 |
container_start_page |
124 |
op_container_end_page |
135 |
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1799469328579428352 |