Does temporal variation of mercury levels in Arctic seabirds reflect changes in global environmental contamination, or a modification of Arctic marine food web functioning?
International audience Studying long-term trends of contaminants in Arctic biota is essential to better understand impacts of anthropogenic activities and climate change on the exposure of sensitive species and marine ecosystems. We concurrently measured temporal changes (2006e2014) in mercury (Hg)...
Published in: | Environmental Pollution |
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Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-01331331 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2015.12.061 |
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ftunmontpellier3:oai:HAL:hal-01331331v1 2024-05-19T07:28:06+00:00 Does temporal variation of mercury levels in Arctic seabirds reflect changes in global environmental contamination, or a modification of Arctic marine food web functioning? Fort, Jérôme Grémillet, David Traisnel, Gwendoline Amélineau, Françoise Bustamante, Paco LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs) La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Percy FitzPatrick Institute University of Cape Town Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE) Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro) European Project: 631203,EC:FP7:PEOPLE,FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG,ARCTOX(2014) 2016-04-01 https://hal.science/hal-01331331 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2015.12.061 en eng HAL CCSD Elsevier info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.envpol.2015.12.061 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/631203/EU/SEA-ICE SHRINKING AND INCREASING HUMAN ACTIVITIES IN THE ARCTIC: WHAT RISKS FOR THE AVIAN BIODIVERSITY?/ARCTOX hal-01331331 https://hal.science/hal-01331331 doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2015.12.061 ISSN: 0269-7491 EISSN: 1873-6424 Environmental Pollution https://hal.science/hal-01331331 Environmental Pollution, 2016, 211 (382-388), ⟨10.1016/j.envpol.2015.12.061⟩ Bio-indicator Little auk Metal Temporal trend Zooplankton Arctic [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2016 ftunmontpellier3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2015.12.061 2024-04-22T17:02:10Z International audience Studying long-term trends of contaminants in Arctic biota is essential to better understand impacts of anthropogenic activities and climate change on the exposure of sensitive species and marine ecosystems. We concurrently measured temporal changes (2006e2014) in mercury (Hg) contamination of little auks (Alle alle; the most abundant Arctic seabird) and in their major zooplankton prey species (Calanoid copepods, Themisto libellula, Gammarus spp.). We found an increasing contamination of the food-chain in East Greenland during summer over the last decade. More specifically, bird contamination (determined by body feather analyses) has increased at a rate of 3.4% per year. Conversely, bird exposure to Hg during winter in the northwest Atlantic (determined by head feather analyses) decreased over the study period (at a rate of 1.5% per year), although winter concentrations remained consistently higher than during summer. By combining mercury levels measured in birds and zooplankton to isotopic analyses, our results demonstrate that inter-annual variations of Hg levels in little auks reflect changes in food-chain contamination, rather than a reorganization of the food web and a modification of seabird trophic ecology. They therefore underline the value of little auks, and Arctic seabirds in general, as bio-indicators of long-term changes in environmental contamination. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alle alle Arctic Arctic Climate change East Greenland Greenland little auk Northwest Atlantic Themisto Themisto libellula Zooplankton Copepods HAL Portal Paul-Valéry University Montpellier 3 Environmental Pollution 211 382 388 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HAL Portal Paul-Valéry University Montpellier 3 |
op_collection_id |
ftunmontpellier3 |
language |
English |
topic |
Bio-indicator Little auk Metal Temporal trend Zooplankton Arctic [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology |
spellingShingle |
Bio-indicator Little auk Metal Temporal trend Zooplankton Arctic [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology Fort, Jérôme Grémillet, David Traisnel, Gwendoline Amélineau, Françoise Bustamante, Paco Does temporal variation of mercury levels in Arctic seabirds reflect changes in global environmental contamination, or a modification of Arctic marine food web functioning? |
topic_facet |
Bio-indicator Little auk Metal Temporal trend Zooplankton Arctic [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology |
description |
International audience Studying long-term trends of contaminants in Arctic biota is essential to better understand impacts of anthropogenic activities and climate change on the exposure of sensitive species and marine ecosystems. We concurrently measured temporal changes (2006e2014) in mercury (Hg) contamination of little auks (Alle alle; the most abundant Arctic seabird) and in their major zooplankton prey species (Calanoid copepods, Themisto libellula, Gammarus spp.). We found an increasing contamination of the food-chain in East Greenland during summer over the last decade. More specifically, bird contamination (determined by body feather analyses) has increased at a rate of 3.4% per year. Conversely, bird exposure to Hg during winter in the northwest Atlantic (determined by head feather analyses) decreased over the study period (at a rate of 1.5% per year), although winter concentrations remained consistently higher than during summer. By combining mercury levels measured in birds and zooplankton to isotopic analyses, our results demonstrate that inter-annual variations of Hg levels in little auks reflect changes in food-chain contamination, rather than a reorganization of the food web and a modification of seabird trophic ecology. They therefore underline the value of little auks, and Arctic seabirds in general, as bio-indicators of long-term changes in environmental contamination. |
author2 |
LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs) La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Percy FitzPatrick Institute University of Cape Town Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE) Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro) European Project: 631203,EC:FP7:PEOPLE,FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG,ARCTOX(2014) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fort, Jérôme Grémillet, David Traisnel, Gwendoline Amélineau, Françoise Bustamante, Paco |
author_facet |
Fort, Jérôme Grémillet, David Traisnel, Gwendoline Amélineau, Françoise Bustamante, Paco |
author_sort |
Fort, Jérôme |
title |
Does temporal variation of mercury levels in Arctic seabirds reflect changes in global environmental contamination, or a modification of Arctic marine food web functioning? |
title_short |
Does temporal variation of mercury levels in Arctic seabirds reflect changes in global environmental contamination, or a modification of Arctic marine food web functioning? |
title_full |
Does temporal variation of mercury levels in Arctic seabirds reflect changes in global environmental contamination, or a modification of Arctic marine food web functioning? |
title_fullStr |
Does temporal variation of mercury levels in Arctic seabirds reflect changes in global environmental contamination, or a modification of Arctic marine food web functioning? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Does temporal variation of mercury levels in Arctic seabirds reflect changes in global environmental contamination, or a modification of Arctic marine food web functioning? |
title_sort |
does temporal variation of mercury levels in arctic seabirds reflect changes in global environmental contamination, or a modification of arctic marine food web functioning? |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-01331331 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2015.12.061 |
genre |
Alle alle Arctic Arctic Climate change East Greenland Greenland little auk Northwest Atlantic Themisto Themisto libellula Zooplankton Copepods |
genre_facet |
Alle alle Arctic Arctic Climate change East Greenland Greenland little auk Northwest Atlantic Themisto Themisto libellula Zooplankton Copepods |
op_source |
ISSN: 0269-7491 EISSN: 1873-6424 Environmental Pollution https://hal.science/hal-01331331 Environmental Pollution, 2016, 211 (382-388), ⟨10.1016/j.envpol.2015.12.061⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.envpol.2015.12.061 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/631203/EU/SEA-ICE SHRINKING AND INCREASING HUMAN ACTIVITIES IN THE ARCTIC: WHAT RISKS FOR THE AVIAN BIODIVERSITY?/ARCTOX hal-01331331 https://hal.science/hal-01331331 doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2015.12.061 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2015.12.061 |
container_title |
Environmental Pollution |
container_volume |
211 |
container_start_page |
382 |
op_container_end_page |
388 |
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1799471137945550848 |