Spatial and sex differences in mercury contamination of skuas in the Southern Ocean
2022
Mills, William, F | Ibañez, Andrés, E | Bustamante, Paco | Carneiro, Ana, P B | Bearhop, Stuart | Cherel, Yves | Mariano-Jelicich, Rocío | Mcgill, Rona, a R | Montalti, Diego | Votier, Stephen, C | Phillips, Richard, A | British Antarctic Survey (BAS) ; Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) | University of Exeter | Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo [La Plata] (FCNyM) ; Universidad Nacional de la Plata [Argentine] (UNLP) | LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs) ; Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) | Institut universitaire de France (IUF) ; Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche (M.E.N.E.S.R.) | La Rochelle Université (ULR) | BirdLife International | Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC) ; La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) | Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras [Mar del Plata] (IIMyC) ; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas [Buenos Aires] (CONICET)-Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales [Mar del Plata] ; Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata [Mar del Plata] (UNMdP)-Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata [Mar del Plata] (UNMdP) | Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC) ; University of Glasgow-The University of Edinburgh | Instituto Antartico Argentino | Heriot-Watt University [Edinburgh] (HWU)
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Show more [+] Less [-]English. Antarctic marine ecosystems are often considered to be pristine environments, yet wildlife in the polar regions may still be exposed to high levels of environmental contaminants. Here, we measured total mercury (THg) concentrations in blood samples from adult brown skuas Stercorarius antarcticus lonnbergi (n = 82) from three breeding colonies south of the Antarctic Polar Front in the Southern Ocean (southwest Atlantic region): (i) Bahía Esperanza/Hope Bay, Antarctic Peninsula; (ii) Signy Island, South Orkney Islands; and, (iii) Bird Island, South Georgia. Blood THg concentrations increased from the Antarctic Peninsula towards the Antarctic Polar Front, such that Hg contamination was lowest at Bahía Esperanza/Hope Bay (mean ± SD, 0.95 ± 0.45 µg g-1 dw), intermediate at Signy Island (3.42 ± 2.29 µg g-1 dw) and highest at Bird Island (4.47 ± 1.10 µg g-1 dw). Blood THg concentrations also showed a weak positive correlation with δ15N values, likely reflecting the biomagnification process. Males had higher Hg burdens than females, which may reflect deposition of Hg into eggs by females or potentially differences in their trophic ecology. These data provide important insights into intraspecific variation in contamination and the geographic transfer of Hg to seabirds in the Southern Ocean.
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