We measured mercury (Hg) concentrations in feathers from four penguin species collected on Macquarie Island, Southern Ocean, to 1) establish baseline Hg concentrations; and 2) compare Hg from samples collected in 2002 (“modern”) and from museum specimens collected between 1937 and 1976 (“historic”). Inter-specific differences in feather Hg reflected known differences in habitats and diversity of diets: benthic-foraging Gentoo penguins and Rockhopper penguins that foraged both inshore and offshore had significantly higher feather mercury than the more pelagic, specialist foraging King and Royal penguins. Hg significantly decreased between historic and modern samples in King and Royal penguins. This decrease could be due to changes in either diet, foodwebs, or atmospheric Hg input and sources in the Southern Hemisphere. Because Macquarie Island is home to 2.8 million marine animals, these data may indicate that other species that forage and breed in this region are also exposed to low Hg concentrations in this environment.

Volcanic CO₂ seeps were successfully used to predict coral reef response to ocean acidification, although toxic elements, often characteristic of hydrothermal vents were rarely reported. We measured the physicochemical conditions, seawater carbonate chemistry and trace elements in Tutum Bay, Papua New Guinea. There, intense emission of hydrothermal fluids and CO₂ expose the coral reef to a seawater pHT between 7.6 and 7.7.Arsenic and silica were enriched by up to six times in surface seawater, while bottom concentrations were lower and thus similar to coral reefs worldwide. Manganese, cesium, iron and zinc concentrations fell into the range of other coastal environments. Our measurements suggest that Tutum Bay is a suitable site to study the response of coral reefs to high pCO₂. Considering that arsenic is a common metal in hydrothermal fluids, its characterization should be included in any study that uses volcanic CO₂ seeps as natural laboratories for ocean acidification.

The extent of the Earth’s surface burned annually by fires is affected by a number of drivers, including but not limited to climate. Other important drivers include the amount and type of vegetation (fuel) available and human impacts, including fire suppression, ignition, and conversion of burnable land to crops. Prior to the evolution of hominids, area burned was dictated by climate via direct influences on vegetation, aridity, and lightning. In the future, warming will be accompanied by changes in distribution, frequency, intensity, and timing of precipitation that may promote or suppress fire activity depending on location. Where area burned increases, fire may become self-regulating by reducing fuel availability. The effects of climate change on fire regimes will be strongly modulated by humans in many areas. Here, we use a systems approach to outline major drivers of changes in area burned. Due to the array of interacting drivers working in concert with climate’s influence on burned area, and uncertainty in the direction and magnitude of changes in these drivers, there is very high uncertainty for much of the globe regarding how fire activity and accompanying smoke emissions will change in the coming decades.

The influence of sedimentary metals on the cockle A. trapezia tissue was examined using a strong difference in sedimentary metal concentrations in an embayment (Hen and Chicken Bay) highly contaminated in Cu and an adjacent cove (Iron Cove), strongly enriched in Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn within the heavily-urbanised Sydney estuary catchment (Australia). Statistically significant differences were recorded for cockle tissue metal concentrations between the study locations reflecting differences in surficial sediment metal concentrations. Low metal uptake was apparent in A. trapezia tissue, which were considerably less than background sedimentary concentrations and was of low-risk for human consumption. Dissimilar bioconcentration of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn was apparent in tissue of cockles (A. trapezia), prawns (Metapenaeus bennettae), mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and oysters (Saccostrea glomerata), due possibly to different feeding patterns and biogeochemical conditions in bottom sediments.

We investigated seabird plastic ingestion in the western Indian Ocean by analyzing the stomach contents of 222 individuals belonging to nine seabird species (including two endangered species endemics to Reunion Island). The most affected species were tropical shearwaters (79%) and Barau's petrels (59%). The average number of plastic particles per contaminated bird was higher in Barau's petrels (6.10 ± 1.29) than in tropical shearwaters (3.84 ± 0.59). All other studied species also showed plastic presence in their stomach contents. The mass of plastic particles was significantly higher both in juvenile's Barau's petrels and tropical shearwaters than in adults. These results demonstrate the foraging areas of seabirds of the western Indian Ocean have a high level of plastic pollution. In Reunion Island, hundreds of tropical shearwaters and Barau's petrels are attracted by urban lights and die each year. We suggest taking advantage of this situation by using these species as long-term indicators of plastic marine pollution in the region.

Silver (Ag) is a non-essential metal known to bioaccumulate in aquatic organisms. We determined Ag concentrations in five false killer whales stranded in South America. Silver concentrations (in dry weight basis) range as 6.62–10.78 μg g⁻¹ in liver, 0.008–7.41 μg g⁻¹ in spleen, 0.004–5.71 μg g⁻¹ in testis, 0.757–1.69 μg g⁻¹ in kidney, 0.011–0.078 μg g⁻¹ in lung and < 0.01–0.038 μg g⁻¹ in muscle, whereas in the single samples of uterus and ovary were 0.051 and 0.023 μg g⁻¹; respectively. Overall, Ag concentration in liver and kidney exceeded the cetacean toxic thresholds, proposed as “unhealthy concentrations” and “critically dangerous” in liver and kidney. These results warrant further eco-toxicological studies, to examine biological effects of elevated silver levels for individuals and to assess the species' conservation status with respect to marine pollution.

Heavy metal concentrations were determined in oyster (C. gigas), planktons and seawater from Liaodong Bay. Samples were collected during spring, summer and autumn. Heavy metal concentrations in oysters, planktons and seawater showed variations depending on season, sampling site and size of the oysters. Heavy metal concentrations in oysters, planktons and seawater were higher in summer and the lowest levels were found in autumn. The maximum levels of Cd and Pb were found in oysters of size-class III while the maximum levels of Cr, Cu and Zn were found in those of size-class II. The minimum levels of Cu and Pb were observed in oysters of size-class I. The minimum levels of Cd were observed in those of size-class II. And the minimum levels of Cr and Zn were observed in those of size-class III. There were significant differences in metal concentrations of oysters, planktons and seawater between sampling sites.

The objective was to compare the different effects of essential element Cu and non-essential element Hg on antioxidant and inflammatory responses in the liver of large yellow croaker Larimichthys crocea. Fish were exposed to Cu stresses (72 and 288 μg L−1) and Hg stresses (14 and 56 μg L−1) for 96 h. High-dose Cu increased metallothioneins (MTs) levels and immune defenses in response to elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS), but low-dose Cu had no effect on ROS. High-dose Hg reduced antioxidant and inflammatory responses, which contributed to the increment of ROS. MTs may be a suitable biomarker to assess Cu contamination, but no relationship was observed between MTs levels and Hg content. Furthermore, NFE2-related nuclear factor 2 (Nrf2) and nuclear transcription factor κB (NF-κB) were positively related to their respective target genes in the Cu-exposed groups. In conclusion, Cu and Hg induced some differences in antioxidant and inflammatory responses, which providing some novel insights into toxicological effects of Cu and Hg stresses.

Heavy metal pollution is a serious environmental problem. Up to date, research regarding distribution, accumulation and potential risk assessment of metals in aquatic organisms in Laizhou Bay, China is scarce. This study aims to investigate metals in aquatic organisms in this region. The results demonstrated that great variability of metals content occurred among species and sampling locations. Fe was the most abundant metal, followed by Zn, Mn, Cu, Ni, Cr, Cd and Pb. Overall, shellfish and crab displayed high enrichment ability compared with fish and shrimp. There was no significant correlation between metals and samples weight, δ13C and δ15N values. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that metals in samples were mainly derived from anthropogenic activities. Health risk of metals was evaluated on the basis of estimated daily intake (EDI) and target hazard quotient (THQ) values. The results indicated that metals in studied seafood had no significant risks for ordinary consumers.

Concentrations and enrichment of major (Na, Al and Cl) and trace (V, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Br, Mo, Hg, Pb and U) elements were evaluated in ²¹⁰Pb-dated sediment cores from saltmarsh areas surrounding an anthropized lagoon at southeastern Gulf of California. A chemometric approach was used to identify the sedimentary processes that control the variability of elements among the cores; and the elemental fluxes were compared among coring sites on the basis of historical urbanization and industrial development in the area. The highest fluxes and excess concentrations of V, Ni, Hg and Pb were observed after 1960 in cores EUI and EUIII, and in 1980 at EUII. In general, the historical trends of metal enrichment coincide with the growth of urban and industrial developments around the lagoon, and particularly with the beginning and full operation of a thermoelectric power plant in 1980s.