Whiskers provide time-series of toxic and essential trace elements, Se:Hg molar ratios, and stable isotope values of an apex Antarctic predator, the leopard seal.

Autor: Charapata P; Baylor University, Biology Department, Waco, TX, United States of America. Electronic address: Patrick_charapata1@baylor.edu., Clark CT; Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Marine Mammal Research Division, Olympia, WA, United States of America., Miller N; Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States of America., Kienle SS; Baylor University, Biology Department, Waco, TX, United States of America., Costa DP; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, United States of America., Goebel ME; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, United States of America; Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, La Jolla, CA, United States of America., Gunn H; Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States of America; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, United States of America., Sperou ES; Baylor University, Biology Department, Waco, TX, United States of America., Kanatous SB; Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States of America., Crocker DE; Department of Biology, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA, United States of America., Borras-Chavez R; Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile., Trumble SJ; Baylor University, Biology Department, Waco, TX, United States of America.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2023 Jan 01; Vol. 854, pp. 158651. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Sep 10.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158651
Abstrakt: In an era of rapid environmental change and increasing human presence, researchers need efficient tools for tracking contaminants to monitor the health of Antarctic flora and fauna. Here, we examined the utility of leopard seal whiskers as a biomonitoring tool that reconstructs time-series of significant ecological and physiological biomarkers. Leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) are a sentinel species in the Western Antarctic Peninsula due to their apex predator status and top-down effects on several Antarctic species. However, there are few data on their contaminant loads. We analyzed leopard seal whiskers (n = 18 individuals, n = 981 segments) collected during 2018-2019 field seasons to acquire longitudinal profiles of non-essential (Hg, Pb, and Cd) and essential (Se, Cu, and Zn) trace elements, stable isotope (ẟ 15 N and ẟ 13 C) values and to assess Hg risk with Se:Hg molar ratios. Whiskers provided between 46 and 286 cumulative days of growth with a mean ~ 125 days per whisker (n = 18). Adult whiskers showed variability in non-essential trace elements over time that could partly be explained by changes in diet. Whisker Hg levels were insufficient (<20 ppm) to consider most seals being at "high" risk for Hg toxicity. Nevertheless, maximum Hg concentrations observed in this study were greater than that of leopard seal hair measured two decades ago. However, variation in the Se:Hg molar ratios over time suggest that Se may detoxify Hg burden in leopard seals. Overall, we provide evidence that the analysis of leopard seal whiskers allows for the reconstruction of time-series ecological and physiological data and can be valuable for opportunistically monitoring the health of the leopard seal population and their Antarctic ecosystem during climate change.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare there are no conflicts of interest.
(Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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