Generalist seabirds as biomonitors of ocean mercury: The importance of accurate trophic position assignment
| Autor: | Bianca Reis, Marie Claire Gatt, Paulo Catry, José Pedro Granadeiro, Eduarda Pereira |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Environmental Engineering
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Isoscapes CSIA-AA Biomagnification Oceans and Seas chemistry.chemical_element 010501 environmental sciences 01 natural sciences Shearwater Birds biology.animal Environmental Chemistry Animals Humans Ecosystem Waste Management and Disposal 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Trophic level Isotope analysis biology Ecology Seabird Trophic position Mercury Feathers biology.organism_classification Pollution Mercury (element) chemistry Biomonitoring Environmental science Environmental Monitoring |
| Zdroj: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP) instacron:RCAAP |
| ISSN: | 1879-1026 |
| Popis: | Monitoring mercury concentration in the marine environment is pivotal due to the risks that mercury intake poses to the ecosystem and human health. It is therefore of interest to make reliable, comparative measurements over large geographic areas. Here, the utility of wide-ranging generalist seabirds as mercury biomonitors at an ocean basin scale was assessed, using the Cory's Shearwater as a model species. The mercury concentration in flight feathers moulted at distant non-breeding areas of geolocator-tracked birds was quantified, reflecting contamination in various geographic areas. Compound-specific isotope analysis of amino acids was used to obtain comparable trophic positionestimates controlled for baseline isoscape. Birds that remained resident in the Canary Current integrated less mercury into their feathers than those that migrated to either the Benguela or Agulhas currents. Residents also occupied a significantly lower trophic position during the non-breeding season than migrants, largely explaining the difference in mercury exposure. Both mercury concentration and trophic position were similar in individuals spending the non-breeding period in the Benguela and Agulhas currents. This paper highlights the importance of accurate trophic position calculation in order to understand mercury exposure in wide-ranging predators and for meaningful spatial comparisons. Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCT info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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