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Seasonal variation of mercury contamination in Arctic seabirds: a pan- arctic assessment

Céline Albert 1, * Hálfdán Helgi Helgason Maud Brault-Favrou 1 Gregory Robertson Sébastien Descamps Françoise Amélineau Jóhannis Danielsen Rune Dietz Kyle Elliott Kjell Einar Erikstad Igor Eulaers Alexey Ezhov Michelle Fitzsimmons Maria Gavrilo Elena Golubova David Grémillet 2 Scott Hatch Nicholas Huffeldt Dariusz Jakubas Alexander Kitaysky Geir Helge Systad Thorkell Lindberg Thórarinsson Hálfdán Helgason Kjell Erikstad Yann Kolbeinsson Yuri Krasnov Svein-Håkon Lorentsen Erlend Lorentzen Mark Mallory Benjamin Merkel Flemming Merkel William Montevecchi Anders Mosbech Bergur Olsen Rachael Orben Allison Patterson Jennifer Provencher Flemming Ravn Merkel Tone Kristin Reiertsen Christine Plumejeaud 1 Isabeau Pratte Kristin Reiertsen Heather Renner Nora Rojek Marc Romano Hallvard Strøm Helge Systad Akinori Takahashi Jean-Baptiste Thiebot Thorkell Lindberg Thórarinsson Alexis Will Katarzyna Wojczulanis-Jakubas Paco Bustamante 1 Jérôme Fort 1
* Corresponding author
1 LIENSs - LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés - UMRi 7266
2 CEFE - Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive
Abstract : Mercury (Hg) is a natural trace element found in high concentrations in top predators, including Arctic seabirds. Most current knowledge about Hg concentrations in Arctic seabirds relates to exposure during the summer breeding period when researchers can easily access seabirds at colonies. However, the few studies focused on winter have shown higher Hg concentrations during the non-breeding period than breeding period in several tissues. Hence, improving knowledge about Hg exposure during the non-breeding period is crucial to understanding the threats and risks encountered by these species year-round. We used feathers of nine migratory alcid species occurring at high latitudes to study bird Hg exposure during both the breeding and non-breeding periods. Overall, Hg concentrations during the non-breeding period were ~3 times higher than during the breeding period. In addition, spatial differences were apparent within and between the Atlantic and Pacific regions. While Hg concentrations during the non-breeding period were ~9 times and ~3 times higher than during the breeding period for the West and East Atlantic respectively, Hg concentrations in the Pacific during the non-breeding period were only ~1.7 times higher than during the breeding period. In addition, individual Hg concentrations during the non-breeding period for most of the seabird colonies were above 5.00 µg g-1 dry weight (dw), which is considered to be the threshold at which deleterious effects are observed, suggesting that some breeding populations might be vulnerable to non-breeding Hg exposure. Since wintering area locations, and migration routes may influence seasonal Hg concentrations, it is crucial to improve our knowledge about spatial ecotoxicology to fully understand the risks associated with Hg contamination in Arctic seabirds.
Keywords : polar top predators metal seasonal variation feathers
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Céline Albert, Hálfdán Helgi Helgason, Maud Brault-Favrou, Gregory Robertson, Sébastien Descamps, et al.. Seasonal variation of mercury contamination in Arctic seabirds: a pan- arctic assessment. Science of the Total Environment, Elsevier, 2021, 750, pp.142201. ⟨10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142201⟩. ⟨hal-02949049⟩

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