Mercury Concentrations in Feathers of Albatrosses and Large Petrels at South Georgia: Contemporary Patterns and Comparisons with Past Decades

12 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables.-- Data Availability: The data supporting this study will be made available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request

Bibliographic Details
Authors: Mills, William F., Bustamante, Paco, Ramírez Benítez, Francisco, Forero, Manuela G., Phillips, Richard A.
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2024
Country:España
Institution:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repository:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/366082
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/366082
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:http://metadata.un.org/sdg/6
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
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spelling Mercury Concentrations in Feathers of Albatrosses and Large Petrels at South Georgia: Contemporary Patterns and Comparisons with Past DecadesMills, William F.Bustamante, PacoRamírez Benítez, FranciscoForero, Manuela G.Phillips, Richard A.http://metadata.un.org/sdg/6Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all12 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables.-- Data Availability: The data supporting this study will be made available from the corresponding author upon reasonable requestMercury (Hg) is an environmental contaminant that can negatively impact the health of humans and wildlife. Albatrosses and large petrels show some of the highest levels of Hg contamination among birds, with potential repercussions for reproduction and survival. Here, body feather total Hg (THg) concentrations were determined in breeding adults of five species of albatrosses and large petrels in the foraging guild at South Georgia during the mid-2010s. We tested the effects of species, sex and trophic ecology (inferred from stable isotopes) on THg concentrations and compared our results with published values from past decades. Feather THg concentrations differed significantly among species (range: 1.9–49.6 µg g−1 dw), and were highest in wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans, intermediate in black-browed albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris and northern giant petrels Macronectes halli, and lowest in southern giant petrels M. giganteus and white-chinned petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis. Females were more contaminated than males in all species, potentially due to differences in distributions and diet composition. Across species, THg concentrations were not correlated with feather δ13C or δ15N values, implying that species effects (e.g., breeding and moulting frequencies) may be more important than trophic effects in explaining feather THg concentrations in this foraging guild. Within species, the only significant correlation was between THg and δ13C in wandering albatrosses, which could reflect higher Hg exposure in subtropical waters. Comparisons with THg concentrations from past studies, which reflect contamination from 10 to > 60 years ago, revealed considerable annual variation and some evidence for increases over time for wandering and black-browed albatrosses since before 1950 and from the late 1980s, respectivelyThis research was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) National Capability Science: Strategic Research & Innovation Short Projects. WFM was awarded a travel grant from the Royal Society of Biology to visit the Laboratory of Stable Isotopes at the Doñana Biological StationWith the institutional support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S)Peer reviewedSpringerNatural Environment Research Council (UK)Royal Society of Biology (UK)Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]202420242024info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501Publisher's versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://hdl.handle.net/10261/366082reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)Ingléshttps://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-024-01067-9Síinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:digital.csic.es:10261/3660822026-05-22T06:33:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Mercury Concentrations in Feathers of Albatrosses and Large Petrels at South Georgia: Contemporary Patterns and Comparisons with Past Decades
title Mercury Concentrations in Feathers of Albatrosses and Large Petrels at South Georgia: Contemporary Patterns and Comparisons with Past Decades
spellingShingle Mercury Concentrations in Feathers of Albatrosses and Large Petrels at South Georgia: Contemporary Patterns and Comparisons with Past Decades
Mills, William F.
http://metadata.un.org/sdg/6
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
title_short Mercury Concentrations in Feathers of Albatrosses and Large Petrels at South Georgia: Contemporary Patterns and Comparisons with Past Decades
title_full Mercury Concentrations in Feathers of Albatrosses and Large Petrels at South Georgia: Contemporary Patterns and Comparisons with Past Decades
title_fullStr Mercury Concentrations in Feathers of Albatrosses and Large Petrels at South Georgia: Contemporary Patterns and Comparisons with Past Decades
title_full_unstemmed Mercury Concentrations in Feathers of Albatrosses and Large Petrels at South Georgia: Contemporary Patterns and Comparisons with Past Decades
title_sort Mercury Concentrations in Feathers of Albatrosses and Large Petrels at South Georgia: Contemporary Patterns and Comparisons with Past Decades
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Mills, William F.
Bustamante, Paco
Ramírez Benítez, Francisco
Forero, Manuela G.
Phillips, Richard A.
author Mills, William F.
author_facet Mills, William F.
Bustamante, Paco
Ramírez Benítez, Francisco
Forero, Manuela G.
Phillips, Richard A.
author_role author
author2 Bustamante, Paco
Ramírez Benítez, Francisco
Forero, Manuela G.
Phillips, Richard A.
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Natural Environment Research Council (UK)
Royal Society of Biology (UK)
Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv http://metadata.un.org/sdg/6
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
topic http://metadata.un.org/sdg/6
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
description 12 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables.-- Data Availability: The data supporting this study will be made available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request
publishDate 2024
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2024
2024
2024
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
Publisher's version
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10261/366082
url http://hdl.handle.net/10261/366082
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-024-01067-9
Sí
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
instname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
instname_str Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
reponame_str DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
collection DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15.811543

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