Carryover effects of winter mercury contamination on summer concentrations and reproductive performance in little auks
| Type | Article | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 2023-02 | ||||||||||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||||||||||
| Author(s) | Carravieri Alice1, 2, Lorioux Sophie1, Angelier Frédéric2, Chastel Olivier2, Albert Céline1, Bråthen Vegard Sandøy3, Brisson-Curadeau Émile2, 4, Clairbaux Manon5, 6, Delord Karine2, Giraudeau Mathieu1, Perret Samuel7, Poupart Timothée8, Ribout Cécile2, Viricel-Pante Amélia1, 9, Grémillet David7, 10, Bustamante Paco 1, 11, Fort Jérôme1 |
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| Affiliation(s) | 1 : Littoral Environnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), UMR 7266 CNRS- La Rochelle Université, 2 rue Olympe de Gouges, 17000, La Rochelle, France 2 : Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), UMR 7372 CNRS-La Rochelle Université, 405 Rte de Prissé la Charrière, 79360, Villiers-en-Bois, France 3 : Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Postboks 5685, Torgarden 7485 Trondheim, Norway 4 : Université McGill, 21111 Lakeshore Road, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, H9X 3V9, Canada 5 : MaREI, the SFI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, Beaufort Building, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork, P43 C573, Ireland 6 : School of Biological, Environmental and Earth Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, T23 N73K, Ireland 7 : Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), UMR 5175 Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France 8 : Patrimoine Naturel Joint Unit (OFB-CNRS-MNHN), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Station marine de Concarneau, Quai de la Croix, 29900 Concarneau, France 9 : LEMAR (UMR 6539 UBO, CNRS, IRD, Ifremer) IUEM, Technopole Brest-Iroise, rue Dumont d'Urville, 29280 Plouzané, France 10 : Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa 11 : Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), 1 rue Descartes 75005, Paris, France |
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| Source | Environmental Pollution (0269-7491) (Elsevier BV), 2023-02 , Vol. 318 , P. 120774 (11p.) | ||||||||||||||||
| DOI | 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120774 | ||||||||||||||||
| WOS© Times Cited | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Keyword(s) | Blood, Chick growth, Feathers, Reproduction, Migration, Seabird, Telomeres | ||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Many animals migrate after reproduction to respond to seasonal environmental changes. Environmental conditions experienced on non-breeding sites can have carryover effects on fitness. Exposure to harmful chemicals can vary widely between breeding and non-breeding grounds, but its carryover effects are poorly studied. Mercury (Hg) contamination is a major concern in the Arctic. Here we quantified winter Hg contamination and its carryover effects in the most abundant Arctic seabird, the little auk Alle. Winter Hg contamination of birds from an East Greenland population was inferred from head feather concentrations. Birds tracked with Global Location Sensors (GLS, N = 28 of the total 92) spent the winter in western and central North Atlantic waters and had increasing head feather Hg concentrations with increasing longitude (i.e., eastward). This spatial pattern was not predicted by environmental variables such as bathymetry, sea-surface temperature or productivity, and needs further investigation. Hg concentrations in head feathers and blood were strongly correlated, suggesting a carryover effect of adult winter contamination on the consequent summer concentrations. Head feather Hg concentrations had no clear association with telomere length, a robust fitness indicator. In contrast, carryover negative effects were detected on chick health, as parental Hg contamination in winter was associated with decreasing growth rate of chicks in summer. Head feather Hg concentrations of females were not associated with egg membrane Hg concentrations, or with egg volume. In addition, parental winter Hg contamination was not related to Hg burdens in chicks’ body feathers. Therefore, we hypothesise that the association between parental winter Hg exposure and the growth of their chick results from an Hg-related decrease in parental care, and needs further empirical evidence. Our results stress the need of considering parental contamination on non-breeding sites to understand Hg trans-generational effects in migrating seabirds, even at low concentrations. |
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