1. Mercury exposure and trophic ecology of urban nesting black-legged kittiwakes from France.
- Author
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Lemesle P, Jouanneau W, Cherel Y, Legroux N, Ward A, Bustamante P, and Chastel O
- Subjects
- Animals, France, Male, Female, Ecosystem, Mercury blood, Mercury analysis, Charadriiformes metabolism, Environmental Monitoring, Food Chain, Water Pollutants, Chemical analysis, Water Pollutants, Chemical blood
- Abstract
Seabirds are increasingly used as bioindicators for assessing the chemical contamination of marine ecosystems, including by mercury (Hg) worldwide. However, some geographical areas are still poorly documented, as metropolitan France that is home to 28 seabird species including the black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla, in the part of the southern limit of the North Atlantic range of the species. Here, we investigated Hg contamination and trophic ecology of black-legged kittiwakes breeding in the harbour of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Northern France. Mean blood Hg concentration was 4.81 ± 1.20 μg g
-1 dw (dry weight), 3.66 ± 0.75 μg g-1 dw and 0.43 ± 0.07 μg g-1 dw for adult males, adult females, and chicks, respectively. According to Hg toxicity benchmarks for avian blood, 30% of the sampled adults were considered to be at moderate risk to Hg toxicity. Stable isotope and food analyses showed that highest δ15 N values (reflecting a higher trophic position) were related to highest blood Hg concentrations in adult birds, and that Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) and Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) were the main prey. Adult kittiwakes from Boulogne-sur-Mer showed Hg levels three times higher than those found in Arctic nesting kittiwakes, where sublethal effects have been documented. This study provides a first description of Hg contamination of black-legged kittiwakes breeding in France and calls for future ecotoxicological research to assess the vulnerability of this species in the southern part of its distribution range., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)- Published
- 2024
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