Arctic Seabirds Transport Marine-Derived Contaminants

Abstract

Long-range atmospheric transport of pollutants is generally assumed to be the main vector for arctic contamination, because local pollution sources are rare. We show that arctic seabirds, which occupy high trophic levels in marine food webs, are the dominant vectors for the transport of marine-derived contaminants to coastal ponds. The sediments of ponds most affected by seabirds had 60 times higher DDT, 25 times higher mercury, and 10 times higher hexachlorobenzene concentrations than nearby control sites. Bird guano greatly stimulates biological productivity in these extreme environments but also serves as a major source of industrial and agricultural pollutants in these remote ecosystems.

The toxicology of climate change: Environmental contaminants in a warming world

“…This biotic transport of contaminants may be similar in magnitude to atmospheric and oceanic transport (Burek et al, 2008). There is evidence, for example, that Arctic and Antarctic birds may act as vectors transporting persistent contaminants from oceans to terrestrial systems via their guano (Blais et al, 2005). In Canadian coastal ponds under the nesting cliffs of northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis), concentrations of HCB, DDT, and mercury were 10 to 60 times higher than contaminant concentrations in sediments from unaffected ponds.…”

The Influence of Seabirds on the Concentration of Selected Heavy Metals in Organic Soil on the Bellsund Coast, Western Spitsbergen

“…Our study has shown that seabird colonies, as a consequence of bio-transportation processes, play an important role in increasing the content of and changing the distribution of heavy metals in arctic soils, and that this is a widely described phenomenon (Godzik, 1991;Headley, 1996;Blais et al, 2005;Michelutti et al, 2010;Mallory et al, 2015). This is indicated by the highest scores of Zn, Mn, Cu, and Cd contents in the peat under the avian colony, which is the direct receiver of those inputs (the second point of the transect), and is in agreement with other studies (e.g., Brimble et al, 2009;Michelutti et al, 2009).…”

“…The efficiency of pollutant introduction to the terrestrial environment by seabirds is also visible in terms of the heavy metal content in flora. Plants in the proximity of avian colonies show higher concentrations than the same species growing in similar habitats distant from avian colonies (Godzik, 1991;Blais et al, 2005;Evenset, 2007).…”

“…Seabirds are the key organisms in the Arctic acting as biovectors and influencing energy and nutrient transportation from marine to land ecosystems (Tatur, 1989;Godzik, 1991;Headley, 1996;Ligęza and Smal, 2003;Michelutti et al, 2009Michelutti et al, , 2010Mallory et al, 2015). From marine areas of foraging, birds carry nutrients to breeding areas, where they release them through defecation, regurgitation, dropping food, or mortality (Blais et al, 2005;Ellis et al, 2006;Mulder et al, 2011;Bauer and Hoye, 2014). In polar regions, the amount of nutrients delivered with avian excrement is much higher than from alternate sources and on a local scale it enriches the ecosystem significantly (Bildstein et al, 1992;Bokhorst et al, 2007).…”

“…In the bio-transportation of organic materials, transportation of pollutants and their concentration in the proximity of breeding areas can also be observed (Blais et al, 2005;Brimble et al, 2009;Mallory et al, 2015). Seabirds are the main source of the terrestrial environment's pollution because their food consists of organisms that are high in the food chain.…”