Influence of wintering area on persistent organic pollutants in a breeding migratory seabird

Abstract

As apex marine predators, seabirds are often sampled to monitor bioaccumulative persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the marine environment. Despite the restrictions on use and production of many POPs, concern remains about levels of these chemicals present in marine biota due to their potential toxicity. Many seabird species are migratory, and although overwintering area has been hypothesized to affect the accumulation of POPs, few have studied the contribution of exposure in the wintering area on the POP burdens of seabirds. This study investigated the impact of wintering area on concentrations and patterns of organochlorines (OCs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in plasma of breeding great skuas Stercorarius skua from 3 colonies; Bjørnøya (Svalbard), southeast Iceland and Shetland (Scotland). To do so, stable isotope values of primary feathers grown during the winter were used in conjunction with geolocator data (n = 16) to assign untracked individuals (n = 122), to 3 wintering areas (America, Europe and Africa). Birds wintering in Africa had lower plasma concentrations of many OCs and PBDE 47 compared to the other areas. Nevertheless, the influence of wintering area differed between contaminants and between breeding colonies. We conclude that although wintering area had a significant effect on both concentrations and patterns of POPs, its influence was small in comparison to differences in exposure to these pollutants at breeding colonies, but that accumulation of POPs during the winter may be important for specific populations of seabirds.

Causes and consequences of individual variability and specialization in foraging and migration strategies of seabirds

“…The same principle applies to a localized in crease in pollutants, competition with fisheries or fisheries bycatch, etc. Indeed, many threats show extensive spatial heterogeneity, such as fisheries bycatch risk , Thiers et al 2014) and exposure to pollutants, including plastics, mercury, persistent organic pollutants and hydrocarbons (Young et al 2009, Montevecchi et al 2012, Leat et al 2013, Tartu et al 2013. The importance of assessing the extent and duration of specialization can be illustrated by considering exposure to fisheries.…”

Feather Corticosterone Levels on Wintering Grounds Have No Carry-Over Effects on Breeding among Three Populations of Great Skuas (Stercorarius skua)

“…As previously outlined [16], [17], combining tracking data with stable isotope values of primary feathers successfully allowed to assign a larger sample size of untracked individuals to wintering areas [18] while avoiding any negative effect of loggers on stress levels of birds [19]. Namely, using breeding adult great skuas caught in three distinct colonies, we could determine that they wintered over three core areas i.e., continental shelf seas off America, Europe and Africa the previous winter [18].…”

Temporal trends of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in eggs of coastal and offshore birds: Increasing PFAS levels associated with offshore bird species breeding on the Pacific coast of Canada and wintering near Asia

“…Although little is known about their nonbreeding ground movements, petrels may spend some portion of the nonbreeding season in the western Pacific, likely in tropical waters [45]. Overwintering exposure has been shown to have a significant effect on polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) concentrations in great skua (Stercorarius skua) [64]. The elimination half-life of PFOS is rather variable, ranging from an estimated 13.6 days in mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) serum and 20.1 days in northern bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) serum [65] to 125 days in male chicken serum (Gallus gallus) [66], more than 89 d in male rat serum [65], and 100 days to 200 days in cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis) serum [67], to 8.6 years in humans [68].…”