Mercury in the ecosystem of Admiralty Bay, King George Island, Antarctica: Occurrence and trophic distribution

Abstract

Mercury (Hg) can reach the environment through natural and human-related sources, threatening ecosystems all over the planet due to its well known deleterious effects. Therefore, Antarctic trophic webs, despite being relatively isolated, are not exempt of its influence. To evaluate Hg concentrations in an Antarctic ecosystem, different tissues from 2 species of invertebrates, 2 of fish, 8 of birds, 4 of pinnipeds and at least 5 of vegetation were investigated (n=176). For animals, values ranged from 0.018 to 48.7μgg dw (whole Antarctic krill and Antarctic Fur Seal liver). They were generally correlated to trophic position (assessed by δN and δC) but also to cephalopods and myctophids consumption. For vegetation, values ranged from 0.014 to 0.227μgg dw (Colobanthus quitensis and an unidentified lichen), with lichens presenting significantly higher values than mosses, likely due to year-round exposure and absorption of animal derived organic matter, as hypothesized by literature.

Seabird colonies as relevant sources of pollutants in Antarctic ecosystems: Part 2 - Persistent Organic Pollutants

“…SIA was performed as described in the first part of this work (Cipro et al, 2018a), with the same restrictions, especially the decarbonation of soil samples. Due to the negligible lipid content and influence in the results verified during previous studies (Cipro et al, 2017a(Cipro et al, , 2011, samples have not undergone delipidation. Soil samples, however, have undergone a decarbonation procedure to avoid the interference of carbonates, which are depleted in 13 C and could represent a bias in data interpretation.…”

Do population parameters influence the role of seabird colonies as secondary pollutants source? A case study for Antarctic ecosystems

“…SIA for all samples were performed as described in the studies from which the samples from 2013-14 and 2014-15 were taken (Cipro et al 2018a(Cipro et al , 2019. SIA was performed as described in previous literature (Chouvelon et al 2012;Cipro et al 2017a), with some modifications, especially the decarbonation of soil samples. Due to the negligible lipid content and influence in the results verified during previous studies (Cipro et al 2011(Cipro et al , 2017a, all samples have not undergone delipidation.…”

“…SIA was performed as described in previous literature (Chouvelon et al 2012;Cipro et al 2017a), with some modifications, especially the decarbonation of soil samples. Due to the negligible lipid content and influence in the results verified during previous studies (Cipro et al 2011(Cipro et al , 2017a, all samples have not undergone delipidation. Soil samples, however, have undergone a decarbonation procedure to avoid the interference of carbonates, which are depleted in 13 C and could represent a bias in data interpretation.…”

“…Antarctica, in spite of being the most isolated continent on Earth, is far from exempt of the input of several sorts of contaminants, including Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), such as PCBs and organochlorine pesticides and also Trace Elements (TEs) such as Hg, as reported in literature (Bargagli et al 2007;Corsolini 2009;Cipro et al 2017a). These inputs are classically attributed to a phenomenon labelled "Global distillation", briefly: volatile contaminants evaporate in warmer regions, undergo long-range transport and condensate in colder regions.…”

Influence of Delipidation on Hg Analyses in Biological Tissues: A Case Study for an Antarctic Ecosystem

“…Both the results of Hg for the non-delipidated samples and SIA are taken from in Cipro et al (2017). The % of lipids was performed during POPs analyses previously published as well (Cipro et al 2013).…”