Trace Element Concentrations in European Pond Turtles (Emys orbicularis) from Brenne Natural Park, France

Guillot, Héloïse; Bonnet, Xavier; Bustamante, Paco; Churlaud, Carine; Trotignon, Jacques; Brischoux, François

doi:10.1007/s00128-018-2376-7

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The usefulness of freshwater turtles as bioindicators of Hg contamination has already been demonstrated in this species (Guillot et al 2018) and others (Bergeron et al 2007;Burger et al, 2009;Schneider et al 2009;Schneider et al 2010;Turnquist et al 2011;Hopkins et al 2013b;Slimani et al 2018). Consistent with these studies, our investigations also indicate that analysis of the claws of E. orbicularis is a useful noninvasive technique to monitor Hg contamination in a large number of individuals.…”

Section: Individual Determinants Of Hg Concentrationssupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Consistent with these studies, our investigations also indicate that analysis of the claws of E. orbicularis is a useful noninvasive technique to monitor Hg contamination in a large number of individuals. We found that juvenile individuals had lower Hg concentrations in their claws than older adult turtles indicating that Hg bioaccumulates during the life of E. orbicularis (Guillot et al 2018). Despite this difference between age classes (juveniles versus adults), we did not find any relationship between turtle size and Hg concentration, while such correlation has been previously recorded (Guillot et al 2018;Hopkins et al, 2013a).…”

Section: Individual Determinants Of Hg Concentrationscontrasting

confidence: 70%

“…Finally, the distal extremities of 2 claws from each leg per individual were collected with a nail clipper for further Hg measurements. Such non-invasive technique has been successfully used in several freshwater species (e.g., Hopkins et al 2013a;Slimani et al 2018) and validated in Emys orbicularis from the Brenne area (Guillot et al 2018).…”

Section: Field Procedures and Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prior to chemical analysis, claws were cleaned three times with a mixture of 2:1 chloroform/methanol solution in an ultrasonic cleaner and rinsed in milli-Q quality water, and dried for 48 h (Guillot et al 2018). Total Hg concentrations were measured using and atomic absorption spectrophotometer (Advanced Mercury Analyser-254, Altec) on dried tissue aliquots (ranging from 0.5 to 3 mg) as described by Chouvelon et al (2009).…”

Section: Mercury Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cryptic sources can further complicate our understanding of the extent of Hg contamination. For instance, it has recently been shown that fish farming is responsible for the transfer of marine Hg to areas that superficially appear unaffected from other sources of pollution (Hansson et al 2017; see also Lemaire et al 2018;Guillot et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental causes and reproductive correlates of mercury contamination in European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis)

Beau

Bustamante

Michaud

et al. 2019

Environmental Research

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Assessing Hg contamination in aquatic ecosystems is difficult because wetlands are part of large and complex networks, and potential sources of Hg contamination are highly diverse. To investigate environmental determinants of Hg contamination, we studied one of the largest continental French wetlands structured as a dense network of artificial ponds. Such context allows to investigate the influence of pond characteristics on Hg contamination in an area relatively disconnected from direct sources of pollution. We relied on a bioindicator organism, the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) to assess Hg contamination in a relatively large number of sites (N>255 turtles from 15 ponds sampled in 2016 and 2017). Non-invasive sampling in the claws of turtles show that Hg concentrations were not related to their sex or size, but we found an effect of age (1.62±0.20 in juveniles and 2.21±0.06 µg.g-1 dw in adults), suggesting that turtles do bioaccumulate Hg through their life. Turtle Hg was different between pond, and we found that pond age and pond usage (draining events linked to pond maintenance) were the main environmental determinants of Hg concentrations in turtles. Finally, and more importantly, our dataset allowed us to highlight potential negative effect of Hg concentration on the proportion of reproductive females, suggesting an influence of Hg on reproductive mechanisms in this species. This result indicates that Hg contamination, even in absence of direct and strong sources of pollution, may have a critical impact on reproduction and thus the persistence of a long-lived vertebrate.

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Section: Individual Determinants Of Hg Concentrationssupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Individual Determinants Of Hg Concentrationscontrasting

confidence: 70%

Section: Field Procedures and Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mercury Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental causes and reproductive correlates of mercury contamination in European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis)

Beau

Bustamante

Michaud

et al. 2019

Environmental Research

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Determinants of Legacy Persistent Organic Pollutant Levels in the European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis) in the Camargue Wetland, France

Burkart

Olivier

Lourdais

et al. 2021

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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Many banned persistent organic pollutants (POPs) remain for decades in the aquatic environment and can have harmful effects on long-lived predators because of their high bioaccumulation and biomagnification potentials. We investigated the occurrence and levels of 18 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and 16 organochlorine pesticides in European pond turtles (n = 174) from April to July 2018 in the Camargue wetland, France. Although the Camargue was highly contaminated in previous decades, plasma occurrence and levels of POPs were very low: we were able to quantify only 3 of the 34 compounds we analyzed in >10% of the turtles. The burdens from POPs did not differ between males and females and were uncorrelated with sampling date and body mass. We observed differences in POP burdens between turtles from the 2 sampling sites. One possible explanation is that the sampling sites were in different agricultural hydraulic systems: plasma occurrence and levels were higher for PCB-52 and hexachlorobenzene in turtles captured in drainage channels and for PCB-153 at the site that receives irrigation. Finally, the occurrence and levels of PCB-153 in turtles increased with age, likely because of bioaccumulation and much higher exposure 20 to 30 yr ago than now.

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Using Non-destructive Techniques to Measure Mercury (Hg) Concentrations in Gravid Blanding’s Turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) in Northeastern Illinois

Benjamin

Brasso

Midway

et al. 2018

Bull Environ Contam Toxicol

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Aquatic turtles are suitable biomonitors of wetland ecosystem health because they are long-lived and occupy elevated trophic positions in wetland food webs. This study aimed to determine Hg exposure in adult Blanding's turtles (Emydoidea blandingii), an imperiled prairie-wetland species endemic to the northern U.S. and southern Canada. Claw samples were collected from gravid females from four wetland sites in northeast Illinois. Claw Hg concentrations ranged from 654 to 3132 ng/g and we found no effect of body size (carapace length, CL) and some evidence for an effect of wetland site (WS) on mean Hg (i.e. weak effect of site on Hg, detected between WS1 and WS3). Claw Hg concentrations reported in this study were lower than claw concentrations published for other freshwater turtles (e.g. Chelydra serpentina, Sternotherus oderatus). This is the first Hg-related study on Blanding's turtles and can serve as a reference for other Hg studies in Illinois wetlands.

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Trace Element Concentrations in European Pond Turtles (Emys orbicularis) from Brenne Natural Park, France

Cited by 9 publications

References 28 publications

Environmental causes and reproductive correlates of mercury contamination in European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis)

Environmental causes and reproductive correlates of mercury contamination in European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis)

Determinants of Legacy Persistent Organic Pollutant Levels in the European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis) in the Camargue Wetland, France

Using Non-destructive Techniques to Measure Mercury (Hg) Concentrations in Gravid Blanding’s Turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) in Northeastern Illinois

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