Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 114, Issue 1, Pages 564-570Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.09.024
Keywords
Mercury; Antarctica; Stable isotopes; Food web
Funding
- University of La Rochelle: CPER (Contrat de Plan Etat-Region)
- FASEP (Fonds d'etude et d'aide au secteur prive)
- CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel via the Science without Borders programme, Brazil) [11490/13-6]
- CNPq [55.0348/2002-6, 550018/2007-7]
- Brazilian Antarctic Program (PROANTAR)
- Ministry of the Environment (MMA)
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq)
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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 48.7 mu g g(-1) dw (whole Antarctic krill and Antarctic Fur Seal liver). They were generally correlated to trophic position (assessed by delta N-15 and delta C-13) but also to cephalopods and myctophids consumption. For vegetation, values ranged from 0.014 to 0.227 mu g g(-1) 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. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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