Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT
Volume 69, Issue 2, Pages 195-203Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1023/A:1010710108434
Keywords
biological amplification; foodchain contamination; marine pollution; seabirds
Categories
Funding
- NIEHS NIH HHS [ESO 5022] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese, mercury, selemium, and tin concentrations were measured in the feathers of Cape cormorant (Phalacrocorax capensis), Hartlaub's gull (Larus hartlaubii), kelp gull (Larus dominicanus), and lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor) from the coast of Namibia in southern Africa. Metal concentrations in feathers represent the concentrations in the blood supply at the time of feather formation. Cape Cormorants are piscivores; kelp gulls are primarily piscivores; Hartlaub's gull is an omnivore; and lesser flamingos eat primarily blue-green algae and invertebrates filtered from the water and sediment of hypersaline lagoons. We predicted that metal concentrations would reflect these trophic level differences. There were significant species differences in the concentrations of all metals, with flamingos having the lowest levels, and cormorants having the highest levels of 4 metals but not mercury. The gulls had the highest levels of mercury, perhaps reflecting their more scavenging behavior.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available