title: Mercury exposure in a large subantarctic avian community.
abstract: Mercury (Hg) contamination poses potential threats to ecosystems worldwide. In order to study Hg bioavailability in the poorly documented southern Indian Ocean, Hg exposure was investigated in the large avian community of Kerguelen Islands. Adults of 27 species (480 individuals) showed a wide range of feather Hg concentrations, from 0.4 ± 0.1 to 16.6 ± 3.8 μg g(-1) dry weight in Wilson's storm petrels and wandering albatrosses, respectively. Hg concentrations increased roughly in the order crustacean- < fish- ≤ squid- ≤ carrion-consumers, confirming that diet, rather than taxonomy, is an important driver of avian Hg exposure. Adults presented higher Hg concentrations than chicks, due to a longer duration of exposure, with the only exception being the subantarctic skua, likely because of feeding habits' differences of the two age-classes in this species. High Hg concentrations were reported for three species of the poorly known gadfly petrels, which merit further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Littoral Environnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), UMRi 7266 CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, 2 rue Olympe de Gouges, 17000 La Rochelle, France; Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372 CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, BP 14, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France. Electronic address: alice.carravieri@cebc.cnrs.fr.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carravieri
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372 CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, BP 14, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cherel
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372 CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, BP 14, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Blévin
authors.affiliation: Littoral Environnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), UMRi 7266 CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, 2 rue Olympe de Gouges, 17000 La Rochelle, France.
authors.forename: Maud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brault-Favrou
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372 CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, BP 14, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Chastel
authors.affiliation: Littoral Environnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), UMRi 7266 CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, 2 rue Olympe de Gouges, 17000 La Rochelle, France.
authors.forename: Paco
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bustamante
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000378:metabolism*; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D005241:Feathers / Q000737:chemistry*; D020387:Food Chain; D006801:Humans; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Feeding ecology; Kerguelen; Procellariiformes; Seabirds; Southern Ocean