title: High feather mercury concentrations in the wandering albatross are related to sex, breeding status and trophic ecology with no demographic consequences.
abstract: Hg can affect physiology of seabirds and ultimately their demography, particularly if they are top consumers. In the present study, body feathers of >200 wandering albatrosses from Possession Island in the Crozet archipelago were used to explore the potential demographic effects of the long-term exposure to Hg on an apex predator. Variations of Hg with sex, age class, foraging habitat (inferred from δ(13)C values), and feeding habits (inferred from δ(15)N values) were examined as well as the influence of Hg on current breeding output, long-term fecundity and survival. Wandering albatrosses displayed among the highest Hg feather concentrations reported for seabirds, ranging from 5.9 to 95 µg g(-1), as a consequence of their high trophic position (δ(15)N values). These concentrations fall within the same range of those of other wandering albatross populations from subantarctic sites, suggesting that this species has similar exposure to Hg all around the Southern Ocean. In both immature and adult albatrosses, females had higher Hg concentrations than males (28 vs. 20 µg g(-1) dw on average, respectively), probably as a consequence of females foraging at lower latitudes than males (δ(13)C values). Hg concentrations were higher in immature than in adult birds, and they remained fairly constant across a wide range of ages in adults. Such high levels in immature individuals question (i) the frequency of moult in young birds, (ii) the efficiency of Hg detoxification processes in immatures compared to adults, and (iii) importantly the potential detrimental effects of Hg in early life. Despite very high Hg concentrations in their feathers, neither effects on adults' breeding probability, hatching failure and fledgling failure, nor on adults' survival rate were detected, suggesting that long-term bioaccumulated Hg was not under a chemical form leading to deleterious effects on reproductive parameters in adult individuals.
authors.affiliation: Littoral Environnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), UMR 7266 CNRS-Université de la Rochelle, 2 rue Olympe de Gouges, 17000 La Rochelle, France. Electronic address: pbustama@univ-lr.fr.
authors.forename: Paco
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bustamante
authors.affiliation: Littoral Environnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), UMR 7266 CNRS-Université de la Rochelle, 2 rue Olympe de Gouges, 17000 La Rochelle, France; Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), UMR 7372 du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carravieri
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), UMR 7372 du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France; École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), SPL, UPMC Université Paris 06, UMR 7619 METIS, F-75005, 4 place Jussieu, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goutte
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), UMR 7372 du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barbraud
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), UMR 7372 du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France.
authors.forename: Karine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Delord
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), UMR 7372 du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Chastel
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), UMR 7372 du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France.
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Weimerskirch
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), UMR 7372 du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cherel
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005241:Feathers / Q000737:chemistry*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D020387:Food Chain; D019156:Indian Ocean; D008297:Male; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D012737:Sex Factors; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Age; Bioaccumulation; Immature; Metal; Sex; Southern Ocean; Stable isotopes