title: Mercury in the ecosystem of Admiralty Bay, King George Island, Antarctica: Occurrence and trophic distribution.
abstract: 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 48.7μgg-1dw (whole Antarctic krill and Antarctic Fur Seal liver). They were generally correlated to trophic position (assessed by δ15N and δ13C) but also to cephalopods and myctophids consumption. For vegetation, values ranged from 0.014 to 0.227μgg-1dw (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.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Química Orgânica Marinha, Instituto Oceanográfico, Universidade de São Paulo, 05508-120 São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Littoral Environnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), UMR 7266, CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, 2 rue Olympe de Gouges, 17042 La Rochelle Cedex 01, France. Electronic address: caiovzc@usp.br.
authors.forename: Caio V Z
authors.initials: CVZ
authors.lastname: Cipro
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Química Orgânica Marinha, Instituto Oceanográfico, Universidade de São Paulo, 05508-120 São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rosalinda C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Montone
authors.affiliation: Littoral Environnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), UMR 7266, CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, 2 rue Olympe de Gouges, 17042 La Rochelle Cedex 01, France.
authors.forename: Paco
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bustamante
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D061006:Bays / Q000737:chemistry*; D001717:Birds / Q000378:metabolism; D044002:Bryophyta / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D010872:Caniformia / Q000378:metabolism; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism; D020387:Food Chain; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D062312:Islands; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Antarctica; Food web; Mercury; Stable isotopes