title: Trace element exposure of whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus) wintering in a marine lagoon (Swan Lake), northern China.
abstract: Trace element poisoning remains a great threat to various waterfowl and waterbirds throughout the world. In this study, we determined the trace element exposure of herbivorous whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus) wintering in Swan Lake (Rongcheng), an important swan protection area in northern China. A total of 70 samples including abiotic factors (seawater, sediments), food sources (seagrass, macroalgae), feathers and feces of whooper swans were collected from the marine lagoon during the winters of 2014/2015 and 2015/2016. Concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr, Cd, Hg and As were determined to investigate the trace element exposure of whooper swans wintering in the area. Results showed that there was an increasing trend in sediment trace element concentrations, compared with historical data. The trace element concentrations in swan feces most closely resembled those of Zostera marina leaves, especially for Cd and Cr. The Zn and Hg concentrations in the swan feces (49.57 and 0.01mg/kg, respectively) were lower than the minimum values reported in the literature for other waterfowls, waterbirds and terrestrial birds. However, the concentrations of the other five trace elements fell within the lower and mediate range of values reported for birds across the world. These results suggest that the whooper swans wintering in Swan Lake, Rongcheng are not suffering severe trace element exposure; however, with the increasing input of trace elements to the lagoon, severe adverse impacts may occur in the future, and we therefore suggest that the input of trace elements to this area should be curbed.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
authors.forename: Shaochun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, PR China; Laboratory for Marine Ecology and Environmental Science, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266071, PR China. Electronic address: yizhou@qdio.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
authors.forename: Pengmei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaomei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D046090:Anseriformes; D002681:China; D004032:Diet; D060106:Lakes; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D006109:Poaceae; D012621:Seasons; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014131:Trace Elements; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Conservation; Exposure; Feces; Marine lagoon; Seagrass; Trace elements; Whooper swans