No evidence of microplastic ingestion in emperor penguin chicks (Aptenodytes forsteri) from the Atka Bay colony (Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica)
No evidence of microplastic ingestion in emperor penguin chicks (Aptenodytes forsteri) from the Atka Bay colony (Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica)
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没有证据表明来自阿特卡湾殖民地（南极洲 Dronning Maud 地）的帝企鹅雏鸟 (Aptenodytes forsteri) 摄入了微塑料
DOI：
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158314
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发表时间：
2022
影响因子：
9.8
通讯作者：
Gerdts, Gunnar
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Leistenschneider, Clara;Le Bohec, Céline;Eisen, Olaf;Houstin, Aymeric;Neff, Simon;Primpke, Sebastian;Zitterbart, Daniel P.;Burkhardt-Holm, Patricia;Gerdts, Gunnar
微塑料（<5 毫米；MP）污染已成为全球海洋生态系统面临的新威胁，越来越多的证据表明，即使是包括南极洲在内的世界上最偏远的地区也不再受到影响。然而，很少有研究检查南极生物群中的 MP，特别是来自人类活动较少的南极地区的 MP，这意味着人们对生物群受到影响的程度知之甚少。本研究的目的是首次调查帝企鹅 (Aptenodytes forsteri) 中 MP 的发生情况，帝企鹅是唯一一种在南极洲冬季繁殖的企鹅物种，也是南大洋特有的顶级捕食者。为了评估 MP 的摄入情况，我们对来自阿特卡湾栖息地（南极洲 Dronning Maud Land）的 41 只帝企鹅雏鸡的砂囊进行了解剖，并使用衰减全反射傅里叶变换红外 (ATR-FTIR) 光谱分析了 >500 μm 的 MP。总共分选了 85 个假定颗粒，大部分为纤维形状 (65.9%)。然而，采用最先进的方法，没有任何颗粒被鉴定为 MP。进一步证明分选的纤维源自样品处理和分析过程中的污染。我们发现 MP 集中在威德尔海和 Dronning Maud Land 沿海和边缘海冰区域的当地食物网中；目前，饲养幼崽的帝企鹅成年体的觅食地的水污染水平非常低，以至于没有通过营养转移发生可检测到的生物放大作用。与对其他南极和亚南极企鹅物种的 MP 研究相比，我们包括这些研究的比较讨论强调了采样、样品处理和分析标准化程序以获得可比结果的重要性。我们进一步讨论了其他胃内容物及其对 MP 检测的潜在作用，并为该地区顶级捕食者物种中 MP 的长期监测提供基线。
Microplastic (<5 mm; MP) pollution has been an emerging threat for marine ecosystems around the globe with increasing evidence that even the world's most remote areas, including Antarctica, are no longer unaffected. Few studies however, have examined MP in Antarctic biota, and especially those from Antarctic regions with low human activity, meaning little is known about the extent to which biota are affected. The aim of this study was to investigate, for the first time, the occurrence of MP in the emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri), the only penguin species breeding around Antarctica during the austral winter, and an endemic apex predator in the Southern Ocean. To assess MP ingestion, the gizzards of 41 emperor penguin chicks from Atka Bay colony (Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica), were dissected and analyzed for MP >500 μm using Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier-transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. A total of 85 putative particles, mostly in the shape of fibers (65.9 %), were sorted. However, none of the particles were identified as MP applying state-of-the-art methodology. Sorted fibers were further evidenced to originate from contamination during sample processing and analyses. We find that MP concentrations in the local food web of the Weddell Sea and Dronning Maud Land coastal and marginal sea-ice regions; the feeding grounds to chick-rearing emperor penguin adults, are currently at such low levels that no detectable biomagnification is occurring via trophic transfer. Being in contrast to MP studies on other Antarctic and sub-Antarctic penguin species, our comparative discussion including these studies, highlights the importance for standardized procedures for sampling, sample processing and analyses to obtain comparable results. We further discuss other stomach contents and their potential role for MP detection, as well as providing a baseline for the long-term monitoring of MP in apex predator species from this region.