Whiskers provide time-series of toxic and essential trace elements, Se:Hg molar ratios, and stable isotope values of an apex Antarctic predator, the leopard seal
Whiskers provide time-series of toxic and essential trace elements, Se:Hg molar ratios, and stable isotope values of an apex Antarctic predator, the leopard seal
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DOI：
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158651
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发表时间：
2022-09-19
影响因子：
9.8
通讯作者：
Trumble，Stephen J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Charapata，Patrick;Clark，Casey T.;Trumble，Stephen J.
在一个环境迅速变化和人类活动不断增加的时代，研究人员需要有效的工具来跟踪污染物，以监测南极植物群和动物群的健康状况。在这里，我们研究了海豹胡须作为生物监测工具，重建时间序列的重要生态和生理生物标志物的效用。豹斑海豹（Hydrurga leptonyx）是南极西部半岛的一个哨兵物种，由于其顶端捕食者的地位和自上而下的影响，一些南极物种。然而，关于其污染物负荷的数据很少。我们分析了在2018-2019年野外季节收集的豹海豹胡须（n= 18个个体，n= 981段），以获得非必需（Hg，Pb和Cd）和必需（Se，Cu和Zn）微量元素的纵向分布，稳定同位素（15 N和13 C）值，并评估Se：Hg摩尔比的汞风险。晶须提供了46至286天的累积生长，平均约125天/晶须（n= 18）。成年人的胡须表现出非必需的微量元素随着时间的推移，可以部分解释为饮食的变化。须状汞含量（<20 ppm）不足以认为大多数海豹处于汞中毒的“高”风险。然而，在这项研究中观察到的最大汞浓度大于20年前测量的豹海豹毛发。然而，随着时间的推移，硒：汞摩尔比的变化表明，硒可能解毒汞负担的海豹。总的来说，我们提供的证据表明，豹海豹胡须的分析允许重建的时间序列生态和生理数据，可以有价值的机会监测的健康状况的豹海豹种群和他们的南极生态系统在气候变化。
In an era of rapid environmental change and increasing human presence, researchers need efficient tools for tracking contaminants to monitor the health of Antarctic flora and fauna. Here, we examined the utility of leopard seal whiskers as a biomonitoring tool that reconstructs time-series of significant ecological and physiological biomarkers. Leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) are a sentinel species in the Western Antarctic Peninsula due to their apex predator status and top-down effects on several Antarctic species. However, there are few data on their contaminant loads. We analyzed leopard seal whiskers (n= 18 individuals,n= 981 segments) collected during 2018–2019 field seasons to acquire longitudinal profiles of non-essential (Hg, Pb, and Cd) and essential (Se, Cu, and Zn) trace elements, stable isotope (ẟ15N and ẟ13C) values and to assess Hg risk with Se:Hg molar ratios. Whiskers provided between 46 and 286 cumulative days of growth with a mean ~ 125 days per whisker (n= 18). Adult whiskers showed variability in non-essential trace elements over time that could partly be explained by changes in diet. Whisker Hg levels were insufficient (<20 ppm) to consider most seals being at “high” risk for Hg toxicity. Nevertheless, maximum Hg concentrations observed in this study were greater than that of leopard seal hair measured two decades ago. However, variation in the Se:Hg molar ratios over time suggest that Se may detoxify Hg burden in leopard seals. Overall, we provide evidence that the analysis of leopard seal whiskers allows for the reconstruction of time-series ecological and physiological data and can be valuable for opportunistically monitoring the health of the leopard seal population and their Antarctic ecosystem during climate change.