A novel survey of raptor collections in Europe and their potential to provide samples for pan-European contaminant monitoring

Abstract

This paper provides a novel survey of current collections of frozen raptor carcasses and tissue samples in natural history museums (NHMs), environmental specimen banks (ESBs) and other research collections (ORCs e.g. at universities and research institutes) across Europe and assesses the extent to which collections might support pan-European raptor biomonitoring through the provision of samples for contaminant analyses. The paper is based on questionnaire responses received in late 2018 and early 2019 from 116 institutions. Issues covered include the number of raptor carcasses and diversity of raptor species arriving annually at collections, the number of carcasses stored in freezers, the extent to which collections retain frozen tissue samples, what records are kept of carcasses and tissue samples, constraints to expanding collections of frozen carcasses and tissues and the extent to which collections currently engage in ecotoxicological research and monitoring. Our findings show that collections in Europe receive well over 5000 raptor carcasses per annum, and that NHMs are the key recipients of raptor carcasses for most countries. Collections in Europe probably hold well over 10,000 raptor carcasses in their freezers, offering a substantial resource of frozen raptor carcasses and tissues from recent years. Moreover, these carcasses include good specimen numbers for species that have been prioritized for pan-European contaminant monitoring. Collections are becoming digitized aiding access to samples. However, freezer capacity is a key constraint to retention of carcasses, and contaminant biomonitoring is novel for most NHMs. Our findings on the repository and availability of frozen raptor carcasses and tissues held by collections in Europe can enable greater use of these specimens for pan-European contaminant monitoring in support of better chemicals management. We highlight opportunities to further optimize raptor collections for pan-European contaminant monitoring.

Using environmental monitoring data from apex predators for chemicals management: towards harmonised sampling and processing of archived wildlife samples to increase the regulatory uptake of monitoring data in chemicals management

“…The LIFE APEX project and the simultaneous COST Action 'European Raptor Biomonitoring Facility' (CA16224) have demonstrated that samples from various environmental compartments and with wide European geographical coverage are available in ESBs, RCs and NHMs and can be cost-efficiently used [26][27][28]. However, harmonisation of quality assurance measures across ESBs, RCs and NHMs still remains a challenge as sampling programmes can have different strategies (systematic/opportunistic) and the implementation of quality assurance measures and availability of relevant metadata vary among institutions [24].…”

“…A second step that is critical for monitoring includes the selection of sample matrix for chemical analysis [29,30]. Many apex predators are protected species and sample collections usually archive specimens that originate from opportunistic sampling approaches based on the availability of carcasses [28]. Exceptions represent the sampling of feathers or eggs in case of raptors, whereas the collection of, e.g.…”

“…Sample collections that can provide samples from apex predators include ESBs, established in support of chemical monitoring, RCs, typically with some experience in chemical monitoring, and NHMs, where there may be less focus on contaminant research [24,28]. However, only a few ESBs regularly collect samples of apex predators as many ESBs were established during the 1980-1990s when apex predators were scarce.…”

Using environmental monitoring data from apex predators for chemicals management: towards better use of monitoring data from apex predators in support of prioritisation and risk assessment of chemicals in Europe

“…erbfacility. eu) has provided guidance on species and matrix selection for pan-European contaminant monitoring [15,16] including a review of archive capacities [17,18]. However, a European research infrastructure designed to support contaminant screening using top predators from different environmental compartments as bioindicators and as sentinels for early warning is still lacking.…”

“…For instance, rapidly advancing non-target and suspect screening techniques based on high-resolution mass spectrometric data now allow the screening of thousands of contaminants, which can substantially support the identification and risk assessment of contaminants of emerging concern [20][21][22]. Applied to a large number of yet underused biota and apex predator specimens available in research collections, natural history museums and environmental specimen banks [18,[23][24][25] these techniques offer new possibilities to characterise biomagnifying contaminants of emerging concern, and to use top predators both as an early warning system and for long-term monitoring.…”