Leaching of mercury from seal carcasses into Antarctic soils

Zvěřina, Ondřej; Coufalík, Pavel; Brat, Kristián; Červenka, Rostislav; Kuta, Jan; Mikeš, Ondřej; Komárek, Josef

doi:10.1007/s11356-016-7879-3

Cited by 21 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Choy et al, 2010;Cipro et al, 2011;Roosens et al, 2007) or carcasses (e.g. Zvěřina et al, 2016) as an important secondary contaminants source for terrestrial or coastal Polar ecosystems. In addition, studies pointing out the concentration of trace elements in seabird faeces (Celis et al, 2015;Espejo et al, 2014;Finger et al, 2017) reinforce the fact that this input should be more deeply explored.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seabird colonies as relevant sources of pollutants in Antarctic ecosystems: Part 1 - Trace elements

et al. 2018

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Global distillation is classically pointed as the biggest responsible for contaminant inputs in Polar ecosystems. Mercury (Hg) and other trace elements (TEs) also present natural sources, whereas the biologically mediated input is typically ignored. However, bioaccumulation and biomagnification combined with the fact that seabirds gather in large numbers into large colonies and excrete on land might represent an important local TEs input. A previous work suggested these colonies as sources of not only nutrients, but also organic contaminants. To evaluate a similar hypothesis for TEs, samples of lichen (n = 55), mosses (n = 58) and soil (n = 37) were collected in 13 locations within the South Shetlands Archipelago during the austral summers of 2013-14 and 2014-15. They were divided in: "colony" (within the colony itself for soil and bordering it for vegetation) and "control" (at least 50 m away from colony interference), analysed for TEs (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, V, and Zn) and stable isotopes (C and N). In most cases, soil seems the best matrix to assess colonies as TEs sources, as it presented more differences between control/colony sites than vegetation. Colonies are clearly local sources of organic matter, Cd, Hg and likely of As, Se and Zn. Conversely, Co, Cr, Ni and Pb come presumably from other sources, natural or anthropogenic. In general, isotopes were more useful for interpreting vegetation data due to fractionation of absorbed animal-derived organic matter. Other local Hg sources could be inferred from high levels in control sites, location and wind patterns.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seabird colonies as relevant sources of pollutants in Antarctic ecosystems: Part 1 - Trace elements

et al. 2018

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“…Carcasses of animals such as seals are the other contributor to the increasing level of heavy metals in Antarctic soil. Carcasses has been shown to contribute a significant source of Hg [ 88 ]. Based on information obtained from a previous study, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Hg and As are the most noted sources of heavy metals contributing to local contamination in Antarctica [ 89 ].…”

Section: Heavy Metal Pollutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Diesel, Heavy Metals and Plastics Pollution on Penguins in Antarctica: A Review

Puasa

Zulkharnain

Verasoundarapandian

et al. 2021

Animals

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Antarctica is a relatively pristine continent that attracts scientists and tourists alike. However, the risk of environmental pollution in Antarctica is increasing with the increase in the number of visitors. Recently, there has been a surge in interest regarding diesel, heavy metals and microplastics pollution. Contamination from these pollutants poses risks to the environment and the health of organisms inhabiting the continent. Penguins are one of the most prominent and widely distributed animals in Antarctica and are at major risk due to pollution. Even on a small scale, the impacts of pollution toward penguin populations are extensive. This review discusses the background of penguins in Antarctica, the anthropogenic pollution and cases, as well as the impacts of diesel, heavy metals and microplastics toxicities on penguins. The trends of the literature for the emerging risks of these pollutants are also reviewed through a bibliometric approach and network mapping analysis. A sum of 27 articles are analyzed on the effects of varying pollutants on penguins in Antarctica from 2000 to 2020 using the VOSviewer bibliometric software, Microsoft Excel and Tableau Public. Research articles collected from the Scopus database are evaluated for the most applicable research themes according to the bibliometric indicators (articles, geography distribution, annual production, integrated subject areas, key source journals and keyword or term interactions). Although bibliometric studies on the present research theme are not frequent, our results are sub-optimal due to the small number of search query matches from the Scopus database. As a result, our findings offer only a fragmentary comprehension of the topics in question. Nevertheless, this review provides valuable inputs regarding prospective research avenues for researchers to pursue in the future.

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“…Nelson et al, 2008;Negrete et al, 2011Negrete et al, , 2015Nývlt et al, 2016). These carcasses represent important vectors of nutrients (Nývlt et al, 2016), but also of contaminants (Zvěřina et al, 2017), from the marine environment to nutrient-poor, ice-free environments where they produce hotspots of nutrient rich soil that are commonly colonized by mosses, lichens and algae (Nývlt et al, 2016).…”

Section: The Eastern Ap Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of spatio-temporal paraglacial response in the Antarctic Peninsula region and associated ecological implications

Fernández

Oliva

Nývlt

et al. 2019

Earth-Science Reviews

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The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) constitutes the warmest region of Antarctica, although 98% of the surface is still covered by glaciers. The region shows contrasting geographic and climatic properties, which have conditioned past and present glacial activity. This paper constitutes a review of the spatial and temporal patterns of paraglacial activity across the AP bridging the geomorphological and ecological perspectives. The number and extent of ice-free environments has increased since the Last Glacial Maximum, particularly during the Early Holocene and the 20 th century. Following deglaciation, the redefinition of coastlines and the uplift of landmasses proceeded differently in the three sectors of AP, with maximum uplift in the western sector (40 m a.s.l.), the minimum on the north (20.4 m a.s.l.), and intermediate in the eastern sector (30 m). There are also differences in the levels of raised beaches, with the highest complexity in the northern AP (5-7 levels) and the lowest in the eastern AP (3 levels). The transition from glacial to periglacial conditions (paraglacial stage) also differed greatly between the three sectors, with the absence of rock glaciers in the western sector, the development almost exclusively of glacier-derived rock glaciers in the eastern AP, and the majority of talus-derived rock glaciers in the northern AP. The development of protalus lobes, block streams and other periglacial features was highly dependent on the cold/warm based character of individual glaciers; this characteristic determines the existence or absence of permafrost following deglaciation which, in turn, conditions the type and intensity of geomorphic processes in newly exposed ice-free areas. More recently, following the post-1950s regional warming, there have still been important differences between the three sectors in the development of paraglacial environments. Permafrost degradation has occurred in newly exposed areas, accelerating mass wasting and sediment redistribution and changing hydrological processes, especially in the northern and western AP, while sudden glacial outburst flooding has occurred in the eastern AP. The most apparent major ecological response to this recent warming is greening due to vegetation expansion, which is more evident where paraglacial and periglacial processes are less intense. The accurate characterization of the different paraglacial responses existing in the AP enables a better understanding of future environmental responses in this climatically sensitive region, where climate models forecast significant environmental change for during forthcoming decades.

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Leaching of mercury from seal carcasses into Antarctic soils

Cited by 21 publications

References 51 publications

Seabird colonies as relevant sources of pollutants in Antarctic ecosystems: Part 1 - Trace elements

Seabird colonies as relevant sources of pollutants in Antarctic ecosystems: Part 1 - Trace elements

Effects of Diesel, Heavy Metals and Plastics Pollution on Penguins in Antarctica: A Review

Patterns of spatio-temporal paraglacial response in the Antarctic Peninsula region and associated ecological implications

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