Demographic consequences of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants in a vulnerable long-lived bird, the wandering albatross

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - Tập 281 Số 1787 - Trang 20133313 - 2014
Aurélie Goutte1,2, Christophe Barbraud1, Alizée Meillère1, Alice Carravieri1, Paco Bustamante2, P Labadie3, Hélène Budzinski3, Karine Delord1, Yves Cherel1, Henri Weimerskirch1, Olivier Chastel1
1Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), UMR 7372, CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, Villiers-en-Bois 79360, France
2Littoral Environnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), UMR 7266, CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, 2 rue Olympe de Gouges, La Rochelle 17000, France
3UMR 5805 EPOC-LPTC, Université Bordeaux, 351 Cours de la Libération, Talence Cedex 33405, France

Tóm tắt

Seabirds are top predators of the marine environment that accumulate contaminants over a long life-span. Chronic exposure to pollutants is thought to compromise survival rate and long-term reproductive outputs in these long-lived organisms, thus inducing population decline. However, the demographic consequences of contaminant exposure are largely theoretical because of the dearth of long-term datasets. This study aims to test whether adult survival rate, return to the colony and long-term breeding performance were related to blood mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd) and persistent organic pollutants (POPs), by using a capture–mark–recapture dataset on the vulnerable wandering albatross Diomedea exulans . We did not find evidence for any effect of contaminants on adult survival probability. However, blood Hg and POPs negatively impacted long-term breeding probability, hatching and fledging probabilities. The proximate mechanisms underlying these deleterious effects are likely multifaceted, through physiological perturbations and interactions with reproductive costs. Using matrix population models, we projected a demographic decline in response to an increase in Hg or POPs concentrations. This decline in population growth rate could be exacerbated by other anthropogenic perturbations, such as climate change, disease and fishery bycatch. This study gives a new dimension to the overall picture of environmental threats to wildlife populations.

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Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Tập 281 Số 1787

20133313

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