Mercury concentration in the feathers of birds from various trophic levels in Fereydunkenar International wetland (Iran)

Mercury concentration in the feathers of birds from various trophic levels in Fereydunkenar International wetland (Iran)

Mercury (Hg) is one of the main global pollutants that may biomagnify in food nets, especially in wetlands. Birds may be useful in the biomonitoring of Hg in such habitats and may even serve in vivo samples. This paper examined Hg concentration in the feathers of seven bird species foraging on Ferey...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental monitoring and assessment Vol. 188; no. 12; p. 666
Main Authors: Ahmadpour, Mousa, Lan-Hai, Li, Ahmadpour, Mohsen, Hoseini, Seyed Hamid, Mashrofeh, Abdolreza, Binkowski, Łukasz J.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-12-2016
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Analysis
Animal feathers
Animal migration
Animals
Aquatic birds
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Biomonitoring
Bird migration
Birds
Birds - growth & development
Birds - metabolism
Blood vessels
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecology
Ecosystem
Ecosystem biology
Ecotoxicology
Environment
Environmental Management
Environmental monitoring
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Environmental Pollutants - analysis
Environmental science
Feathers
Feathers - chemistry
Iran
Keratin
Laboratories
Mercury
Mercury - analysis
Metals
Monitoring/Environmental Analysis
Natural resources
Pesticides
Pollutants
Studies
Terrestrial ecosystems
Trophic levels
Waterfowl
Wetlands
Iran
Birds
Feather
Pollution
Wetland
Hg
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Summary:Mercury (Hg) is one of the main global pollutants that may biomagnify in food nets, especially in wetlands. Birds may be useful in the biomonitoring of Hg in such habitats and may even serve in vivo samples. This paper examined Hg concentration in the feathers of seven bird species foraging on Fereydunkenar International wetland (in 2013). Mean Hg concentrations found ranged from 0.005 ± 0.002 μg g −1 d.w. (dry weight) (Common hoopoe) to 0.38 ± 0.047 μg g −1 d.w. (Greylag goose). Significant differences in Hg concentrations were noted between bird species as well as between trophic levels (one-way ANOVAs, p  < 0.001). The decrease in mean Hg concentration in feathers was as follows: Greylag goose > Northern pintail ≥ Gadwall ≥ Mallard > Eurasian bittern ≥ Little bittern > Common hoopoe. The position in the trophic chain significantly influenced Hg concentrations, which were the highest in omnivorous species. Hg concentrations may also depend on migration routes and breeding habitats, but the evaluation of the exposure exceeds the ambit of this paper. The Hg concentrations found generally were low, lower than the safe thresholds reported in the literature.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0167-6369
1573-2959
DOI:10.1007/s10661-016-5671-y