Mercury content in the Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica Temminck, 1844) from the coastal and inland areas of the Russia

Being a global pollutant, mercury can originate from both natural as well as anthropogenic sources. Coastal marine atmospheric fog is considered a potential source of ocean-derived monomethylmercury (MMHg) to coastal terrestrial ecosystems. However, the ratio between mercury appearing through natura...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Scientific reports Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 6923 - 6
Main Authors:	Poddubnaya, N. Ya, Salkina, G. P., Eltsova, L. S., Ivanova, E. S., Oleynikov, A. Yu, Pavlov, D. D., Kryukov, V. Kh, Rumyantseva, O. Yu
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	London Nature Publishing Group UK 25-03-2021 Nature Publishing Group Nature Portfolio
Subjects:	631/158 631/601 704/158 704/172 Animals Anthropogenic factors Coastal ecosystems Coasts Ecosystem Environmental impact Environmental Pollutants - metabolism Environmental risk Female Fog Hair Analysis Humanities and Social Sciences Male Marine ecosystems Mercury Mercury - metabolism Mercury pollution multidisciplinary Panthera tigris altaica Pollutants Salmon Science Science (multidisciplinary) Siberia Terrestrial ecosystems Tigers - metabolism Wildcats Siberia
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Summary:	Being a global pollutant, mercury can originate from both natural as well as anthropogenic sources. Coastal marine atmospheric fog is considered a potential source of ocean-derived monomethylmercury (MMHg) to coastal terrestrial ecosystems. However, the ratio between mercury appearing through natural processes and that from the results of human activity is unclear. We assumed that the total mercury content in the fur of tigers would differ depending on the distance from the sea. Here we show that the average mercury content in tigers from the coast (0.435 ± 0.062 mg kg −1 ) is significantly different from tigers from the inland area (0.239 ± 0.075 mg kg −1 ), (p = 0.02). We found that the content of mercury in the fur of tigers is largely dependent of natural processes rather than human activity. We assume that the levels of mercury in coastal ecosystems in the south of the Russian Far East reflect the position of the region relative to the deep faults of the East Pacific Platform. Obtained data indicate that environmental risks associated with mercury pollution currently exist, but do not pose a serious threat to Siberian tigers.
ISSN:	2045-2322 2045-2322
DOI:	10.1038/s41598-021-86411-y