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PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
12
pubmed:dateCreated
2009-4-28
pubmed:abstractText
Concentrations of persistent contaminants often vary widely among individuals within a population. We hypothesized that such variation was caused mainly by differences in diet (biomagnification) and in coastal systems by the tendency of marine systems to act as contaminant sinks. We examined the relationship between contaminant concentrations and stable isotope ratios in nestling plasma from an apex predator with a particularly broad diet. Our study included freshwater, estuarine, inshore and pelagic breeding sites. Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) at the pelagic marine sites showed high trophic level and marine input, eagles at the freshwater sites showed low trophic level and marine input, and eagles at the estuarine and inshore marine sites had intermediate values. The relationship between trophic level and marine input may reflect longer food chains in pelagic compared to terrestrial ecosystems. summation operator PCBs and DDE concentrations generally increased with trophic level and marine input, with the exception of the freshwater sites, while summation operator PBDEs, hydroxylated-PBDEs and hydroxylated-PCBs increased with marine input, but were independent of trophic level. The relationships for summation operator PCBs and DDE were often slightly stronger with marine input than trophic level, suggesting that oceanographic processes may be more important than trophic level. At freshwater locations, spatial variation may be more important than trophic level due to the heterogeneity of contaminant profiles between feeding locations (lakes, rivers, agricultural fields). Adults had similar isotopic composition to their chicks but higher contamination. Based on nests where prey composition was determined independently, isotopic enrichment values for nestling plasma were 1.6+/-0.1 (delta(15)N) and -0.4+/-0.2 (delta(13)C). We conclude that trophic level and marine influence are significant factors influencing PCB and DDE concentrations in eagles. However, trophic level in particular did not influence PBDEs, possibly due to their being metabolized by eagles.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jun
pubmed:issn
0048-9697
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
1
pubmed:volume
407
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
3867-75
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2009
pubmed:articleTitle
PCBs and DDE, but not PBDEs, increase with trophic level and marine input in nestling bald eagles.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Zoology, Z320 Duff Roblin Building, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2N2. haliaeetus@gmail.com
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article