Alice Carravieri, Sophie Lorioux, Frédéric Angelier, Olivier Chastel, Céline Albert, Vegard Sandøy Bråthen, Émile Brisson-Curadeau, Manon Clairbaux, Karine Delord, Mathieu Giraudeau, Samuel Perret, Timothée Poupart, Cécile Ribout, Amélia Viricel-Pante, David Grémillet, Paco Bustamante, Jérôme Fort. (2023). Carryover effects of winter mercury contamination on summer concentrations and reproductive performance in little auks (Vol. 318).
Abstract: Many animals migrate after reproduction to respond to seasonal environmental changes. Environmental conditions experienced on non-breeding sites can have carryover effects on fitness. Exposure to harmful chemicals can vary widely between breeding and non-breeding grounds, but its carryover effects are poorly studied. Mercury (Hg) contamination is a major concern in the Arctic. Here, we quantified winter Hg contamination and its carryover effects in the most abundant Arctic seabird, the little auk Alle alle. Winter Hg contamination of birds from an East Greenland population was inferred from head feather concentrations. Birds tracked with Global Location Sensors (GLS, N = 28 of the total 92) spent the winter in western and central North Atlantic waters and had increasing head feather Hg concentrations with increasing longitude (i.e., eastward). This spatial pattern was not predicted by environmental variables such as bathymetry, sea-surface temperature or productivity, and needs further investigation. Hg concentrations in head feathers and blood were strongly correlated, suggesting a carryover effect of adult winter contamination on the consequent summer concentrations. Head feather Hg concentrations had no clear association with telomere length, a robust fitness indicator. In contrast, carryover negative effects were detected on chick health, as parental Hg contamination in winter was associated with decreasing growth rate of chicks in summer. Head feather Hg concentrations of females were not associated with egg membrane Hg concentrations, or with egg volume. In addition, parental winter Hg contamination was not related to Hg burdens in chicks’ body feathers. Therefore, we hypothesise that the association between parental winter Hg exposure and the growth of their chick results from an Hg-related decrease in parental care, and needs further empirical evidence. Our results stress the need of considering parental contamination on non-breeding sites to understand Hg trans-generational effects in migrating seabirds, even at low concentrations.
Keywords: Blood Chick growth Feathers Migration Reproduction Seabird Telomeres
Programme: 388
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Alison F. Banwell, Nander Wever, Devon Dunmire, Ghislain Picard. (2023). Quantifying Antarctic-Wide Ice-Shelf Surface Melt Volume Using Microwave and Firn Model Data: 1980 to 2021 (Vol. 50).
Abstract: Antarctic ice-shelf stability is threatened by surface melt, which has been implicated in several ice-shelf collapse events over recent decades. Here, we first analyze cumulative days of wet snow/ice status (“melt days”) for melt seasons from 1980 to 2021 over Antarctica's ice shelves using passive and active microwave satellite observations. As these observations do not directly reveal meltwater volumes, we calculate these using the physics-based multi-layer snow model SNOWPACK, driven by the global climate-reanalysis model Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications Version 2. We find a strong non-linear relationship between melt days and meltwater production volume. SNOWPACK's calculation of melt days shows agreement with observations of both cumulative days, and spatial and interannual variability. Highest melt rates are found on the Peninsula ice shelves, particularly in the 1992/1993 and 1994/1995 austral summers. Over all ice shelves, SNOWPACK calculates a small, but significant, decreasing trend in both annual melt days and meltwater production volume over the 41 years.
Programme: 1110
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Amro Hashish, Timothy J. Johnson, Dhiraj Chundru, Michele L. Williams, Yuko Sato, Nubia R. Macedo, Augustin Clessin, Hubert Gantelet, Caroline Bost, Jérémy Tornos, Amandine Gamble, Karen J. LeCount, Mostafa Ghanem, Thierry Boulinier, Mohamed El-Gazzar. (2023). Complete Genome Sequences of Two Pasteurella multocida Isolates from Seabirds (Vol. 12).
Abstract: Pasteurella multocida is one of the major causes of mass mortalities in wild birds. Here, we report the complete genome sequences of two P. multocida isolates from wild populations of two endangered seabird species, the Indian yellow-nosed albatrosses (Thalassarche carteri) and the northern rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes moseleyi).
Programme: 1151
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Andrea S. Grunst, Melissa L. Grunst, David Grémillet, Akiko Kato, Paco Bustamante, Céline Albert, Émile Brisson-Curadeau, Manon Clairbaux, Marta Cruz-Flores, Sophie Gentès, Samuel Perret, Eric Ste-Marie, Katarzyna Wojczulanis-Jakubas, Jérôme Fort. (2023). Mercury Contamination Challenges the Behavioral Response of a Keystone Species to Arctic Climate Change (Vol. 57).
Abstract: Combined effects of multiple, climate change-associated stressors are of mounting concern, especially in Arctic ecosystems. Elevated mercury (Hg) exposure in Arctic animals could affect behavioral responses to changes in foraging landscapes caused by climate change, generating interactive effects on behavior and population resilience. We investigated this hypothesis in little auks (Alle alle), a keystone Arctic seabird. We compiled behavioral data for 44 birds across 5 years using accelerometers while also quantifying blood Hg and environmental conditions. Warm sea surface temperature (SST) and low sea ice coverage reshaped time activity budgets (TABs) and diving patterns, causing decreased resting, increased flight, and longer dives. Mercury contamination was not associated with TABs. However, highly contaminated birds lengthened interdive breaks when making long dives, suggesting Hg-induced physiological limitations. As dive durations increased with warm SST, subtle toxicological effects threaten to increasingly constrain diving and foraging efficiency as climate change progresses, with ecosystem-wide repercussions.
Programme: 388
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Andrea S. Grunst, Melissa L. Grunst, Jérôme Fort. (2023). Contaminant-by-environment interactive effects on animal behavior in the context of global change: Evidence from avian behavioral ecotoxicology (Vol. 879).
Abstract: The potential for chemical contaminant exposure to interact with other stressors to affect animal behavioral responses to environmental variability is of mounting concern in the context of anthropogenic environmental change. We systematically reviewed the avian literature to evaluate evidence for contaminant-by-environment interactive effects on animal behavior, as birds are prominent models in behavioral ecotoxicology and global change research. We found that only 17 of 156 (10.9 %) avian behavioral ecotoxicological studies have explored contaminant-by-environment interactions. However, 13 (76.5 %) have found evidence for interactive effects, suggesting that contaminant-by-environment interactive effects on behavior are understudied but important. We draw on our review to develop a conceptual framework to understand such interactive effects from a behavioral reaction norm perspective. Our framework highlights four patterns in reaction norm shapes that can underlie contaminant-by-environment interactive effects on behavior, termed exacerbation, inhibition, mitigation and convergence. First, contamination can render individuals unable to maintain critical behaviors across gradients in additional stressors, exacerbating behavioral change (reaction norms steeper) and generating synergy. Second, contamination can inhibit behavioral adjustment to other stressors, antagonizing behavioral plasticity (reaction norms shallower). Third, a second stressor can mitigate (antagonize) toxicological effects of contamination, causing steeper reaction norms in highly contaminated individuals, with improvement of performance upon exposure to additional stress. Fourth, contamination can limit behavioral plasticity in response to permissive conditions, such that performance of more and less contaminated individuals converges under more stressful conditions. Diverse mechanisms might underlie such shape differences in reaction norms, including combined effects of contaminants and other stressors on endocrinology, energy balance, sensory systems, and physiological and cognitive limits. To encourage more research, we outline how the types of contaminant-by-environment interactive effects proposed in our framework might operate across multiple behavioral domains. We conclude by leveraging our review and framework to suggest priorities for future research.
Keywords: Behavioral ecotoxicology Behavioral plasticity Behavioral reaction norms Chemical contaminants Interactive effects Multiple stressors
Programme: 388
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Andrew D Foote, Alana Alexander, Lisa T Ballance, Rochelle Constantine, Bárbara Galletti Vernazzani Muñoz, Christophe Guinet, Kelly M Robertson, Mikkel-Holger S Sinding, Mariano Sironi, Paul Tixier, John Totterdell, Jared R Towers, Rebecca Wellard, Robert L Pitman, Phillip A Morin. (2023). “Type D” killer whale genomes reveal long-term small population size and low genetic diversity (Vol. 114).
Abstract: Genome sequences can reveal the extent of inbreeding in small populations. Here, we present the first genomic characterization of type D killer whales, a distinctive eco/morphotype with a circumpolar, subantarctic distribution. Effective population size is the lowest estimated from any killer whale genome and indicates a severe population bottleneck. Consequently, type D genomes show among the highest level of inbreeding reported for any mammalian species (FROH ≥ 0.65). Detected recombination cross-over events of different haplotypes are up to an order of magnitude rarer than in other killer whale genomes studied to date. Comparison of genomic data from a museum specimen of a type D killer whale that stranded in New Zealand in 1955, with 3 modern genomes from the Cape Horn area, reveals high covariance and identity-by-state of alleles, suggesting these genomic characteristics and demographic history are shared among geographically dispersed social groups within this morphotype. Limitations to the insights gained in this study stem from the nonindependence of the 3 closely related modern genomes, the recent coalescence time of most variation within the genomes, and the nonequilibrium population history which violates the assumptions of many model-based methods. Long-range linkage disequilibrium and extensive runs of homozygosity found in type D genomes provide the potential basis for both the distinctive morphology, and the coupling of genetic barriers to gene flow with other killer whale populations.
Programme: 109
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Angelica Psaridi, François Bouchy, Monika Lendl, Babatunde Akinsanmi, Keivan G. Stassun, Barry Smalley, David J. Armstrong, Saburo Howard, Solène Ulmer-Moll, Nolan Grieves, Khalid Barkaoui, Joseph E. Rodriguez, Edward M. Bryant, Olga Suárez, Tristan Guillot, Phil Evans, Omar Attia, Robert A. Wittenmyer, Samuel W. Yee, Karen A. Collins, George Zhou, Franck Galland, Léna Parc, Stéphane Udry, Pedro Figueira, Carl Ziegler, Christoph Mordasini, Joshua N. Winn, Sara Seager, Jon M. Jenkins, Joseph D. Twicken, Rafael Brahm, Matías I. Jones, Lyu Abe, Brett Addison, César Briceño, Joshua T. Briegal, Kevin I. Collins, Tansu Daylan, Phillip Eigmüller, Gabor Furesz, Natalia M. Guerrero, Janis Hagelberg, Alexis Heitzmann, Rebekah Hounsell, Chelsea X. Huang, Andreas Krenn, Nicholas M. Law, Andrew W. Mann, James McCormac, Djamel Mékarnia, Dany Mounzer, Louise D. Nielsen, Ares Osborn, Yared Reinarz, Ramotholo R. Sefako, Michal Steiner, Paul A. Strøm, Amaury H. M. J. Triaud, Roland Vanderspek, Leonardo Vanzi, Jose I. Vines, Christopher A. Watson, Duncan J. Wright, Abner Zapata. (2023). Three Saturn-mass planets transiting F-type stars revealed with TESS and HARPS – TOI-615b, TOI-622b, and TOI-2641b (Vol. 675).
Abstract: While the sample of confirmed exoplanets continues to grow, the population of transiting exoplanets around early-type stars is still limited. These planets allow us to investigate the planet properties and formation pathways over a wide range of stellar masses and study the impact of high irradiation on hot Jupiters orbiting such stars. We report the discovery of TOI-615b, TOI-622b, and TOI-2641b, three Saturn-mass planets transiting main sequence, F-type stars. The planets were identified by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and confirmed with complementary ground-based and radial velocity observations. TOI-615b is a highly irradiated (~1277 F⊕) and bloated Saturn-mass planet (1.69−0.06+0.05 RJup and 0.43−0.08+0.09 MJup) in a 4.66 day orbit transiting a 6850 K star. TOI-622b has a radius of 0.82−0.03+0.03 RJup and a mass of 0.30−0.08+0.07 MJup in a 6.40 day orbit. Despite its high insolation flux (~600 F⊕), TOI-622b does not show any evidence of radius inflation. TOI-2641b is a 0.39−0.04+0.02 MJup planet in a 4.88 day orbit with a grazing transit (b = 1.04−0.06+0.05) that results in a poorly constrained radius of 1.61−0.64+0.46 RJup. Additionally, TOI-615b is considered attractive for atmospheric studies via transmission spectroscopy with ground-based spectrographs and JWST. Future atmospheric and spin-orbit alignment observations are essential since they can provide information on the atmospheric composition, formation, and migration of exoplanets across various stellar types.
Programme: 1066
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Anne Cillard, Tatiana Fuentes Rodriguez, Jean-Patrice Robin, Pierre Bize, Antoine Stier, Vincent A. Viblanc. (2023). Sharing your snack: unusual observation of a chick–chick feeding occurrence in colonial king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) (Vol. 160).
Abstract: Abstract King penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) are colonial seabirds presenting an extraordinary breeding cycle. Parents take over 14 months to raise a single chick to independence, upon which fledglings depart at sea for more than a year. Juveniles often return to the colony within the three austral summers following departure, and before the age of first reproduction (around 5–6 years old), possibly to acquire the essential skills involved in breeding. Little to nothing is known on the acquisition of parental behaviour. Here, we report an anecdotal, yet highly unusual, observation of chick–chick feeding behaviour in this species. The behaviour is highly unusual in that two non-sibling chicks, not yet independent, and hatched at different times (early and late) of the same breeding season were observed, the older chick feeding the younger one. Whereas alloparental feeding is known to occur in this species, this is the first reported observation of a chick–chick feeding event. This unusual behaviour raises the question of whether the early social environment plays a role in the acquisition of essential parenting skills in this species.
Keywords: allofeeding chick feeding food sharing learning parental care penguin seabird
Programme: 119
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Antoine A., Johnson M.; Labrousse S., Goulet P., Chevallay M., Laborie B., Picard B., Guinet C., Nerini D., Charrassin J.-b., Heerah K. (2023). Beneath the Antarctic sea-ice: Fine-scale analysis of Weddell seal behavior and predator-prey interactions, using micro-sonar data in Terre Adélie..
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Antonella Tassone, Olivier Magand, Attilio Naccarato, Maria Martino, Domenico Amico, Francesca Sprovieri, Hippolyte Leuridan, Yann Bertrand, Michel Ramonet, Nicola Pirrone, Aurelien Dommergue. (2023). Seven-year monitoring of mercury in wet precipitation and atmosphere at the Amsterdam Island GMOS station (Vol. 9). Bachelor's thesis, , .
Abstract: Mercury (Hg) fate and transport research requires more effort to obtain a deep knowledge of its biogeochemical cycle, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere and Tropics that are still missing of distributed monitoring sites. Continuous monitoring of atmospheric Hg concentrations and trend worldwide is relevant for the effectiveness evaluation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury (MCM) actions. In this context, Gaseous Elemental Mercury (GEM) and total mercury (THg) in precipitations were monitored from 2013 to 2019 at the Amsterdam Island Observatory (AMS – 37°48′S, 77°34′E) to provide insights into the Hg pathway in the remote southern Indian Ocean, also considering ancillary dataset of Rn-222, CO2, CO, and CH4. GEM average concentration was 1.06 ± 0.07 ng m−3, with a slight increase during the austral winter due to both higher wind speed over the surface ocean and contributions from southern Africa. In wet depositions, THg average concentration was 2.39 ± 1.17 ng L−1, whereas the annual flux averaged 2.04 ± 0.80 μg m−2 year−1. In general, both GEM and Volume-Weighted Mean Concentration (VWMC) of THg did not show an increasing/decreasing trend over the seven-year period, suggesting a substantial lack of evolution about emission of Hg reaching AMS. Air masses Cluster Analysis and Potential Source Contribution Function showed that oceanic evasion was the main Hg contributor at AMS, while further contributions were attributable to long-range transport events from southern Africa, particularly when the occurrence of El Niño increased the frequency of wildfires.
Keywords: Atmospheric pollution Atmospheric transport Mercury measurements Source identification Southern Hemisphere Wet deposition flux
Programme: 416,1028
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