Faculty of Chemistry, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology, Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdansk, Poland.
Faculty of Chemistry, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Umultowska 89b, 61-614 Poznań, Poland.
Sci Total Environ. 2019 Mar 25;658:1209-1218. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.232. Epub 2018 Dec 16.
Excess or toxic metals, non-metals and metalloids can be eliminated from the organism by deposition in inert tissue (e.g. fur) or excretion with body secretions, urine and faeces. Droppings are one of the main routes for the elimination of multiple elements and they can be collected without direct contact with the animal. Contaminant concentration has been examined in non-lethally collected tissues of several species (especially reptilian, avian and mammalian). However, studies on species residing in polar areas are still limited, especially of mammals from the European Arctic. Reindeers are the only large herbivores living in Svalbard, being an essential part of the Arctic terrestrial ecosystem. Although reindeer presence has a high impact on their surroundings, those huge mammals are rarely part of ecotoxicological studies regarding metal pollution. In this paper, the droppings of Svalbard reindeer were used as a non-invasively collected tissue to examine the excretion pathway of 30 elements. Samples were collected in mesic and moss tundra, representing summer, winter and winter-transitional excretion. For more than a half of the studied elements, significant differences occurred between the samples collected in the two tundra types. The feasibility of older and fresh samples was assessed based on summer droppings, and significant differences were found for K, As, Mn, Na, Ni, and Sb concentrations. No relevant differences in element levels were observed for samples collected from adult females, adult males and calves, except for zinc and potassium. Results show that reindeer droppings are an important vector for the transfer of many metals, non-metals and metalloids including calcium, phosphorus, zinc, aluminium and lead. As a sedentary species, feeding on local food sources, Svalbard reindeer is a valuable indicator of trace element presence in the polar terrestrial ecosystem.
过量或有毒的金属、非金属和类金属可以通过沉积在惰性组织（如皮毛）或随身体分泌物、尿液和粪便排泄而从生物体中排出。粪便是多种元素消除的主要途径之一，可以在不与动物直接接触的情况下收集。已经检查了几种物种（特别是爬行动物、鸟类和哺乳动物）非致死性收集组织中的污染物浓度。然而，关于居住在极地地区的物种的研究仍然有限，特别是来自欧洲北极的哺乳动物。驯鹿是唯一生活在斯瓦尔巴群岛的大型食草动物，是北极陆地生态系统的重要组成部分。尽管驯鹿的存在对其周围环境有很大的影响，但这些大型哺乳动物很少成为金属污染生态毒理学研究的一部分。在本文中，斯瓦尔巴群岛驯鹿的粪便被用作非侵入性收集组织，以研究 30 种元素的排泄途径。在中湿和苔藓冻原中采集了夏季、冬季和冬季过渡排泄的样本。对于超过一半的研究元素，在两种冻原类型采集的样本之间存在显著差异。根据夏季粪便评估了新旧样本的可行性，发现 K、As、Mn、Na、Ni 和 Sb 浓度存在显著差异。除了锌和钾外，从成年雌性、成年雄性和幼仔采集的样本中，元素水平没有发现相关差异。结果表明，驯鹿粪便在许多金属、非金属和类金属（包括钙、磷、锌、铝和铅）的转移中是一个重要的载体。作为一种定居物种，以当地食物为食，斯瓦尔巴群岛驯鹿是极地陆地生态系统中微量元素存在的一个有价值的指标。
