Baak Julia E, Hanifen Kristine E, Maddox Mark L, Mallory Mark L, Elliott Kyle H, Keegan Shane, Provencher Jennifer F
Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Sainte Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec H9X 3V9, Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada, Iqaluit, Nunavut X0A 3H0, Canada.
Department of Biology, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia B4P 2R6, Canada.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2024 Sep;206:116800. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116800. Epub 2024 Aug 2.
Plastic ingestion by seabirds is an increasing issue worldwide, yet species can vary in ingestion based on ecological and morphological differences. This provokes the ecological question of which species are better suited to monitor plastic ingestion across regions and time. In Canada, we examined plastic ingestion in sympatric northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis), black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla), thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia), and black guillemots (Cepphus grylle). Here, we present new data and compare to historical work to inform plastic pollution monitoring in Canada. In 2021, 51 % of fulmars, 7 % of kittiwakes and 7 % of murres contained plastic, whereas guillemots had no pieces >1 mm. Regardless of the methods used to collect and process samples, fulmars continue to have low levels of ingestion compared to the European Arctic, but high levels compared to other species in the Canadian Arctic, emphasizing their continued utility as a monitoring tool for plastic pollution in Canada.
海鸟吞食塑料在全球范围内是一个日益严重的问题，但不同物种基于生态和形态差异，在吞食情况上会有所不同。这引发了一个生态学问题：哪些物种更适合在不同地区和时间监测塑料摄入情况。在加拿大，我们研究了同域分布的北极海鹦（Fulmarus glacialis）、黑脚三趾鸥（Rissa tridactyla）、厚嘴海鸦（Uria lomvia）和黑海雀（Cepphus grylle）的塑料摄入情况。在此，我们展示新数据并与历史研究进行比较，以为加拿大的塑料污染监测提供信息。2021年，51%的北极海鹦、7%的黑脚三趾鸥和7%的厚嘴海鸦体内含有塑料，而黑海雀体内没有大于1毫米的塑料碎片。无论用于收集和处理样本的方法如何，与欧洲北极地区相比，北极海鹦的摄入水平仍然较低，但与加拿大北极地区的其他物种相比则较高，这凸显了它们作为加拿大塑料污染监测工具的持续效用。
