Credit: NOAA/NMFS/AKR
A study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Emory University found that the concentrations of certain pollutants in the eggs of thick-billed murres fluctuated in sync with the sea surface temperatures associated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation pattern of climate variability.
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Emory University have discovered that some bird species in the sub-Arctic tend to ingest larger amounts of pollutants than others during periods of climate variation.
The study, which was published in the journal Chemosphere, examined the eggs of two similar bird species that live very close to each other along the coasts of the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska, the thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia) and the common murre (Uria aalge). Despite their similarities, the thick-billed murres’ ingestion of environmental contaminants is more variable than that of their cousins, the common murres.
Like many areas, the Alaskan regions where these two species often feed have seen increases in persistent organic pollutants (POPs) during the last century. Many of those chemicals were deposited as air pollutants that originated in other, more southerly parts of the world. Other POPs are legacies of old manufacturing processes.
As their name implies, POPs are slow to break down and remain in the environment for very long periods of time. They also move through ecosystems: As they are eaten by animals higher and higher on the food chain, they accumulate, meaning that the larger, older predators tend to ingest more POPs and have higher exposures. This includes humans who eat meat, including these birds, and fish. It also includes birds who eat lots of fish from the sea.
To determine the impact of POPs, scient ..
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