Marine micronutrient vectors: Seabirds, marine mammals and f
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TitleMarine micronutrient vectors: Seabirds, marine mammals and fishes egest high concentrations of bioactive metals in the subantarctic island ecosystemAbstractWe investigated concentrations of bioactive metals (Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd)
in organic matter source pools: suspended particulate organic matter and macroalgae, and microzooplankton from the vicinity of the Snares Islands, situated adjacent to the Subtropical Frontal Zone south of New Zealand. Further we sampled egested material from 6 coastal fishes, 8 seabirds
and 2 pinniped species with rookeries on the islands. Analysis of δ15N and δ13C from basal organic matter sources, zooplankton, fish muscle tissue and egesta of fishes, seabirds and pinnipeds was used to estimate trophic position for each group. We found a food web heavily dependent on pelagic productivity culminating with New Zealand fur seals and Hooker’s sea lions. We compared multivariate concentration profiles of metals in the egesta of 4 trophic level groups from the Snares Islands with 4 similar trophic groups from the Auckland Islands. Results indicated more
variation in concentration of bioactive metals in egesta among trophic level groups, than among islands. These results demonstrated that several potentially limiting micronutrients (Mn, Fe, Co,Zn) are bioaccumulated in the egesta of upper trophic levels of subantarctic food webs. The variance in concentration patterns of bioactive metals is more coincident with differences in food web structure than differences in water mass type surrounding the 2 islands. The patterns observed have important implications for understanding the interactions between food web architecture, biological vectors and productivity around the subantarctic islands of the Southern Ocean. Copyright The authors 2017. Open Access under Creative Commons by Attribution Licence.AcknowledgementsWe thank Melanie Gault-Ringold, David Barr, Bill Dickson, Phil Heseltine, Russell Frew and Trudi Webster for assistance with this work. Access to the Snares Islands was provided by New Zealand's Department of Conservation, and samples were collected under permits from the Department of Conservation, University of Otago Animal Ethics Committee and the Ministry for Primary Industries. Support from the Royal Society of New Zealand's Marsden Fund (UOO1008) to S.R.W. made this work possible.
in organic matter source pools: suspended particulate organic matter and macroalgae, and microzooplankton from the vicinity of the Snares Islands, situated adjacent to the Subtropical Frontal Zone south of New Zealand. Further we sampled egested material from 6 coastal fishes, 8 seabirds
and 2 pinniped species with rookeries on the islands. Analysis of δ15N and δ13C from basal organic matter sources, zooplankton, fish muscle tissue and egesta of fishes, seabirds and pinnipeds was used to estimate trophic position for each group. We found a food web heavily dependent on pelagic productivity culminating with New Zealand fur seals and Hooker’s sea lions. We compared multivariate concentration profiles of metals in the egesta of 4 trophic level groups from the Snares Islands with 4 similar trophic groups from the Auckland Islands. Results indicated more
variation in concentration of bioactive metals in egesta among trophic level groups, than among islands. These results demonstrated that several potentially limiting micronutrients (Mn, Fe, Co,Zn) are bioaccumulated in the egesta of upper trophic levels of subantarctic food webs. The variance in concentration patterns of bioactive metals is more coincident with differences in food web structure than differences in water mass type surrounding the 2 islands. The patterns observed have important implications for understanding the interactions between food web architecture, biological vectors and productivity around the subantarctic islands of the Southern Ocean. Copyright The authors 2017. Open Access under Creative Commons by Attribution Licence.AcknowledgementsWe thank Melanie Gault-Ringold, David Barr, Bill Dickson, Phil Heseltine, Russell Frew and Trudi Webster for assistance with this work. Access to the Snares Islands was provided by New Zealand's Department of Conservation, and samples were collected under permits from the Department of Conservation, University of Otago Animal Ethics Committee and the Ministry for Primary Industries. Support from the Royal Society of New Zealand's Marsden Fund (UOO1008) to S.R.W. made this work possible.
Details
1st AuthorWing, S.AuthorWing, S.Wing, L.Shatova, O.Van Hale, R.Year2017JournalMarine Ecology Progress SeriesVolume563Pages13-23DOI10.3354/meps11978URLhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/recor.....72e6496e63727cfa185cbd787KeywordsArctocephalus forsteriMammaliaOtariidaePinnipediaPiscesAuthor KeywordsFishIronMarine mammalNutrient vectorSeabirdSouthern Ocean
Other
TypeArticleCitationWing, S., Wing, L., Shatova, O. and Van Hale, R. (2017). Marine micronutrient vectors: Seabirds, marine mammals and fishes egest high concentrations of bioactive metals in the subantarctic island ecosystem. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 563: 13-23 IdentifierWing2017Antarctica NZ supported?NoNZARI?No
Van Hale, R., Marine micronutrient vectors: Seabirds, marine mammals and f , [Wing2017]. Antarctica NZ, accessed 21/06/2025, https://adam.antarcticanz.govt.nz/nodes/view/63823, 10.3354/meps11978