Monitoring plastic in stomachs of beached northern fulmars for OSPAR's Ecological Quality Objectives (EcoQOs) has been incorporated into the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). This paper aims to provide the appropriate tools to interpret the monitoring results. MSFD requires a data-derived threshold value (Fulmar-TV) representing 'Good Environmental Status'. Such Fulmar-TV was calculated from near-pristine Canadian Arctic data where 10.06% of fulmars exceeded the level of 0.1 g ingested plastic. This Fulmar-TV is almost identical to the earlier OSPAR EcoQO, arbitrarily set at 10%. The MSFD approach was evaluated for 2661 North Sea fulmars in 2002-2018. Between 2014 and 2018, 51% of 393 fulmars exceeded 0.1 g plastic, significantly above the proposed Fulmar-TV. Linear regression of individual ingested plastic mass over the 2009-2018 period indicates a significant decrease. Over the longer term 2002-2018, logistic regression of annual EcoQ% shows a significant decline and predicts compliance with the Fulmar-TV by 2054.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112246 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Plastic ingestion by northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) in the Canadian Arctic and Northwest Atlantic.
Mar Pollut Bull
December 2024
Department of Biology, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia B4P 2R6, Canada.
Plastic pollution is omnipresent in the marine environment, including much of the Arctic. Northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) are particularly vulnerable to ingesting plastics floating on the water's surface, and are an international biomonitor of this contaminant. We sampled plastic ≥1 mm in size from the stomachs of fulmars collected by Inuit hunters in Arctic Canada, as well as beached fulmars from Sable Island, Nova Scotia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUltraviolet absorbents and industrial antioxidants in seabirds, mammals, and fish from the Canadian Arctic.
Sci Total Environ
November 2024
Institut des Sciences de la Mer, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Rimouski, Québec G5L 3A1, Canada. Electronic address:
Ultraviolet (UV) absorbents and industrial antioxidants are two groups of plastic-derived contaminants of emerging environmental concern. However, their distribution and fate are poorly understood in Arctic wildlife. In the present study, 16 UV absorbents (10 benzotriazole UV stabilizers (BZT-UVs) and 6 organic UV filters (UVFs)) and 7 industrial antioxidants (6 aromatic secondary amines (Ar-SAs) and 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol (26DTBP)) were analyzed in the livers of thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia; n = 28), northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis; n = 4), black guillemot (Cepphus grylle; n = 11), polar bear (Ursus maritimus; n = 18), beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas; n = 10), landlocked (n = 25) and sea-run (n = 10) Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) from the Canadian Arctic collected between 2017 and 2021.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDecades of monitoring plastic pollution in seabirds in Canada: Spatial, temporal, and methodological insights.
Mar Pollut Bull
September 2024
Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Wildlife Research Centre, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H3, Canada.
Article Synopsis
- Seabirds are increasingly ingesting plastic, affecting various species differently based on their ecological and morphological traits.
- In Canada, a study on northern fulmars, black-legged kittiwakes, thick-billed murres, and black guillemots revealed that 51% of fulmars contained plastic, while kittiwakes and murres had much lower rates, and guillemots showed no significant ingestion.
- The data suggests that while fulmars ingest less plastic than those in the European Arctic, they still serve as an effective indicator for monitoring plastic pollution in Canada compared to other local species.
The relationship between plastic ingestion and trace element concentrations in Arctic seabirds.
Mar Pollut Bull
June 2024
Acadia University, Biology Department, Wolfville, NS, B4P 2R6, Canada.
Seabirds ingest contaminants linked to their prey's tissues, but also adsorbed to ingested plastic debris. To explore relationships between ingested plastics and trace elements concentrations, we analyzed 25 essential non-essential trace elements in liver tissue in relation to plastic content in the gastrointestinal tract in adults of four species of Arctic seabirds with different propensity to ingest plastic. Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) provided a clear separation between species based on element concentrations, but not among individuals with and without plastics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLife starts with plastic: High occurrence of plastic pieces in fledglings of northern fulmars.
Mar Pollut Bull
May 2024
Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre for Climate and the Environment, N-9296 Tromsø, Norway.
Plastic pollution threatens many organisms around the world. In particular, the northern fulmar, Fulmarus glacialis, is known to ingest high quantities of plastics. Since data are sparse in the Eurasian Arctic, we investigated plastic burdens in the stomachs of fulmar fledglings from Kongsfjorden, Svalbard.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!