Organochlorine contaminants in arctic marine food chains: identification, geographical distribution and temporal trends in polar bears

1988 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 1063-1071 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross J. Norstrom ◽  
Mary. Simon ◽  
Derek C. G. Muir ◽  
Ray E. Schweinsburg
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Food Chains ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Organochlorine Contaminants ◽  
Marine Food

Presence and Distribution of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) in Arctic and Subarctic Marine Food Chains

1975 ◽  
Vol 32 (11) ◽  
pp. 2111-2123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald W. Bowes ◽  
Charles J. Jonkel
Keyword(s):  
Polychlorinated Biphenyls ◽  
Polar Bear ◽  
Salvelinus Alpinus ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Food Chains ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Industrial Chemicals ◽  
Food Residue ◽  
Marine Food ◽  
High Concentrations

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), man-made industrial chemicals, have been identified in tissues of polar bears (Ursus maritimus), ringed (Phoca hispida) and square flipper (Erignathus barbatus) seals, and Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) of the Canadian arctic and subarctic. All tissues from each species examined contained these compounds. PCB content in tissue, both absolute and relative to the concentration of DDT (p,p′-DDE + p,p′-DDD + p,p′-DDT), generally increased from seals to adult polar bears to polar bear cubs and young. Polar bear milk contained high concentrations of PCB and is the most probable source of the high concentrations in polar bear cubs. Chromatograms revealed a greater accumulation of higher chlorinated PCB isomers in polar bears than in seals, their main food. Residue data suggest that polar bear subpopulations in the eastern Canadian arctic and subarctic have been exposed to higher levels of PCB and DDT than western subpopulations.

Seabirds as biomonitors of mercury inputs to epipelagic and mesopelagic marine food chains

1998 ◽  
Vol 213 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 299-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R Thompson ◽  
Robert W Furness ◽  
Luis R Monteiro
Keyword(s):  
Food Chains ◽  
Marine Food

Variable transfer of detoxified metals from snails to hermit crabs in marine food chains

1994 ◽  
Vol 120 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Nott ◽  
A. Nicolaidou
Keyword(s):  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
Food Chains ◽  
Marine Food

Chlorinated C 1 and C 2 hydrocarbons in the marine environment

1975 ◽  
Vol 189 (1096) ◽  
pp. 305-332 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Tetrachloride ◽  
Acute Toxicity ◽  
Microbial Degradation ◽  
Chemical Industry ◽  
Aquatic Organisms ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Food Chains ◽  
Laboratory Bioassay ◽  
Marine Food ◽  
Chemical Manufacture

A range of chlorinated hydrocarbons derived from C 1 and C 2 hydrocarbons is manufactured industrially. They are used as intermediates for further chemical manufacture and also outside the chemical industry as solvents or carriers. In the latter category losses in use are eventually dispersed to the environment. The distribution of some of these compounds, including chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene and trichloroethane, in the environment (air, water and marine sediments) has been investigated and the results are presented. The concentrations found have been compared with acute toxicity levels to fish and other aquatic organisms, ascertained by laboratory bioassay. The occurrence of the compounds has been determined in a number of marine organisms, especially those at higher trophic levels, and the accumulation of some of them has been investigated in the laboratory. Chemical and microbial degradation processes have been studied in the laboratory to help determine the course of their removal from the aqueous and aerial environment, and the half lives of some of the compounds have been estimated. It is concluded that these compounds are not persistent in the environment, and that there is no significant bioaccumulation in marine food chains.

Polar bear research: has science helped management and conservation?

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 358-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dag Vongraven ◽  
Andrew E. Derocher ◽  
Alyssa M. Bohart
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
Annual Number ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
International Agreement ◽  
Research Relationship ◽  
Spatial Coverage ◽  
Scientific Papers ◽  
Sound Management ◽  
Management And Conservation

Wildlife management is predicated upon the use of scientific research to assist decision-making. However, assessment of the effectiveness of the management–research relationship is rarely undertaken. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) have benefitted from an international agreement that required each of the countries within the species’ range to manage them using the best available scientific data. The objective of this paper is to conduct a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature on polar bears to describe research trends and to assess how effectively research has met management needs. We analyzed 1191 peer-reviewed scientific papers from 1886–2016 covering 24 research topics. Annual counts of papers within each research topic were assessed for temporal trends, spatial coverage, and the extent to which they have facilitated management and monitoring needs. The annual number of papers increased from <10 in the early 1960s to >50 in recent years with a mean of 2.2 papers per subpopulation per year with great variation between the 19 global subpopulations. We conclude that there is an imbalance in the geographic and thematic focus of peer-reviewed research in recent years, and that only four subpopulations appear to have had a research focus covering most parameters essential for conservation and sound management.

Geographical distribution of metals in livers of polar bears from the Northwest territories, Canada

1991 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
pp. 283-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.M. Braune ◽  
R.J. Norstrom ◽  
M.P. Wong ◽  
B.T. Collins ◽  
J. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Northwest Territories ◽  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Polar Bears

The transfer of65Zn and 59Fe along a Fucus serratus (L.)→ Littorina obtusata (L.) food chain

1975 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 583-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. L. Young
Keyword(s):  
Trace Metals ◽  
Radiation Exposure ◽  
Marine Environment ◽  
Food Chain ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Food Chains ◽  
Fresh Weight ◽  
Littorina Obtusata ◽  
Fucus Serratus ◽  
Marine Food

In marine organisms the fresh-weight concentrations of the trace metals zinc and iron are 102–105 times the concentrations in sea water. Study of the transfer of these metals along marine food chains is of interest because of the possibility of their being pollutants of the marine environment. Also65Zn and 65Fe are released to the marine environment and have been found, in many instances, to be the predominant radionuclides in food chains leading to man (Lowman, Palumbo & South, 1957; Lowman, 1960; Osterberg, Pearcy & Curl, 1964; Preston, 1967). The transfer of these metals along marine food chains is thus of interest also in the context of human radiation exposure.

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