Environ Monit Assess (2015) 187:275 DOI 10.1007/s10661-015-4482-x
Mercury levels in avian feathers from different trophic levels of eight families collected from the northern region of Iran Abdulreza Mashroofeh & Alireza Riyahi Bakhtiari & Ahmad Ghobeishavi & Mohsen Ahmadpour & Asad Asadi & Mousa Ahmadpour & Sayyed Hamid Hosseini & Tahereh Eskandari & Joanna Burger
Received: 27 August 2014 / Accepted: 31 March 2015 # Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
Abstract Mercury levels were determined in feathers from 83 birds belonging to 18 species (eight families), all collected from the northern region of Iran. Mercury levels were evaluated in relation to taxonomic affiliation and feeding strategies. Mercury levels in the feathers were between 0.05±0.01 and 1.10±0.15 μg g−1 dry weight, and there was a significant effect of taxonomic groups (p Pelecanidae > Sternidae > Ardeidae > Anatidae > Rallidae > Phasianidae (p Sternidae > Ardeidae > Anatidae > Rallidae > Phasianidae (Fig. 1). Accipitridae family displayed 1.5 to 13.6-fold higher levels of feather mercury than the other families. As presented in Table 1, the highest mercury levels were in marsh harrier (Accipitridae), followed by hen harrier (Accipitridae), white pelican (Pelecanidae), purple heron (Ardeidae), and sandwich tern (Sternidae). Mallard, northern shoveler, gadwall, common teal, and northern pintail (Anatidae) had intermediate levels, whereas chukar (Phasianidae) contained the least level of mercury. Marsh harrier (Accipitridae) had significantly higher levels of feather mercury than the other species (p herbivore (Fig. 2). Carnivore birds (harriers) had significantly higher levels of feather mercury than the other trophic levels (p
Mercury levels in avian feathers from different trophic levels of eight families collected from the northern region of Iran Abdulreza Mashroofeh & Alireza Riyahi Bakhtiari & Ahmad Ghobeishavi & Mohsen Ahmadpour & Asad Asadi & Mousa Ahmadpour & Sayyed Hamid Hosseini & Tahereh Eskandari & Joanna Burger
Received: 27 August 2014 / Accepted: 31 March 2015 # Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
Abstract Mercury levels were determined in feathers from 83 birds belonging to 18 species (eight families), all collected from the northern region of Iran. Mercury levels were evaluated in relation to taxonomic affiliation and feeding strategies. Mercury levels in the feathers were between 0.05±0.01 and 1.10±0.15 μg g−1 dry weight, and there was a significant effect of taxonomic groups (p Pelecanidae > Sternidae > Ardeidae > Anatidae > Rallidae > Phasianidae (p Sternidae > Ardeidae > Anatidae > Rallidae > Phasianidae (Fig. 1). Accipitridae family displayed 1.5 to 13.6-fold higher levels of feather mercury than the other families. As presented in Table 1, the highest mercury levels were in marsh harrier (Accipitridae), followed by hen harrier (Accipitridae), white pelican (Pelecanidae), purple heron (Ardeidae), and sandwich tern (Sternidae). Mallard, northern shoveler, gadwall, common teal, and northern pintail (Anatidae) had intermediate levels, whereas chukar (Phasianidae) contained the least level of mercury. Marsh harrier (Accipitridae) had significantly higher levels of feather mercury than the other species (p herbivore (Fig. 2). Carnivore birds (harriers) had significantly higher levels of feather mercury than the other trophic levels (p
