Past and present trophic position and decadal changes in diet of Yellow-legged Gull in the Azores Archipelago, NE Atlantic

This study evaluates the trophic position of adult Yellow-legged Gulls Larus michahellis atlantis resident in the Azores archipelago in the past (1921–1928) and in the present (2009–2010), and analyses the decadal variation in the diet of breeding birds from the 1990s to the 2000s for three main colonies (Topo Islet, Baixo Islet and Mistério da Prainha). Using mixing models, we compared stable isotope signatures of nitrogen and carbon in adult breast feathers between birds from 1921 to 1928 (held in museum collections) and 2009 to 2010, jointly with both isotopic signatures of their main prey groups (fish, goose barnacles (Lepas anatifera), seabirds, mammals and refuse). The diet of breeding birds was analysed using pellets collected in 1989, 1995, 1996, 2004, 2009 and 2010. Stable isotopes analysis (SIA) results were in accordance with the results provided from the analysis of pellets, showing a relatively recent and significant change in the diet of adult gulls. In particular, SIA revealed a significant decrease in the trophic position of Yellow-legged Gulls in the Azores, over the last 89 years in response to the decrease in the consumption of seabirds and fish and, an increase in the consumption of marine invertebrates (goose barnacles) and refuse. The analysis of pellets confirmed the significant decrease in the fish ingested, whereas the ingestion of lower trophic level prey (i.e. goose barnacles, mammals and refuse) increased. Both methods reflect the feeding plasticity and opportunistic foraging behavior of this species, and are in accordance with patterns described for continental Europe.We acknowledge the support given by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal, to Patricia Pedro (SFRH/BD/ 40095/2007)

Large-scale spatial pollution patterns around the North Sea indicated by coastal bird eggs within an EcoQO programme

To categorize the marine environmental health status, the Oslo and Paris commissions have recently formulated Ecological Quality Objectives (EcoQOs) for many ecological features including the contamination of coastal bird eggs with mercury and organochlorines. In this study, we describe spatial and temporal patterns of egg contamination around the North Sea and compared them to the EcoQOs. Concentrations of mercury, polychlorinated biphenyl (ΣPCB) congeners, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (ΣDDT) and derivatives, hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and hexachlorocyclohexane (ΣHCH) isomers were analysed in two tern species (Sterna hirundo and Sterna paradisaea) and Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) eggs collected between 2008 and 2010 in a total of 21 sites in seven countries surrounding the North Sea. Hg, ΣPCB and HCB were highest in the southern sites, while ΣDDT and ΣHCH concentrations were greatest in eggs from the western North Sea and the Elbe estuary. There were rarely any consistent decreases over time for any compounds. In the terns, Hg, HCB and ΣHCH increased at most sites, ΣPCB and ΣDDT in Sweden and Norway. In the Oystercatcher, HCB and ΣHCH increased at more than the half of the sites, ΣPCB, ΣDDT and Hg at several German sites. In the terns, Hg, ΣPCB and ΣDDT exceeded the EcoQO in all, HCB in most years and sites. At most sites, ΣHCH fulfilled the EcoQO in some study years. In the Oystercatcher, Hg, ΣPCB and ΣDDT exceeded the EcoQO in all or most years and sites. HCB and ΣHCH fulfilled the EcoQO in some or all years at most sites. The EcoQO was exceeded most frequently in estuaries. We conclude that EcoQOs are suitable for drawing contamination patterns of the coastal North Sea in an easily understandable manner, offering the opportunity to harmonize the EcoQOs with coordinated environmental monitoring programmes