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Linking Breeding Movement With Plastic-Related Contaminant Concentrations in a Susceptible Seabird, the Herring Gull
Petalas, Christina; Provencher, Jennifer; Lu, Zhe; Lavoie, Raphael; Kyle, Elliott
Coastal zones are highly urbanized industrialized areas, where large amounts of plastic litter and their additives are routinely deposited. Wildlife can be used as pollution sentinels to allow for a better understanding of the levels of contaminants within a particular ecosystem. The use of fine-scale telemetry devices can allow for the combination of movement and chemical contaminant profiles. Gulls (Larus species) are opportunistic generalist scavengers that regularly exploit anthropogenic resources, while also known to adapt their foraging strategy to include marine, terrestrial, or a combination of mixed habitats. Herring gulls exhibit high interindividual variability in foraging areas, potentially determining their contamination burdens. For instance, individuals differ in habitat selection to foraging sites. Here, we examine the relationship between plastic-related contaminant concentrations and the foraging habitat, using GPS loggers, of Herring gulls breeding on a coastal island near Quebec city over two years (2023 n=15, 2024 n=25). Specifically, we seek to determine whether land cover features, body condition, and/or sex may be associated with elevated plastic-related contaminant concentrations in blood plasma each year over a week during the incubation period. This is the first study that pairs movement data with plastic additive contaminants and considers how variations in habitat use are linked to potential exposure.
