| temporal trends in a biomagnifying contaminant: application of amino acid compound-specific stable nitrogen isotope analysis to the interpretation of bird mercury levels. | temporal trends in levels of biomagnifying contaminants, such as mercury (hg), in top predators can provide insights into changes in contaminant bioavailability through time. however, interpreting contaminant temporal trends in predators can be confounded by temporal changes in their diets, which, in turn, could affect organism trophic position and exposure to biomagnifying contaminants. to address this issue, bulk stable nitrogen isotope analysis, that is, analysis of whole tissue, is widely in ... | 2018 | 29341238 |
| spatial trends in a biomagnifying contaminant: application of amino acid compound-specific stable nitrogen isotope analysis to the interpretation of bird mercury levels. | levels of biomagnifying contaminants are greatest in high-trophic level biota (e.g., predatory birds such as gulls). gull eggs have been used to assess contaminant spatial patterns and sources, but such assessments must consider how organism trophic position may influence spatial inferences. stable nitrogen isotopes (δ15 n) in bulk tissue are routinely used in this context. however, bulk δ15 n values are only useful if spatial differences in baseline δ15 n values are considered. amino acid compo ... | 2018 | 29446488 |
| plastic and non-plastic debris ingestion in three gull species feeding in an urban landfill environment. | plastic debris is recognized as a widespread, common and problematic environmental pollutant. an important consequence of this pollution is the ingestion of plastic debris by wildlife. assessing the degree to which different species ingest plastics, and the potential effects of these plastics on their health are important research needs for understanding the impacts of plastic pollution. we examined debris (plastic and other types) ingestion in three sympatric overwintering gull species (herring ... | 2018 | 29282493 |
| amino acid specific stable nitrogen isotope values in avian tissues: insights from captive american kestrels and wild herring gulls. | through laboratory and field studies, the utility of amino acid compound-specific nitrogen isotope analysis (aa-csia) in avian studies is investigated. captive american kestrels (falco sparverius) were fed an isotopically characterized diet and patterns in δ(15)n values of amino acids (aas) were compared to those in their tissues (muscle and red blood cells) and food. based upon nitrogen isotope discrimination between diet and kestrel tissues, aas could mostly be categorized as source aas (retai ... | 2016 | 27786442 |
| extensive mitochondrial introgression in north american great black-backed gulls (larus marinus) from the american herring gull (larus smithsonianus) with little nuclear dna impact. | recent genetic studies have shown that introgression rates among loci may greatly vary according to their location in the genome. in particular, several cases of mito-nuclear discordances have been reported for a wide range of organisms. in the present study, we examine the causes of discordance between mitochondrial (mtdna) and nuclear dna introgression detected in north american populations of the great black-backed gull (larus marinus), a holarctic species, from the nearctic north american he ... | 2014 | 24105440 |