Survival rate and breeding outputs in a high Arctic seabird exposed to legacy persistent organic pollutants and mercury

Chronic exposure to pollutants may represent a threat for wildlife.We tested whether adult survival rate,
breeding probability and breeding success the year of sampling and the following year were affected by
blood levels of mercury or persistent organic pollutants in Svalbard black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla,
by using captureemarkerecapture models over a five-year period. Survival rate was negatively
linked to HCB levels in females, to chlordane mixture and oxychlordane, tended to decrease with
increasing PCBs or DDE levels, but was unrelated to mercury. Breeding probability decreased with
increasing mercury levels during the sampling year and with increasing CHL or HCB levels during the
following year, especially in males observed as breeders. Surprisingly, the probability of raising two
chicks increased with increasing HCB levels. Although levels of these legacy pollutants are expected to
decline, they represent a potential threat for adult survival rate and breeding probability, possibly
affecting kittiwake population dynamics.
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Heavy metals
Kittiwake
Population
Pesticides
PCBs