Monitoring the Health of Wildlife and their Ecosystems in the Arctic: Hg Toxicology and Stable Isotope

Abstract

A major survival issue affecting wildlife ecosystems globally is climate change. Climate change fluctuations impact not only atmospheric weather, but also river watersheds and oceans, the health of animal populations, and the health of ecosystems as a whole. Arctic wildlife sentinels can be used as a proxy to monitor both ecosystem health and the health of Arctic subsistence users. In addition to a changing climate, the Arctic is a region of increased activity by the international mining industry. This One Health based literature approach integrates principles of environmental science, forensics, anthropology, physiology and geology, which will focus on toxicology (Hg) and feeding ecology (stable isotopes of δ13C and δ15N) of key terrestrial and marine mammal sentinel species. In the context of climate change, a forensic approach suggests a paleohealth (mercury) and paleodietary (isotopes) indicators in various animal tissues from museum samples as a baseline for future assessments of the impact of metals in food webs.