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The tight linkage between mineral status and health and demographics in animals is well documented. Mineral deficiencies have been coupled to population declines in wildlife. Current practices typically rely on liver, kidney and/or serum samples to assess mineral levels. Such destructive sampling strategies are, however, not feasible for remote or endangered populations. Hair may constitute an alternative tissue, sampled through non-invasive means, to investigate mineral levels in wildlife. In the pilot study presented here, we examine whether mineral levels in hair samples from a well-studied muskox (Ovibos moschatus) population in High-Arctic Greenland are associated with a vital rate and may, therefore, serve as indicators of wildlife population demographics. We show that inter-annual variations in levels of three minerals—copper, selenium and molybdenum—are associated with fluctuations in annual calf recruitment, with poor recruitment in years of low mineral levels in hair. Local environmental conditions also varied with calf recruitment but appeared to be less robust predictors of calf recruitment than hair mineral levels. Our results suggest that hair mineral levels may serve as an indicator of vital demographic rates and, ultimately, of wildlife population trends., The tight linkage between mineral status and health and demographics in ani-mals is well documented. Mineral deficiencies have been coupled to population declines in wildlife. Current practices typically rely on liver, kidney and/or serum samples to assess mineral levels. Such destructive sampling strategies are, however, not feasible for remote or endangered populations. Hair may constitute an alternative tissue, sampled through non-invasive means, to inves-tigate mineral levels in wildlife. In the pilot study presented here, we examine whether mineral levels in hair samples from a well-studied muskox (Ovibos moschatus) population in High-Arctic Greenland are associated with a vital rate and may, therefore, serve as indicators of wildlife population demographics. We show that inter-annual variations in levels of three minerals-copper, selenium and molybdenum-are associated with fluctuations in annual calf recruitment, with poor recruitment in years of low mineral levels in hair. Local environmen-tal conditions also varied with calf recruitment but appeared to be less robust predictors of calf recruitment than hair mineral levels. Our results suggest that hair mineral levels may serve as an indicator of vital demographic rates and, ultimately, of wildlife population trends.

The ability of animals to respond to changes in their environment is critical to their persistence. In the Arctic, climate change and mercury exposure are two of the most important environmental threats for top predators.1–3 Rapid warming is causing precipitous sea-ice loss, with consequences on the distribution, composition, and dietary ecology of species4–7 and, thus, exposure to food-borne mercury.8 Current understanding of global change and pollution impacts on Arctic wildlife relies on single-time-point individual data representing a snapshot in time. These data often lack comprehensive temporal resolution and overlook the cumulative lifelong nature of stressors as well as individual variation. To overcome these challenges, we explore the unique capacity of narwhal tusks to characterize chronological lifetime biogeochemical profiles, allowing for investigations of climate-induced dietary changes and contaminant trends. Using temporal patterns of stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) and mercury concentrations in annually deposited dentine growth layer groups in 10 tusks from Northwest Greenland (1962–2010), we show surprising plasticity in narwhal feeding ecology likely resulting from climate-induced changes in sea-ice cover, biological communities, and narwhal migration. Dietary changes consequently impacted mercury exposure primarily through trophic magnification effects. Mercury increased log-linearly over the study period, albeit with an unexpected rise in recent years, likely caused by increased emissions and/or greater bioavailability in a warmer, ice-free Arctic. Our findings are consistent with an emerging pattern in the Arctic of reduced sea-ice leading to changes in the migration, habitat use, food web, and contaminant exposure in Arctic top predators.

Here we review the state-of-the-art of pathogens in select marine and terrestrial key species of the Baltic Sea, i.e.ringed seal (Pusa hispida), harbour seal (Phoca vitulina), grey seal (Halichoerus grypus), harbour porpoise(Phocoena phocoena), common eider (Somateria mollissima), pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) and whitetailedeagle (Haliaeetus albicilla). This review is the first to merge and present available information and baselinedata for the FP7 BONUS BaltHealth project: Baltic Sea multilevel health impacts on key species of anthropogenichazardous substances. Understanding the spread, prevalence and effects of wildlife pathogens is important for theunderstanding of animal and ecosystem health, ecosystem function and services, as well as human exposure tozoonotic diseases. This review summarises the occurrence of parasites, viruses and bacteria over the past sixdecades, including severe outbreaks of Phocine Distemper Virus (PDV), the seroprevalence of Influenza A andthe recent increase in seal parasites. We show that Baltic high trophic key species are exposed to multiplebacterial, viral and parasitic diseases. Parasites, such as C. semerme and P. truncatum present in the colon andliver Baltic grey seals, respectively, and anisakid nematodes require particular monitoring due to their effects onanimal health. In addition, distribution of existing viral and bacterial pathogens, along with the emergence andspread of new pathogens, need to be monitored in order to assess the health status of key Baltic species. Relevantbacteria are Streptococcus spp., Brucella spp., Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, Mycoplasma spp. and Leptospira interrogans;relevant viruses are influenza virus, distemper virus, pox virus and herpes virus. This is of special importanceas some of the occurring pathogens are zoonotic and thus also pose a potential risk for human health.Marine mammal handlers, as well as civilians that by chance encounter marine mammals, need to be aware ofthis r

Wildlife population dynamics are shaped by multiple natural and anthropogenic factors, including predation, competition, stressful life history events, and external environmental stressors such as diseases and pollution. Marine mammals such as gray seals rely on extensive blubber layers for insulation and energy storage, making this tissue critical for survival and reproduction. This lipid rich blubber layer also accumulates hazardous fat soluble pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), that can directly impact adipose function or be mobilized during periods of negative energy balance or transferred to offspring to exert further impacts on target tissues or vulnerable life stages. To predict how marine mammals will respond to ecological and anthropogenic stressors, it is necessary to use process-based modelling approaches that integrate environmental inputs, full species life history, and stressor impacts with individual dynamics of energy intake, storage, and utilization. The purpose of this study was to develop a full lifecycle dynamic energy budget and individual based model (DEB-IBM) that captured Baltic gray seal physiology and life history, and showcase potential applications of the model to predict population responses to select stressors known to threaten gray seals and other marine mammals around the world. We explore variations of three ecologically important stressors using phenomenological simulations: food limitation, endocrine disrupting chemicals that reduce fertility, and infectious disease. Using our calibrated DEB-IBM for Baltic gray seals, we found that continuous incremental food limitation can be more detrimental to population size than short random events of starvation, and further, that the effect of endocrine disruptors on population growth and structure is delayed due to bioaccumulation, and that communicable diseases significantly decrease population growth even when spillover events are relatively less frequent. One important, EU-projekt BONUS

Bonus BaltHealth

Here we review sled dogs as a sentinel monitoring species of ecosystem health across the Arctic focusing on environmental changes including pollution, climate change, and infectious diseases. Studies on environmental contaminants have been carried out mostly in Alaska and Greenland. While the majority of reports focus on mercury exposure and health effects, a major classical case-controlled study of exposure and effects from persistent organic pollutants (POPs) has been carried out on Greenland sled dog bitches and their pups. Altogether, the studies show that mercury and POPs affect multiple health endpoints across physiological systems, including reproductive, endocrine, and immune systems, that ultimately affect systems such as the liver and kidney. Therefore, sled dogs have proved to be a good model for assessing the health effects from contaminant exposure of top predators and Northerners in the Arctic. Furthermore, they are widelydistributed across the Arctic and show similar correlations to important health indicators reported in Northerners and polar bears. With respect to climate change and disease dynamics of zoonosis, most studies have taken place in Canada. However, at present sled dogs are not utilized in monitoring studies of zoonotic diseases. Such an inclusion will increasethe understanding of environmental changes, pollution, and diseases dynamics in Northerners and wildlife. We therefore recommend that ecosystem health assessments in the Arctic including that of Northerners start to include analyses of sleddogs combined with modeling tools. Doing so in a circumpolar perspective will further increase our understanding and monitoring possibilities of ecosystem health and Northerners exposure to contaminants, diseases, and climate change in the Arctic.

Here we review contaminant exposure and related health effects in six selected Baltic key species. Sentinel species included are common eider, white-tailed eagle, harbour porpoise, harbour seal, ringed seal and grey seal. The review represents the first attempt of summarizing available information and baseline data for these biomonitoring key species exposed to industrial hazardous substances focusing on anthropogenic persistent organic pollutants (POPs). There was only limited information available for white-tailed eagles and common eider while extensive information exist on POP exposure and health effects in the four marine mammal species. Here we report organ-tissue endpoints (pathologies) and multiple biomarkers used to evaluate health and exposure of key species to POPs, respectively, over the past several decades during which episodes of significant population declines have been reported. Our review shows that POP exposure affects the reproductive system and survival through immune suppression and endocrine disruption, which have led to population-level effects on seals and white-tailed eagles in the Baltic. It is notable that many legacy contaminants, which have been banned for decades, still appear to affect Baltic wildlife. With respect to common eiders, changes in food composition, quality and contaminant exposure seem to have population effects which need to be investigated further, especially during the incubation period where the birds fast. Since new industrial contaminants continuously leak into the environment, we recommend continued monitoring of them in sentinel species in the Baltic, identifying possible effects linked to climate change, and modelling of population level effects of contaminants and climate change.