About

The extreme conditions of Polar Regions, may influence physiological, reproductive and behavioral characteristics of the species living in those habitats. Seabirds are considered good indicators of the environmental contamination because they are the top of the food chain and can indicate clearly the pollutants bioaccumulation. Non invasive techniques to determine the presence of micro pollutants or the stress levels, are being widely applied.

The main objective of this project is to apply non invasive techniques to determine the presence of persistent organic pollutants, mercury, cadmium and selenium using feathers, as well the levels of stress (through the quantification of corticosterone in faeces) of two skuas (Catharacta maccormicki and C. lonnbergii) and three penguin species (Pygoscelis Antarctica, P. papua and P. deliae) that breed at the Admiralty Bay (King George Island, South Shetlands, Antarctica). The integration of different research groups (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, German and Spain) in different areas of knowledge will allow help understanding the ecology of the studied species, especially in relation to environmental contamination and stress levels.

The information generated by this project will enable conservation policies directed to those populations and the communities and environments in which they are inserted, as we learn more about the response of those organisms to the environmental changes. (CNPq/MCT: 557049/2009-1).