Environmental and behavioral changes may influence the exposure of an Arctic apex predator to pathogens and contaminants

Abstract

Recent decline of sea ice habitat has coincided with increased use of land by polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from the southern Beaufort Sea (SB), which may alter the risks of exposure to pathogens and contaminants. We assayed blood samples from SB polar bears to assess prior exposure to the pathogens Brucella spp., Toxoplasma gondii, Coxiella burnetii, Francisella tularensis, and Neospora caninum, estimate concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and evaluate risk factors associated with exposure to pathogens and POPs. We found that seroprevalence of Brucella spp. and T. gondii antibodies likely increased through time, and provide the first evidence of exposure of polar bears to C. burnetii, N. caninum, and F. tularensis. Additionally, the odds of exposure to T. gondii were greater for bears that used land than for bears that remained on the sea ice during summer and fall, while mean concentrations of the POP chlordane (ΣCHL) were lower for land-based bears. Changes in polar bear behavior brought about by climate-induced modifications to the Arctic marine ecosystem may increase exposure risk to certain pathogens and alter contaminant exposure pathways.

Figure 1

The upper panel contains a map of the 19 polar bear subpopulation units recognized by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature/Polar Bear Specialist Group. The lower panel contains capture locations of polar bears used to assess patterns of exposure to infectious agents and contaminants, southern Beaufort Sea, Alaska, USA, 2007–2014. Positive bears are individuals that were seropositive for antibodies to at least one of the five pathogens surveyed. The map was created using ArcMap 10.4 (http://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/).