Herring gull

Inshore, the herring gull mainly feeds from the sea: upon fish, mussels, and crabs.

Herring gulls are common at the German North and the Baltic Sea coast. Here they feed mainly on fish, mussels and crustaceans and are secondary respectively tertiary consumers and top predators in the marine food web. During breeding time they feed in close-by areas and their eggs are excellent indicators for pollution loads in the direct vicinity of breeding colonies. Herring gulls eggs arre frequently used monitoring species because they are easily available and identifiable and not protected by any legal restrictions.

The herring gull eggs are used as specimen.

Sampling takes place once a year during the nesting season.

For more information about the specimen, the sampling and the processing of samples see the Guideline for Sampling and Sample Processing Herring gull (Larus argentatus).

Recommended analysis examples

• Mercury contamination of herring gull eggs from the North and Baltic Sea
• Dieldrin in eggs of herring gulls from the North and the Baltic Sea

Target organs/Matrices

• Egg content

  Eggs are suited as accumulation indicators and mirror the contamination of the breeding females. The shell protects the egg contents and inhibits a contamination of the sample.

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• Egg

  The whole egg is only biometrical described. Please switch to data search sample descriptions.

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Sampling area

Analytes

• Metals

  Eighty percent of all elements on earth are metals

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• Nonmetals

  Only eighteen elements in the periodic table

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• Chlorohydrocarbons

  Group of organic compounds with at least one covalently bonded chlorine atom

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• DDT and metabolites

  Toxic and persistent organochloropesticide

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• Hexachlorocyclohexane

  Several isomeric compounds among the group of chlorinated hydrocarbons

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• Per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds

  Organic compounds which are fully (per-) or partially (poly-) fluorinated

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• Stable Isotopes

  Atoms of one element with different weights

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• Flame Retardants

  Flame retardants reduce the flammability of objects

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• Supplementary parameters

  Additional information for the interpretation of contamination data

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Sampling period

Extended information

Links to external information and legislation

• Nature News & Comments: Call for standards in egg bio-monitoring (external)
• Ach du dickes Ei. Hörfunk-Beitrag zum Vogelei-Monitoring von Umweltprobenbanken. (external)
• EUNIS biodiversity database - Larus agentatus (external)
• Die Silbermöwe (Poster) (external)

Literature

• Retrospektives Monitoring von Perfluorierten Verbindungen (PFCs) in archivierten Silbermöweneiern
  Rüdel, Heinz; Müller, Josef; Jürling, Heinrich; Paulus, Martin; Schröter-Kermani, Christa
  Mitt Umweltchem Ökotox 16 (3), 2010, 64-66, 2010
  
• PCDD, PCDF, and Dioxin- like PCB in Herring Gull Eggs from the North Sea and Baltic Sea: Levels, Patterns and, Temporal Trends
  Schröter- Kermani, Christa; Schmolz, Erik; Herrmann, Thomas; Päpke, Olaf
  Organohalogen compounds 67 (2005), 1295-1299, 2005
  
• Temporal trend (1988-2008) of hexabromocyclododecane enantiomers in herring gull eggs from the german coastal region
  Esslinger, Susanne; Becker, Roland; Jung, Christian; Schröter-Kermani, Christa; Bremser, Wolfram; Nehl, Irene
  Chemosphere 83 (2011), 2, 161-167, 2011
  
• Standardization of egg collection from aquatic birds for biomonitoring - a critical review
  Klein, Roland; Bartel-Steinbach, Martina; Koschorreck, Jan; Paulus, Martin; Tarricone, Kathrin; Teubner, Diana; Wagner, Gerhard; Weimann, Thomas; Veith, Michael
  Environmental Science & Technology 46 (2012), 10, 5273-5284, 2012