Rune Dietz

Aarhus University | AU · Department of Bioscience

Harbour seals were extensively hunted in Denmark, but have only been driven to local extinction in one larger area, the South Funen Archipelago and Little Belt, where the species has been absent throughout the 20 th century. Despite high growth rates of the Danish harbour seal populations after protection from hunting in 1976, seals have only been...

Here we report the first investigation of gross pathology and mercury (Hg) in liver tissue from harbour porpoises, harbour seals and grey seals from Denmark, Northern Europe. Mercury concentrations ranged between 0.2 and 248 μg/g wet weight (ww) with highest concentrations found in grey seals and subadult harbour seals from the Baltic Sea, with no...

Epigenetic regulation plays an important role in the evolution of species adaptations, yet little information is available on the epigenetic mechanisms underlying the adaptive evolution of bamboo‐eating in both giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and red pandas (Ailurus fulgens). To investigate the potential contribution of epigenetic to the adap...

The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a species particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. As the climate warms, polar bears will be forced to move to more suitable habitats which are likely to shrink, adapt to the new conditions, or decline in population size. However, the genomic diversity within and among all 19 subpopulations of po...

Simple Summary The ringed seal is part of the daily diet for local Inuits in Greenland, and therefore, the contents of trace elements are being monitored bi-annually under the AMAP CORE Programme. In this study Hg, Cd and Se concentrations were measured in ringed seal livers, along with pathological changes in both the liver and the kidneys of the...

The Arctic is the fastest‐warming region on the planet, and the lengthening ice‐free season is opening Arctic waters to sub‐Arctic species such as the killer whale ( Orcinus orca ). As apex predators, killer whales can cause significant ecosystem‐scale changes. Setting conservation priorities for killer whales and their Arctic prey species requires...

Many large terrestrial mammalian predators use energy-intensive, high-risk, high-gain strategies to pursue large, high-quality prey. However, similar-sized marine mammal predators with even higher field metabolic rates (FMRs) consistently target prey three to six orders of magnitude smaller than themselves. Here, we address the question of how thes...

An important provision of the Minamata Convention on Mercury is to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the adopted measures and its implementation. Here, we describe for the first time currently available biotic mercury (Hg) data on a global scale to improve the understanding of global efforts to reduce the impact of Hg pollution on people an...

The harbour porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena ) is considered part of the ‘Outstanding Universal Value’ characterising the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site (WS WHS). The Trilateral Wadden Sea Plan aims to preserve the conservation status of the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation Area, encompassing the WS WHS. The plan has specified two conservation targets...

This study aimed to gain insight into the influence of storage time and temperature on fatty acid (FA) signatures of biopsies of marine mammal adipose/blubber tissues. To examine storage effects, biopsy-type slices from larger pieces of adipose tissues from 2 polar bears Ursus maritimus were stored at either -20 or -80°C and subsequently analyzed f...

Using whole mitochondrial DNA sequences from 89 white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) sampled from Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Denmark and Estonia between 1990-2018, we investigate the mitogenomic variation within and between countries. We show that there is a substantial population differentiation between the countries, reflecting similar maj...

The Arctic is the fastest-warming region on the planet, and sea ice loss has opened new habitat for sub-Arctic species such as the killer whale ( Orcinus orca ). As apex predators, killer whales can cause significant ecosystem-scale changes, however, we know very little about killer whales in the Arctic. Setting conservation priorities for killer w...

The climate change-induced northward movement of sub-Arctic marine mammals increases their range overlap and interactions with native Arctic species. We compared feeding patterns of 11 marine mammal species (4 Arctic and 7 sub-Arctic) in Greenland using stable isotope ratios and fatty acid signatures, and also assessed the effects of lipid extracti...

Shipping is the most pervasive source of marine noise pollution globally, yet its impact on sensitive fauna remains unclear. We tracked 10 harbour porpoises for 5-10 days to determine exposure and behavioural reactions to modelled broadband noise (10 Hz-20 kHz, VHF-weighted) from individual ships monitored by AIS. Porpoises spent a third of their t...

The Arctic is among the most climatically sensitive environments on Earth, and the disappearance of multiyear sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is predicted within decades. As apex predators, polar bears are sentinel species for addressing the impact of environmental variability on Arctic marine ecosystems. By integrating genomics, isotopic analysis, mor...

The Earth's polar regions are low rates of inter‐ and intraspecific diversification. An extreme mammalian example is the Arctic ringed seal ( Pusa hispida hispida ), which is assumed to be panmictic across its circumpolar Arctic range. Yet, local Inuit communities in Greenland and Canada recognize several regional variants; a finding supported by s...

Lipophilic persistent organic pollutants (POPs) tend to biomagnify in food chains, resulting in higher concentrations in species such as killer whales (Orcinus orca) feeding on marine mammals compared to those consuming fish. Advancements in dietary studies include the use of quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) and differentiation of...

Background: Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are ubiquitous global contaminants that do not readily biodegrade and are therefore routinely found worldwide in wildlife, humans, and the environment. There is a paucity of global assessments to understand regional and continental differences in exposure to PFASs and the associated health risks, inclu...

Background Seasonal long-distance movements are a common feature in many taxa allowing animals to deal with seasonal habitats and life-history demands. Many species use different strategies to prioritize time- or energy-minimization, sometimes employing stop-over behaviours to offset the physiological burden of the directed movement associated with...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1117/1.JMI.10.3.037501.].

Purpose: There is growing concern that male reproduction is affected by environmental chemicals. One way to determine the adverse effect of environmental pollutants is to use wild animals as monitors and evaluate testicular toxicity using histopathology. We propose an automated method to process histology images of testicular tissue. Approach: T...

Purpose: There is growing concern that male reproduction is affected by environmental chemicals. One way to determine the adverse effect of environmental pollutants is to use wild animals as monitors and evaluate testicular toxicity using histopathology. We propose an automated method to process histology images of testicular tissue. Approach: T...

Wildlife is exposed to mixtures of environmental contaminants that affect health and population dynamics. Exposure to toxic heavy metals originating from anthropogenic sources may exert metabolic effects at even low exposure concentrations. Here we investigated the relationships between heavy metal exposure and metabolic changes in the migratory bi...

Quantifying the diet composition of apex marine predators such as killer whales (Orcinus orca) is critical to assessing their food web impacts. Yet, with few exceptions, the feeding ecology of these apex predators remains poorly understood. Here, we use our newly validated quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) approach on nearly 200 ki...

Legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are chemicals that undergo long-range transport to the Arctic. These chemicals possess endocrine disruptive properties raising concerns for development and reproduction. Here, we report the relationship between concentrations of testosterone (T) and persistent orga...

The Environmental Protection Agencies (EPAs) of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany and the Netherlands submitted a proposal to the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) in February 2023 calling for a ban in the use of toxic industrial chemicals per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These chemicals are highly toxic causing elevated cholesterol, immune...

Aerial line transect surveys of the density of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) conducted off West Greenland eight times between 1984 and 2007 were used to estimate the rate of increase on the summer feeding ground. Only surveys in 1993, 2005 and 2007 had enough sightings to construct independent density estimates, whereas the surveys in 19...

There is growing concern that male reproduction is affected by environmental chemicals. One way to determine the adverse effect of environmental pollutants is to use wild animals as monitors and evaluate testicular toxicity using histopathology. Automated methods are necessary tools in the quantitative assessment of histopathology to overcome the s...

Divergence in the face of high dispersal capabilities is a documented but poorly understood phenomenon. The white‐tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) has a large geographic dispersal capability and should theoretically be able to maintain genetic homogeneity across its dispersal range. However, following analysis of the genomic variation of white‐t...

Divergence in the face of high dispersal capabilities is a documented but poorly understood phenomenon. The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) has a large geographic dispersal capability and should theoretically be able to maintain genetic homogeneity across its dispersal range. However, following analysis of the genomic variation of white-t...

This Corrigendum relates to the following article: Mosbacher J.B., Desforges J.-P., Michelsen A., Hansson S.V., Stelvig M., Eulaers I., Sonne C., Dietz R., Jenssen B.M., Ciesielski T.M., Lierhagen S., Flaten T.P., Le Roux G., Aggerbeck M.R., & Schmidt N.M. (2022). Hair mineral levels as indicator of wildlife demographics?—a pilot study of muskoxen....

Anthropogenic climate change is causing changes to the Arctic sea-ice system with implications for the magnitude and timing of Arctic pelagic and ice-associated (sympagic) primary production that influences food web interactions. Ringed seals (Pusa hispida) are generalist predators that, as a species experience vastly different icescapes from low t...

Stable carbon ( δ ¹³ C) and nitrogen ( δ ¹⁵ N) isotope analysis was conducted on modern and archaeological polar bear bone collagen from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago to investigate potential changes in polar bear foraging ecology over four-millennia. Polar bear δ ¹³ C values showed a significant decline in the modern samples relative to all arch...

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...

The monitoring of legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in blubber of key sentinel marine mammal species has been conducted using established techniques for decades. Although these methods for polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and organochlorine (OC) pesticide determination provide accurate and reproducible results, they possess some drawbacks i...

Animals migrate in response to seasonal environments, to reproduce, to benefit from resource pulses, or to avoid fluctuating hazards. Although climate change is predicted to modify migration, only a few studies to date have demonstrated phenological shifts in marine mammals. In the Arctic, marine mammals are considered among the most sensitive to o...

The Arctic is among the most climatically sensitive environments on Earth, and the disappearance of multiyear sea-ice in the Arctic Ocean is predicted within decades. As apex predators, polar bears are sentinel species for addressing the impact of environmental variability on Arctic marine ecosystems. By integrating genomics, isotopic analysis, mor...

Time series of contaminants in the Arctic are an important instrument to detect emerging issues and to monitor the effectiveness of chemicals regulation, based on the assumption of a direct reflection of changes in primary emissions. Climate change has the potential to influence these time trends, through direct physical and chemical processes and/...

Mercury has become a ubiquitous hazardous element even ending up in pristine areas such as the Arctic, where it biomagnifies and leaves especially top predators vulnerable to potential health effects. Here we investigate total mercury (THg) concentrations and dietary proxies for trophic position and habitat foraging (δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C, respectively) in...

The chemical industry is the leading sector in the EU in terms of added value. However, contaminants pose a major threat and significant costs to the environment and human health. While EU legislation and international conventions aim to reduce this threat, regulators struggle to assess and manage chemical risks, given the vast number of substances...

Old lead–zinc (Pb–Zn) mining sites in Greenland have increased the environmental concentration of Pb in local marine organisms, including the shorthorn sculpin. Organ metal concentrations and histopathology have been used in environmental monitoring programs to evaluate metal exposure and subsequent effects in shorthorn sculpins. So far, no study h...

We investigated trophic dynamics of Hg in the polluted Baltic Archipelago Sea using established trophic magnification (TMFs) and biomagnification factors (BMFs) on a comprehensive set of bird, fish, and invertebrate species. As different ecological and ecophysiological species traits may affect trophic dynamics, we explored the effect of food chain...

Understanding how environmental and climate change can alter habitat overlap of marine predators has great value for the management and conservation of marine ecosystems. Here, we estimated spatiotemporal changes in habitat suitability and inter‐specific overlap among three marine predators: Baltic gray seals (Halichoerus grypus), harbor seals (Pho...

The study and protection of environmental and human health is complex given the variety of anthropogenic and natural stressors threatening the well-being of exposed organisms. Researchers have turned to wild animals as sentinel species to study the critical questions relating to environmental chemical contamination and potential adverse health effe...

Since the last Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) effort to review biological effects of mercury (Hg) on Arctic biota in 2011 and 2018, there has been a considerable number of new Arctic bird studies. This review article provides contemporary Hg exposure and potential health risk for 36 Arctic seabird and shorebird species, represent...

Polar bears are susceptible to climate warming because of their dependence on sea ice, which is declining rapidly. We present the first evidence for a genetically distinct and functionally isolated group of polar bears in Southeast Greenland. These bears occupy sea-ice conditions resembling those projected for the High Arctic in the late 21st centu...

Arctic Indigenous Peoples are among the most exposed humans when it comes to foodborne mercury (Hg). In response, Hg monitoring and research have been on-going in the circumpolar Arctic since about 1991; this work has been mainly possible through the involvement of Arctic Indigenous Peoples. The present overview was initially conducted in the conte...

This Editorial presents an overview of the Special Issue on advances in Arctic mercury (Hg) science synthesized from the 2021 assessment of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP). Mercury continues to travel to Arctic environments and threaten wildlife and human health in this circumpolar region. Over the last decade, progress has be...

Accurate diet estimates are necessary to assess trophic interactions and food web dynamics in ecosystems, particularly for apex predators like cetaceans, which can regulate entire food webs. Quantitative fatty acid analysis (QFASA) has been used to estimate the diets of marine predators in the last decade but has yet to be implemented on free-rangi...

Aim Identify hotspots and areas of high species richness for Arctic marine mammals. Location Circumpolar Arctic. Methods A total of 2115 biologging devices were deployed on marine mammals from 13 species in the Arctic from 2005 to 2019. Getis‐Ord Gi* hotspots were calculated based on the number of individuals in grid cells for each species and fo...

Temporal trend analysis of (total) mercury (THg) concentrations in Arctic biota were assessed as part of the 2021 Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) Mercury Assessment. A mixed model including an evaluation of non-linear trends was applied to 110 time series of THg concentrations from Arctic and Subarctic biota. Temporal trends were...

Exposure to long-range transported industrial chemicals such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and other pollutants such as mercury pose a risk to the overall health and populations of Arctic wildlife and the local Inuits. Since local communities are relying on the same marine food web as marine mammals in the Arctic, it requires a One Health...

Primordial follicles are important for the reproduction cycle and, therefore, also for the survival of the whole population of a species. Mammals have a large pool of primordial follicles, and it is thought that this pool represents the total number of oocytes. The aim of the present study was to determine the total primordial follicle number of ju...

There has been a considerable number of reports on Hg concentrations in Arctic mammals since the last Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) effort to review biological effects of the exposure to mercury (Hg) in Arctic biota in 2010 and 2018. Here, we provide an update on the state of the knowledge of health risk associated with Hg conce...

The 2021 Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) Mercury (Hg) Assessment is motivated by Arctic populations, and most notably Indigenous Peoples in the region, who are particularly vulnerable to Hg pollution. The objective of this review paper is to answer the following AMAP policy-relevant question: what is the human health impact of Hg...

We examined spatial variation in total mercury (THg) concentrations in 100 hair samples collected between 2008 and 2016 from 87 polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from the Norwegian (Svalbard Archipelago, western Barents Sea) and Russian Arctic (Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, and Chukchi Sea). We used latitude and longitude of home range centroid for the Norwegi...

The harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) is the most widely distributed pinniped, occupying a wide variety of habitats and climatic zones across the Northern Hemisphere. Intriguingly, the harbour seal is also one of the most philopatric seals, raising questions as to how it colonised virtually the whole of the Northern Hemisphere. To shed light on the ori...

In the originally published version of this manuscript, the last name of author David Boertmann was inadvertently misspelled as ‘Boetmann’.