Data for: Mercury contamination challenges the behavioral response of a keystone species to Arctic climate change

Combined effects of multiple, climate change-associated stressors are of mounting concern, especially in Arctic ecosystems. Elevated mercury (Hg) exposure in Arctic animals could affect behavioural responses to changes in foraging landscapes linked to climate change, generating interactive effects on behaviour and population resilience. We investigated this hypothesis in the little auk (Alle alle), a keystone Arctic seabird. We compiled behavioural data using accelerometers, and quantified blood mercury and environmental conditions (sea surface temperature (SST), sea ice coverage (SIC)) across multiple years. Warm SST and low SIC reshaped time activity budgets (TABs) and diving patterns, causing decreased resting, increased flight, and longer dives. Mercury contamination was not associated with TABs. However, highly contaminated birds lengthened inter-dive breaks when making long dives, suggesting mercury-induced physiological limitations. As dive durations increased with warm SST, subtle toxicological effects threaten to increasingly constrain diving and foraging efficiency as climate change progresses, with ecosystem-wide repercussions.