Mercury exposure and reproduction in fish-eating birds breeding in the Pinchi Lake region, British Columbia, Canada

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

Volumn 25, Issue 5, 2006, Pages 1433-1440

  Weech, Shari A ^a   Scheuhammer, Anton M ^b   Elliott, John E ^c  

^a Minnow Environmental   (Canada)

^b CARLETON UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

^c ENVIRONMENT CANADA   (Canada)

Author keywords

Bald eagle; Blood; Feather; Mercury; Reproduction

Indexed keywords

BLOOD; LAKES; MERCURY (METAL); SAMPLING; TOXICITY;

BALD EAGLE; FEATHERS; GREBES; REPRODUCTION;

BIODIVERSITY;

MERCURY; FRESH WATER;

BREEDING POPULATION; ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING; FISH; MERCURY (ELEMENT); POLLUTION EFFECT; POLLUTION EXPOSURE; PREY AVAILABILITY; RAPTOR; REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS; TOXICITY; TROPHIC LEVEL;

ARTICLE; BIRD; BREEDING; CANADA; EAGLE; EGG; EXPOSURE; HALIAEETUS LEUCOCEPHALUS; LAKE; MINING; NONHUMAN; PREDATOR PREY INTERACTION; PRIORITY JOURNAL; REPRODUCTION; REPRODUCTIVE TOXICITY; ANIMAL; BLOOD; DRUG EFFECT; FEATHER; FISH; FOOD CHAIN;

BRITISH COLUMBIA; CANADA; NORTH AMERICA; PINCHI LAKE;

ACCIPITRIDAE; AVES; HALIAEETUS LEUCOCEPHALUS; PODICEPS; PODICEPS GRISEGENA; PODICIPEDIDAE;

ANIMALS; BIRDS; BREEDING; BRITISH COLUMBIA; FEATHERS; FISHES; FOOD CHAIN; FRESH WATER; MERCURY; REPRODUCTION;

EID: 33749080588     PISSN: 07307268     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1897/05-181R.1     Document Type: Article

References (47)

1. Barr JF. 1986. Population dynamics of the common loon (Gavia immer) associated with mercury-contaminated waters in north-western Ontario. Canadian Wildlife Service Occasional Paper 56. Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa, ON.
2. Becker DS, Bigham GN. 1995. Distribution of mercury in the aquatic food web of Onondaga Lake, New York. Water Air Soil Pollut 80:563-571.
3. Jackson TA. 1988. The mercury problem in recently formed reservoirs of northern Manitoba (Canada): Effects of impoundment and other factors on the production of methyl mercury by microorganisms in sediments. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 45:97-121.
4. DesGranges J-L, Rodrigue J, Laperle M. 1998. Mercury accumulation and biomagnification in ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) in the James Bay and Hudson Bay regions of Quebec. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 35:330-341.
5. Scheuhammer AM, Blancher PB. 1994. Potential risk to common loons (Gavia immer) from methylmercury exposure in acidified lakes. Hydrobiologia 279/280:445-455.
6. Plouffe A. 1995. Glacial dispersal of mercury from bedrock mineralization along Pinchi fault, north central British Columbia. Water Air Soil Pollut 80:1109-1112.
7. Weech SA, Scheuhammer AM, Elliott JE, Cheng KM. 2004. Mercury in fish from the Pinchi Lake Region, British Columbia, Canada. Environ Pollut 131:275-286.
8. Bloom NS. 1992. On the chemical form of mercury in edible fish and marine invertebrate tissue. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 49:1010-1017.
9. Scheuhammer AM, Atchison CM, Wong AHK, Evers DC. 1998. Mercury exposure in breeding common loons (Gavia immer) in central Ontario, Canada. Environ Toxicol Chem 17:191-196.
10. Cain SL, Hodges JI. 1989. A floating-fish snare for capturing bald eagles. J Raptor Res 23:10-13.
11. Bortolotti GR. 1984. Sexual size dimorphism and age-related size variation in bald eagles. J Wildl Manag 48:72-81.
12. Scheuhammer AM, Bond D. 1991. Factors affecting the determination of total mercury in biological samples by continuous-flow cold vapor atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Biol Trace Elem Res 31:119-129.
13. Postupalsky S. 1974. Raptor reproductive success: Some problems with methods, criteria, and terminology. In Hamerstrom FN Jr, Harrell BE, Ohlendorff RR, eds, Management of Raptors. Raptor Research Foundation, Vermillion, SD, USA, pp 21-31.
14. Buehler DA. 2000. Bald eagle. In Poole A, Gill F, eds, The Birds of North America, Monograph 506. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, USA, pp 1-39.
15. Weech SA. 2003. Mercury in fish and fish-eating birds, with special reference to the Pinchi Lake region of British Columbia, Canada. PhD thesis. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
16. Burger J, Gaines KF, Boring CS, Stephens WL Jr, Snodgrass J, Gochfeld M. 2001. Mercury and selenium in fish from the Savannah River: Species, trophic level, and locational differences. Environ Res Sect A 87:108-118.
17. Jenkins JM, Jackman RE. 1994. Field experiments in prey selection by resident bald eagles in the breeding and nonbreeding season. J Field Ornithol 65:441-446.
18. Vermeer K, Morgan KH, Butler RW, Smith GEJ. 1989. Population, nesting habitat, and food of bald eagles in the Gulf Islands. In Vermeer K, Butler RW, eds, The Ecology and Status of Marine and Shoreline Birds in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia. Canadian Wildlife Service Special Publications, Ottawa, ON, Canada, pp 123-130.
19. Wiemeyer SN, Lamont TG, Bunck CM, Sindelar CR, Gramlich FJ, Fraser JD, Byrd MA. 1984. Organochlorine pesticide, polychlorobiphenyl, and mercury residues in bald eagle eggs - 1969-1979 - and their relationships to shell thinning and reproduction. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 13:529-549.
20. Wiemeyer SN, Bunck CM, Stafford CJ. 1993. Environmental contaminants in bald eagle eggs - 1980-1984 - and further interpretations of relationships to productivity and shell thickness. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 24:213-227.
21. Anthony RG, Garrett MG, Schuler CA. 1993. Environmental contaminants in bald eagles in the Columbia River Estuary. J Wildl Manag 57:10-19.
22. Wood PB, White JH, Steffer A, Wood JM, Facemire CF, Percival HF. 1996. Mercury concentrations in tissues of Florida bald eagles. J Wildl Manag 60:178-185.
23. Sepulveda MS, Frederick PC, Spalding MG, Williams GE Jr. 1999. Mercury contamination in free-ranging great egret nestlings (Ardea albus) from southern Florida, USA. Environ Toxicol Chem 18:985-992.
24. Wiemeyer SN, Frenzel RW, Anthony RG, McClelland BR, Knight RL. 1989. Environmental contaminants in blood of western bald eagles. J Raptor Res 23:140-146.
25. Burgess NM, Evers D, Kaplan JD. 2005. Mercury and other contaminants in common loons breeding in Atlantic Canada. Ecotoxicology 14:241-252.
26. Seiler RL, Lico MS, Wiemeyer SN, Evers DC. 2004. Mercury in the Walker River Basin, Nevada and California - Sources, distribution, and potential effects on the ecosystem. U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2004-5147. U.S. Geological Survey, Carson City, NV.
27. Henny CJ, Hill EF, Hoffman DJ, Spalding MG, Grove RA. 2002. Nineteenth century mercury: Hazard to wading birds and cormorants of the Carson River, Nevada. Ecotoxicology 11:213-231.
28. Frenzel RW, Anthony RG. 1989. Relationship of diets and environmental contaminants in wintering bald eagles. J Wildl Manag 53:792-802.
29. Meyer MW, Evers DC, Hartigan JJ, Rasmussen PS. 1998. Patterns of common loon (Gavia immer) mercury exposure, reproduction, and survival in Wisconsin, USA. Environ Toxicol Chem 17:184-190.
30. McCollough MA. 1989. Molting sequence and aging of bald eagles. Wilson Bull 101:1-10.
31. Becker PH, Henning D, Furness RW. 1994. Differences in mercury contamination and elimination during feather development in gull and tern broods. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 27:162-167.
32. Kenow KP, Gutreuter S, Hines RK, Meyer MW, Fournier F, Karasov WH. 2003. Effects of methyl mercury exposure on the growth of juvenile common loons. Ecotoxicology 12:171-181.
33. Bowles KC, Apte SC, Maher WA, Kawei M, Smith R. 2001. Bioaccumulation and biomagnification of mercury in Lake Murray, Papua New Guinea. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 58:888-897.
34. Jarman WM, Hobson KA, Sydeman WJ, Bacon CE, McLaren EB. 1996. Influence of trophic position and feeding location on contaminant levels in the Gulf of the Farallones food web revealed by stable isotope analysis. Environ Sci Technol 30:654-660.
35. Atwell L, Hobson KA, Welch HE. 1998. Biomagnification and bioaccumulation of mercury in an arctic marine food web: Insights from stable nitrogen isotope analysis. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 55:1114-1121.
36. Bearhop S, Waldron S, Thompson D, Furness R. 2000. Bioamplification of mercury in great skua Catharacta skua chicks: The influence of trophic status as determined by stable isotope signatures of blood and feathers. Mar Pollut Bull 40:181-185.
37. Cabana G, Rasmussen JB. 1994. Modeling food chain structure and contaminant bioaccumulation using stable nitrogen isotopes. Nature 372:255-257.
38. Heinz G. 1974. Effects of low dietary levels of methyl mercury on mallard reproduction. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 11:386-392.
39. Heinz GH. 1979. Methylmercury: Reproductive and behavioral effects on three generations of mallard ducks. J Wildl Manag 43:394-401.
40. Scheuhammer AM. 1988. Chronic dietary toxicity of methylmercury in the zebra finch, Poephila guttata. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 40:123-130.
41. Sprunt A IV, Robertson BW Jr, Postupalsky S, Hensel RJ, Knoder CE, Ligas FJ. 1973. Comparative productivity of six bald eagle populations. Trans N Am Wildl Nat Resour Conf 38:96-106.
42. Anthony RG, Miles AK, Estes JA, Isaacs FB. 1999. Productivity, diets, and environmental contaminants in nesting bald eagles from the Aleutian archipelago. Environ Toxicol Chem 18:2054-2062.
43. Elliott JE, Moul IE, Cheng KM. 1998. Variable reproductive success of bald eagles on the British Columbia coast. J Wildl Manag 62:518-529.
44. Elliott JE, Harris ML. 2001/2002. An ecotoxicological assessment of chlorinated hydrocarbon effects on bald eagle populations. Reviews in Toxicology 4:1-60.
45. Fimreite N. 1971. Effects of methylmercury on ring-necked pheasants, with special reference to reproduction. Canadian Wildlife Service Occasional Paper 9. Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
46. Bowerman WW IV, Evans ED, Giesy JP, Postupalsky S. 1994. Using feathers to assess risk of mercury and selenium to bald eagle reproduction in the Great Lakes Region. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 27:294-298.
47. Wiener JG, Krabbenhoft DP, Heinz GH, Scheuhammer AM. 2003. Ecotoxicology of mercury. In Hoffman DJ, Rattner BA, Burton GA, Cairns J, eds, Handbook of Ecotoxicology, 2nd ed. Lewis, Boca Raton, FL, USA, pp 409-463.