Mercury in tree swallow food, eggs, bodies, and feathers at Acadia National Park, Maine, and an EPA superfund site, Ayer, Massachusetts

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

Volumn 126, Issue 1-3, 2007, Pages 129-143

  Longcore, Jerry R ^a   Haines, Terry A ^b   Halteman, William A ^c  

^a PATUXENT WILDLIFE RESEARCH CENTER   (United States)

^b U S GEOLOGICAL SURVEY   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF MAINE   (United States)

Author keywords

Acadia National Park; Biomagnification; Embryotoxicity; Fledging success; Hatchingsuccess; MA; ME; Mercury; Methylmercury; Superfundsite; Tachycineta bicolor; Treeswallow

Indexed keywords

BIOGEOCHEMISTRY; ECOSYSTEMS; ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY; MERCURY (METAL);

BIOMAGNIFICATION; EMBRYOTOXICITY; METHYL MERCURY; TREE SWALLOW;

BIRDS;

KERATIN; MERCURY;

MERCURY (ELEMENT); METHYLMERCURY; PASSERINE; POLLUTION EFFECT; REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS; SUPERFUND; TOXICITY;

ANIMAL FOOD; ANIMAL TISSUE; ARTICLE; BIOLOGICAL MONITORING; BREEDING SUCCESS; CARCASS; EGG; EMBRYOTOXICITY; ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE; FEATHER; FLEDGLING; GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION (SPECIES); HATCHING; HATCHLING; NATIONAL PARK; NESTLING; NONHUMAN; SURVIVAL; SWALLOW (BIRD); TISSUE LEVEL; UNITED STATES; WATER CONTAMINATION;

ANIMALS; ANIMALS, NEWBORN; ECOSYSTEM; EGGS; ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING; ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS; FEATHERS; FOOD CHAIN; GEOGRAPHY; HISTORY, 20TH CENTURY; MASSACHUSETTS; MERCURY; METHYLMERCURY COMPOUNDS; NESTING BEHAVIOR; POPULATION DYNAMICS; RISK ASSESSMENT; SWALLOWS; TISSUE DISTRIBUTION;

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK; MAINE; NORTH AMERICA; UNITED STATES;

HEXAPODA; TACHYCINETA; TACHYCINETA BICOLOR;

EID: 33847327880     PISSN: 01676369     EISSN: 15732959     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10661-006-9326-2     Document Type: Article

References (70)

1. ABB Environmental Services, Inc. (1995). Fort Devens feasibility study for group 1A sites. Draft Plow Shop and Grove Pond sediment evaluation data item A009. Volume 1, Sections 1.0-8.0. Contract DAAA15-91-0008, Delivery Order Number 0004.
2. Akielaszek, J. J., & Haines, T. A. (1981). Mercury in the muscle tissue of fish from three northern Maine lakes. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 27, 201-208.
3. Albers, P. H., & Camardese, M. B. (1993). Effects of acidification on metal accumulation by aquatic plants and invertebrates. 2. Wetlands, ponds, and small lakes. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 12, 969-997.
4. Bank, M. S., Burgess, J. R., Evers, D. C., & Loftin, C. S. (2005). Mercury contamination of biota from Acadia National Park, Maine: A review. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, this volume.
5. Beauchamp, S., Burgess, N., D'Entremont, A., Tordon, R., Brun, G., Leger, D., et al. (1998). Mercury in air, water, and biota in Kejimkujik National Park, Nova Scotia, Canada. In Neil W. P. Munro & J. H. Martin Willison (Eds.), Linking protected areas with working landscapes conserving biodiversity, Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Science and Management of Protected Areas, University of Calgary, May 12-16, 1997.
6. Becker, P. H. (1992). Egg mercury levels decline with the laying sequence of Charadriiformes. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 48, 762-767.
7. Beyer, W. N., Spalding, M., & Morrison, D. (1997). Mercury concentrations in feathers of wading birds from Florida. Ambio, 26, 97-100.
8. Bishop, C. A., Koster, M. D., Chek, A. A., Hussell, D. J. T., & Jock, K. (1995). Chlorinated hydrocarbons and mercury in sediments, red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) and tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) from wetlands in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 14, 491-501.
9. Blancher, P. J., & McNicol, D. K. (1988). Breeding biology of tree swallows in relation to wetland acidity. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 66, 842-849.
10. Blancher, P. J., & McNicol, D. K. (1991). Tree swallow diet in relation to wetland acidity. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 69, 2629-2637.
11. Bluebird Association of Maine (1995). Ohio Bluebird Society offers suggestions for bluebird house construction. Downeast Bluebird, 6, 7.
12. Bryan, G. W. (1979). Bioaccumulation of marine pollutants. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B., 286, 438-505.
13. Burger, J. (2002). Food chain differences affect heavy metals in bird eggs in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. Environmental Research, 90, 33-39.
14. Burger, J., & Gochfeld, M. (1992). Trace element distribution in growing feathers: Additional excretion in feather sheaths. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 23, 105-108.
15. Burger, J., Rodgers, J. A., & Gochfeld, M. (1993). Heavy metals and selenium levels in endangered wood storks Mycteria americana from nesting colonies in Florida and Costa Rica. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 24, 417-420.
16. Burgess, J. R. (1997). Mercury contamination in fishes of Mount Desert Island and a comparative food chain mercury study. MS thesis (pp. 59). Orono: The Graduate School, University of Maine.
17. Butler, R. W. (1988). Population dynamics and migration routes of tree swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, in North America. Journal of Field Ornithology, 59, 395-402.
18. Clair, T. A., Burgess, N., Brun, G. L., & Läger, D. (1988). The relationship between organic carbon, pH, total mercury and location in Atlantic Canada Lakes. In Mercury in Atlantic Canada: A progress report (pp. 55-62), The Mercury Team, Regional Science Coordinating Committee, Environment Canada, Atlantic region, 117 pp.
19. Cohen, R. R., & Dymerski, M. L. (1986). Swallows taking insects from pond surfaces. Wilson Bulletin, 98, 483-484.
20. Courtemanch, D. L., Hopeck, J., & Ostrowski, K. (1997). Mercury contamination in lakes downwind of Holtrachem Manufacturing Co. In Land and Water Resources Council 1997 Annual Report, Appendix A: Initial Evaluation and Recommendations on Mercury in Maine, Submitted to the Joint Standing Committee on Natural Resources, January 28, 1998, 15 pp.
21. Crewther, W. G., Fraser, R. D. B., Lennox, F. G., & Lindley, H. (1965). The chemistry of keratins. Advances in Protein Chemistry, 20, 191-303.
22. Custer, T., Custer, C. M., Dickerson, K., Allen, K., Melancon, M. J., & Schmidt, L. J. (2001). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, aliphatic hydrocarbons, trace elements, and monooxygenase activity in birds nesting on the North Platte River, Casper, Wyoming, USA. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 20, 624-631.
23. DeSteven, D. (1978). The influence of age on the breeding biology of the tree swallow Irioprocne bicolor. Ibis, 120, 516-523.
24. Driscoll, C. T., Blette, V., Yan, C., Schofield, C. L., Munson, R., & Holsaple, J. (1995). The role of dissolved organic carbon in the chemistry and bioavailability of mercury in remote Adirondack lakes. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 80, 499-508.
25. Dukerschein, J. T., Wiener, J. G., Rada, R. G., & Steingraeber, M. T. (1992). Cadmium and mercury in emergent mayflies (Hexagenia bilineata) from the Upper Mississippi River. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 23, 109-116.
26. Evers, D. C., Kaplan, J. D., Meyer, M. D., & Reaman, P. S. (1998). Geographic trend in mercury measured in common loon feathers and blood. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 17, 173-183.
27. Fimreite, N. (1971). Effects of dietary methylmercury on ring-necked pheasants. Canadian Wildlife Service Occasional Papers, 9, 1-39.
28. Furness, R. W., Muirhead, S. J., & Woodburn, M. (1986). Using bird feathers to measure mercury in the environment: Relationships between mercury content and moult. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 17, 27-30.
29. Gerrard, P. M., & St. Louis, V. L. (2001). The effects of experimental reservoir creation on the bioaccumulation of methylmercury and reproductive success of tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). Environmental Science and Technology, 35, 1329-1338.
30. Haines, T., Komov, V., & Jagoe C. (1992). Lake acidity and mercury content of fish in Darwin National Reserve, Russia. Environmental Pollution, 78, 107-112.
31. Hall, B. D., Rosenberg, D. M., & Wiens, A. P. (1998). Methyl mercury in aquatic insects from an experimental reservoir. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 55, 2036-2047
32. Heinz, G. (1974). Effects of low dietary levels of methyl mercury on mallard reproduction. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 11, 386-392.
33. Heinz, G. H. (1976). Methylmercury: Second-year feeding effects on mallard reproduction and duckling behavior. Journal of Wildlife Management, 40, 82-90.
34. Heinz, G. H. (1979). Methylmercury: Reproductive and behavioral effects on three generations of mallard ducks. Journal of Wildlife Management, 43, 394-401.
35. Heinz, G. H., & Hoffman, D. H. (2003). Embryotoxic thresholds of mercury: Estimates from individual mallard eggs. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 44, 257-264.
36. Holroyd, G. L. (1983). Forging strategies and food of a swallow guild. PhD dissertation (pp. 190). Canada: Department of Zoology, University of Toronto.
37. Hussel, D. J. T. (1983). Age and plumage color in female tree swallows. Journal of Field Ornithology, 54, 312-318.
38. Jackson, T. (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. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 45, 97-121.
39. Jensen, S., & Jernelov, A. (1969). Biological methylation of mercury in aquatic organisms. Nature, 233, 753-754.
40. Johnson, M. E., & Lombardo, M. P. (2000). Nesting tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) diets in an upland old field in western Michigan. American Midland Naturalist, 144, 216-219.
41. Jones, J. (2003). Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor): A new model organism? Auk, 120, 591-599.
42. Kahl, J. S. (1996). Lake chemistry at Acadia National Park, 1995, Report to Acadia National Park, Water Research Institute (pp. 1-14). Orono: University of Maine.
43. Kahl, J. S., Nelson, S., Fernandez, I., Haines, T., Norton, S., Wiersma, G. B., et al. (2005). Streamwater chemistry integrates landscape factors in a paired watershed study at Acadia National Park, Maine, USA. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, this volume.
44. Lee, Y-H., & Iverfeldt, Å. (1991). Measurement of methylmercury and mercury in run-off, lake and rain waters. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 56, 309-321.
45. Lonzarich, D. G., Harvey, T. E., & Takekawa, J. E. (1992). Trace element and organochlorine concentrations in California clapper rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus) eggs. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 23, 147-153.
46. Low, J. B. (1934). Nest distribution and survival ratios of tree swallows. Bird Banding, 5, 24-30.
47. Luckey, T. D., & Venugopal, B. (1978). Metal toxicity in mammals. 1. Physiological and chemical basis for metal toxicity. New York: Plenum.
48. Mason, E. A. (1968). Nesting data and notes on a tree swallow colony. Bird-Banding, 39, 187-189.
49. McCarty, J. P. (1997). Aquatic community characteristics influence the foraging patterns of tree swallows. Condor, 99, 213-217.
50. Moore, J. (1983). Response of an avian predator and its isopod prey to an acanthocephalan parasite. Ecology, 64, 1000-1015.
51. Quinney, T. E., & Ankney, C. D. (1985). Prey size selection by tree swallows. Auk, 102, 245-250.
52. Rada, R. G., Powell, D. E., & Wiener, J. G. (1993). Whole-lake burdens and spatial distribution of mercury in surficial sediments in Wisconsin seepage lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 50, 865-873.
53. Robertson, R. J., & Rendell, W. B. (1990). A comparison of the breeding ecology of a secondary cavity nesting bird, the Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), in nest boxes and natural cavities. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 68, 1046-1052.
54. Robertson, R. J., Stutchbury, B. J., & Cohen, R. R. (1992). Tree Swallow. In A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, & F. Gill (Eds.), The Birds of North America, No. 11, Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, District of Columbia: The American Ornithologists' Union.
55. SAS Institute. (1990). SAS procedures guide, version 6, 3rd ed. Cary, North Carolina: SAS Institute.
56. Schmitt, C. J., & Brumbaugh, W. G. (1990). National contaminant biomonitoring program: Concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, selenium, and zinc in U.S. freshwater fish, 1976-1984. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 19, 731-747.
57. Secord, A. L., & McCarty, J. P. (1997). Polychlorinated biphenyl contamination of tree swallows in the Upper Hudson River Valley, New York. Draft Report to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (pp. 50). Cortland, New York: New York Field Office.
58. Spalding, M. G., Bjork, R. D., Powell, G. V. N., & Sundlof, S. F. (1994). Mercury and cause of death in great white herons. Journal of Wildlife Management, 58, 735-739.
59. St. Louis, V. L., & Barlow, J. C. (1993). The reproductive success of tree swallows nesting near experimentally acidified lakes in northwestern Ontario. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 71, 1090-1097.
60. St. Louis, V. L., Breebaart, L., & Barlow, J. C. (1990). Foraging behaviour of tree swallows over acidified and nonacidic lakes. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 68, 2385-2392.
61. St. Louis, V. L., Rudd, J. W., Rosenberg, D. M., Omole, R., Gerrard, P., & Weins, A. P. (1996). Methylmercury accumulation in an insectivorous song bird breeding near an experimentally created reservoir. In R. Ebinghaus, G. Petersen, & U. von Tumpling, (Eds.), Fourth International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (p. 123). Congress Centre, Hamburg, Germany, 4-8 August 1996, Abstr.
62. Stutchbury, B. J., & Robertson, R. J. (1987). Do nest building and first egg dates reflect settlement patterns of females? Condor, 89, 587-593.
63. Stutchbury, B. J., & Rohwer, S. (1990). Molt patterns in the tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 68, 1468-1472.
64. Thompson, D. R., & Furness, R. W. (1989). Comparison of the levels of total and organic mercury in seabird feathers. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 20, 577-579.
65. Thompson, D. R. (1996). Mercury in birds and terrestrial mammals. In W. N. Beyer, G. H. Heinz, & A. W. Redmon-Norwood, (Eds.), Environmental Contaminants in Wildlife - Interpreting Tissue Concentrations (pp. 341-356). CRC. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL.
66. Tremblay, A., Lucotte, M., Meili, M., Cloutier, L., & Pichet, P. (1996). Total mercury and methylmercury contents of insects from boreal lakes: Ecological, spatial and temporal patterns. Water Quality Research Journal of Canada, 31, 851-873.
67. Watras, C. J., Bloom, N. S., Claas, S. A., Morrison, K. A., Gilmour, C. C., & Craig, S. R. (1995). Methylmercury production in the anoxic hypolimnion of a dimictic seepage lake. Water, Air, and Soil Pollutioon, 80, 735-745.
68. Wenzel, A. D. (1996) Determination of total mercury using microwave digestion on emergent insects collected from two coastal marshes of Green Bay, Lake Michigan. MS thesis (pp. 112). Green Bay, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin - Green Bay.
69. Wiggins, D. A. (1990). Sources of variation in egg mass of tree swallows Tachycineta bicolor Ornis Scandinavica, 21, 157-160.
70. Winfrey, M. R., & Rudd, J. W. M. (1990). Environmental factors affecting the formation of methlymercury in low pH lakes. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 9, 853-869.