1. Mercury exposure in terrestrial birds far downstream of an historical point source.
- Author
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Jackson AK, Evers DC, Folsom SB, Condon AM, Diener J, Goodrick LF, McGann AJ, Schmerfeld J, and Cristol DA
- Subjects
- Animal Migration, Animals, Food Chain, Mercury toxicity, Rivers chemistry, Songbirds physiology, Virginia, Water Pollutants, Chemical blood, Water Pollutants, Chemical toxicity, Ecosystem, Environmental Exposure, Mercury blood, Songbirds blood
- Abstract
Mercury (Hg) is a persistent environmental contaminant found in many freshwater and marine ecosystems. Historical Hg contamination in rivers can impact the surrounding terrestrial ecosystem, but there is little known about how far downstream this contamination persists. In 2009, we sampled terrestrial forest songbirds at five floodplain sites up to 137 km downstream of an historical source of Hg along the South and South Fork Shenandoah Rivers (Virginia, USA). We found that blood total Hg concentrations remained elevated over the entire sampling area and there was little evidence of decline with distance. While it is well known that Hg is a pervasive and long-lasting aquatic contaminant, it has only been recently recognized that it also biomagnifies effectively in floodplain forest food webs. This study extends the area of concern for terrestrial habitats near contaminated rivers for more than 100 km downstream from a waterborne Hg point source., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2011
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