The development of a spatially explicit model to estimate radiocaesium body burdens in raccoons (Procyon lotor) for ecological risk assessment.
A spatially explicit model of raccoon (Procyon lotor) distribution for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS) in west-central South Carolina was developed using data from a raccoon radio-telemetry study and visualized within a Geographic Information System (GIS). An inductive approach was employed to develop three sub-models using the ecological requirements of raccoons studied in the following habitats: (1) man-made reservoirs, (2) bottomland hardwood/riverine systems, and (3) isolated wetland systems. Logistic regression was used to derive probabilistic resource selection functions using habitat compositional data and landscape metrics. The final distribution model provides a spatially explicit probability (likelihood of being in an area) surface for male raccoons. The model is a stand-alone tool consisting of algorithms independent of the specific GIS data layers to which they were derived. The model was then used to predict contaminant burdens in raccoons inhabiting a riverine system contaminated with radiocaesium (137Cs). The predicted 137Cs burdens were less than if one would assume homogeneous use of the contaminated areas. This modelling effort provides a template for DOE managed lands and other large government facilities to establish a framework for site-specific ecological assessments that use wildlife species as endpoints.
Gaines
Karen F
KF
University of South Carolina, Norman J. Arnold School of Public Health, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. kfgaines@usd.edu
Boring
C Shane
CS
Porter
Dwayne E
DE
D000818:Animals; D001822:Body Burden; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D004777:Environment; D020387:Food Chain; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009132:Muscles / Q000737:chemistry; D011821:Raccoons / Q000378:metabolism*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013022:South Carolina; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*
D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive