title: Mercury exposure in terrestrial birds far downstream of an historical point source.
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.
authors: Biodiversity Research Institute, 19 Flaggy Meadow Road, Gorham, ME 04038, USA. allyson.jackson@briloon.org
authors: Allyson K
authors: AK
authors: Jackson
authors: David C
authors: DC
authors: Evers
authors: Sarah B
authors: SB
authors: Folsom
authors: Anne M
authors: AM
authors: Condon
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Diener
authors: Lizzie F
authors: LF
authors: Goodrick
authors: Andrew J
authors: AJ
authors: McGann
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Schmerfeld
authors: Daniel A
authors: DA
authors: Cristol
mesh_terms: D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D020387:Food Chain; D008628:Mercury / Q000097:blood* / Q000633:toxicity; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry; D020308:Songbirds / Q000097:blood* / Q000502:physiology; D014768:Virginia; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury