Reconstructing avian mercury concentrations through time using museum specimens from New York State
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Reconstructing avian mercury concentrations through time using museum specimens from New York State Sarah A. Dzielski
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N. Roxanna Razavi2,4 Cornelia W. Twining1,5,6 Lisa B. Cleckner4 Vanya G. Rohwer1,3 ●
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Accepted: 4 October 2019 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019
Abstract We examined how variation in MeHg concentrations through time is reflected in birds, a taxon commonly used as a biological indicator of ecosystem health. Using museum specimens collected from 1880 to 2016, we measured feather MeHg concentrations in six species of birds that breed in New York State and have distinct dietary and habitat preferences. We predicted that MeHg concentrations in feathers would mirror Hg emission patterns in New York State and increase through time until 1980 then decrease thereafter in response to increased regulation of anthropogenic Hg emissions. We found that MeHg concentrations increased with δ15N, and that MeHg feather concentrations for some individuals from four of the six species examined exceeded concentrations known to cause negative sublethal effects in birds. In contrast to our prediction, MeHg concentrations in feathers did not parallel global or local Hg emissions through time and varied by species, even after controlling for possible changes in diet and habitat. MeHg concentrations varied substantially within species and individual specimens, suggesting that high within-individual variation in feather MeHg concentrations caused by spatiotemporal variation in molt, environmental Hg exposure, or mobility decoupling Hg uptake from breeding sites, may obscure trends in MeHg through time. Our study provides a unique assessment of feather MeHg in six species not typically analyzed using this retrospective approach. Keywords Environmental contaminants Bioaccumulation Methylmercury Bird Retrospective analysis Stable isotopes ●
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Introduction
Supplementary information The online version of this article (https:// doi.org/10.1007/s10646-019-02123-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Sarah A. Dzielski [email protected] 1
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
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Department of Environmental and Forest Biology, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
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Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
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Finger Lakes Institute, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY 14556, USA
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Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
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Limnological Institute, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
Mercury (Hg) released into the environment has become increasingly problematic in ecosystems worldwide. While natural processes like volcanic eruptions, forest fires, and erosion of Hg-containing rocks contribute to Hg emissions, anthropogenic processes such as artisanal and small-scale gold mining, coal and
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