ABSTRACT: Remarkably few studies on the effects of PCBs on wild turtles have been conducted. We contrasted population-level parameters of 2 species of freshwater turtles, the snapping turtle Chelydra serpentina and the painted turtle Chrysemys picta, across a strong PCB concentration gradient in the upper Hudson River, New York State, USA. Our study employed standardized capture methods that yielded 465 turtles during 1968 trap-nights over 2 yr (2006 and 2007) at 246 trapping sites. Individuals of both turtle species were relatively heavier in a contaminated river segment, but PCB concentration did not otherwise influence relative abundance of turtles, probabilities of habitat occupancy or detection, sex or age ratios, body size, incidence of deformities, external parasite occurrence, or several movement parameters in a manner consistent with adverse impacts to wild turtles. This lack of spatial trend in parameters of wild populations of aquatic turtles across a strong gradient of PCB contamination contrasts with predictions of adverse impacts derived from population modeling, dose-response studies, and tissue residue analyses.

中文翻译：

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多氯联苯污染梯度上淡水龟的种群状况

摘要：关于多氯联苯对野生海龟影响的研究很少。我们对比了两种淡水龟，鳄龟Chelydra serpentina和彩绘龟Chrysemys picta的种群水平参数在美国纽约州哈德逊河上游的PCB浓度梯度很强的情况下。我们的研究采用了标准化的捕获方法，在两年的1968年（2006年和2007年）的1968个诱捕夜中，共在246个诱捕点捕获了465只海龟。两种乌龟物种的个体在受污染的河段中相对较重，但PCB浓度不会影响乌龟的相对丰度，栖息地占有或检测的可能性，性别或年龄比，体重，畸形的发生率，外部寄生虫的发生或几个运动参数，其方式与对野生海龟的不利影响相一致。在PCB污染的强梯度范围内，水生海龟野生种群的参数缺乏空间趋势，这与根据种群建模得出的不利影响的预测相反，