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The effects of climate, habitat, and trophic position on methylmercury bioavailability for breeding New York songbirds

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Abstract

Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant that affects songbird populations across a variety of ecosystems following conversion to methylmercury (MeHg)—a form of Hg with high potential for bioaccumulation and bioavailability. The amount of bioavailable MeHg in an ecosystem is a function of the amount of total Hg present as well as Hg methylation rates, which vary across the landscape in space and time, and trophic transfer. Using songbirds as an indicator of MeHg bioavailability in terrestrial ecosystems, we evaluated the role of habitat, climate, and trophic level in dictating MeHg exposure risk across a variety of ecosystems. To achieve this objective, 2243 blood Hg samples were collected from 81 passerine and near-passerine species in New York State, USA, spanning 10 different sampling regions from Long Island to western New York. Using a general linear mixed modeling framework that accounted for regional variation in sampling species composition, we found that wetland habitat area within 100 m of capture location, 50-year average of summer maximum temperatures, and trophic position inferred using stable isotope analysis were all correlated with songbird blood Hg concentrations statewide. Moreover, these patterns had a large degree of spatial variability suggesting that the drivers of MeHg bioavailability differed significantly across the state. Mercury deposition, land cover, and climate are all expected to change throughout the northeastern United States in the coming decades. Terrestrial MeHg bioavailability will likely respond to these changes. Focused research and monitoring efforts will be critical to understand how exposure risk responds to global environmental change across the landscape.

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Acknowledgements

Sample collection occurred under all required state (NYS DEC Scientific License to Collect and Possess Permits #1873, 1893; NYS Temporary Revocable Permits #2386, 2262, 8957, 2057/8128, 1979/7493) and federal permits (USGS BBL Permit #22636). Kathryn Williams provided comments on the manuscript and assistance in field sampling. The work of many trained songbird biologists was needed for this large sampling effort; the work of Melissa Duron and Sarah Johnson is specifically acknowledged. We would also like to thank the many field technicians that provided assistance during the course of the project: Katherine Gilbert, Kylie O’Driscoll, Mike Brennan, Paul Josephson, Tom Daniel, Lyneé Sauer, and Bob Sauer. We would like to acknowledge the many individuals and organizations for their generous support and collaboration as part of our research efforts: Adirondack League Club, Elizabeth Ballantine, Dan Josephson, Neil Gifford and the Albany Pine Bush Preserve, Black Rock Forest Consortium, Cornell University, Boston University, Harvard University, Massawepie Scout Camps, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, New York State Parks, Frost Valley YMCA, SUNY-ESF Huntington Wildlife Forest, Syracuse University, Michael Farina, Rob Longiaru, Tara Schneider-Moran, John Zarudsk and many others with The Town of Hempstead Department of Conservation and Waterways, Mashomack Preserve, The Nature Conservancy (Adirondack Chapter, Central and Western NY Chapter, Eastern NY Chapter, Joe Jansen, Nicole Maher, Derek Rogers and many others from the Long Island Chapter), Alison Kocek and the field crew from SUNY ESF for collecting samples in the New York City region, and the US Geological Survey. This work could not have been done without extensive publicly available online resources. We acknowledge the World Climate Research Programme's Working Group on Coupled Modeling, which is responsible for CMIP, and we thank the climate modeling groups for producing and making available their model output. For CMIP the U.S. Department of Energy's Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison provides coordinating support and led development of software infrastructure in partnership with the Global Organization for Earth System Science Portals.

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    Evan M. Adams, Amy K. Sauer, Oksana Lane, Kevin Regan & David C. Evers

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This study was funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA, Award # 34358). All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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Appendix. Estimates of methylmercury exposure across all species and all regions

Appendix. Estimates of methylmercury exposure across all species and all regions

Eighty-three species were sampled across all regions, including 214 unique species/region combinations. Here we include a figure that summarizes the average blood Hg concentrations (ppm ww) of all species/region combinations as estimated in the analysis. These averages (and 95% confidence intervals) are based on the generalized linear mixed modeling approach described in the text to identify species with elevated blood Hg concentrations in each region. Here we document the results for all species (Table 2).

Table 2 Model-estimated mean blood Hg concentrations for all species in each region using a general linear mixed modeling framework
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Adams, E.M., Sauer, A.K., Lane, O. et al. The effects of climate, habitat, and trophic position on methylmercury bioavailability for breeding New York songbirds. Ecotoxicology 29, 1843–1861 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-019-02151-w

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