Abstract
One of the best studied global “hot spots” for ecological mercury (Hg) contamination is south Florida (USA), where elevated Hg concentrations in environmental media and regional wildlife were first described over thirty years ago. While Hg contamination has lessened in this region, it is still critical to monitor Hg uptake and potential risks in south Florida wildlife, especially in marine-associated birds, which are known to accumulate potentially toxic Hg levels. In this study, total Hg (THg) concentrations were measured in liver, kidney, muscle, and feathers of 101 individuals from seven species of south Florida birds: brown pelican Pelecanus occidentalis, double-crested cormorant Phalacrocorax auratus, herring gull Larus argentatus, laughing gull Leucophaeus atricilla, northern gannet Morus bassanus, royal tern Thalasseus maximus, and osprey Pandion halietus. A sizeable proportion of individuals (> 40%) were found to contain THg concentrations in internal tissues that exceeded estimated toxicity thresholds for Hg-related effects. Certain species, especially osprey, were found to exhibit a higher rate of threshold exceedances than others and should continue to be monitored for Hg-related effects in future studies. Feather THg concentrations exhibited a lower rate of toxicity threshold exceedances (12%) and were not significantly correlated with those in internal tissues in most cases, suggesting that they may not be well suited for monitoring Hg exposure in these species unless sources of data variation can be better understood. The results of the present study contribute significantly to our understanding of trends in Hg accumulation and Hg-related health risks in south Florida marine-associated birds.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
Specimens were provided by the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center, Key West Wildlife Center, Pelican Harbor Seabird Station, and South Florida Wildlife Center, and collected under Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission permit LSSC-12-00075 and US Fish and Wildlife Service permit MB82910A-0 to DWK.
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Nova Southeastern University provided funding for the total mercury analysis through a President’s Faculty Research and Development Grant to D.W. Kerstetter. and J. Gelsleichter.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Sample collection was performed by CN and DWK. Mercury analysis was performed by SEH and JG. Data analysis was performed by CN, JG, and DWK. The first draft of the manuscript was written by JG, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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244_2022_932_MOESM1_ESM.docx
Supplementary file1 Relationships between THg concentrations in feathers (mg/kg d.w.) and internal tissues (mg/kg w.w.) for datasets in which variables were significantly correlated (as presented in Table 3): a) cormorant liver feather, b) cormorant kidney feather, c) cormorant muscle feather, d) laughing gull muscle feather, e) osprey liver feather, and f) osprey kidney feather. Open circles represent individual values. Results of regression analysis are presented. (DOCX 72 KB)
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Nay, C., Gelsleichter, J., Hill, S.E. et al. Accumulation of the Toxic Metal Mercury in Multiple Tissues of Marine-Associated Birds from South Florida. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 82, 493–505 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-022-00932-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-022-00932-9