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Potential Effects of Mercury on Threatened California Black Rails

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Abstract

San Francisco Bay (SFB) estuary sediments contain high levels of mercury (Hg), and tidal marsh resident species may be vulnerable to Hg contamination. We examined Hg concentrations in California black rails, a threatened waterbird species that inhabits SFB tidal salt marshes. We captured 127 black rails during the prebreeding and postbreeding seasons and examined the influence of site, sex, and year on Hg, methylmercury (MeHg), and also selenium (Se) concentrations in feathers and blood. Feather Hg concentrations averaged 6.94 μg/g dry weight (dw) and MeHg and Se concentrations in blood averaged 0.38 and 0.42 μg/g wet weight (ww). We used Akaike’s information criterion model selection process to evaluate the importance of year, site, sex, and age on patterns of MeHg concentrations; sex and year were the most important of these factors. Feather Hg concentrations (dw) were higher in males (8.22 μg/g) than females (6.63 μg/g) and higher in adult birds (7.36 μg/g) than in hatch-year birds (4.61 μg/g). A substantial portion of SFB black rail populations may be at risk of reproductive effects due to MeHg contamination, as 32–78% of feathers and <10% of blood samples exceeded no observed adverse effect levels. Sea level rise and other anthropogenic threats to endemic tidal marsh species such as black rails may be exacerbated by the presence of MeHg. Further study of population demographics and toxicological effects would further elucidate the effects of MeHg contamination on black rail populations in SFB.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a Calfed Bay-Delta Program grant (ERP02D-P62) to the San Francisco Estuary Institute (D. Yee, J. Davis), the USGS Student Career Experience Program, USFWS San Francisco Estuary Program (R. Morat), USGS Western Ecological Research Center, and the U.C. Davis John Muir Institute for the Environment. We thank D. Steele (CDFG) for permits. We thank S. Schwarzbach for initial project conception and study design advice. We thank C. Wilcox and L. Wyckoff (CDFG), B. Salzman (Marin Audubon), and R. Phelan and S. Brand (Gambinini Marsh) for access to study sites. We especially thank field technicians K. Spragens, K. Thorne, O. Bernstein, and L. Dembosz. We thank M. Marvin-DiPasquale, L. Windham-Myers, S. Olund, D. Krabbenhoft, J. Evens, K. Popper, B. Lasorsa, J. Hunt, M. Ricca, R. Keister, S. Spring, L. Bowen, C. Eagles-Smith, J. Ackerman, and R. Melcer, Jr. for valuable assistance or input. The manuscript was improved with comments from M. Mueller, D. Van Vuren, R. Tjeerdema, and three anonymous reviewers. Mention of trade names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Davis Field Station, Western Ecological Research Center, US Geological Survey, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Danika C. Tsao & A. Keith Miles

  2. San Francisco Bay Estuary Field Station, Western Ecological Research Center, US Geological Survey, 505 Azuar Drive, Vallejo, CA, 94592, USA

    John Y. Takekawa & Isa Woo

Authors
  1. Danika C. Tsao
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  2. A. Keith Miles
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  3. John Y. Takekawa
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  4. Isa Woo
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Correspondence to Danika C. Tsao.

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Tsao, D.C., Miles, A.K., Takekawa, J.Y. et al. Potential Effects of Mercury on Threatened California Black Rails. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 56, 292–301 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-008-9188-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-008-9188-4

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