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Correlation Between Heavy Metals and Turtle Abundance in Ponds Near the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Kentucky, USA

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Abstract

Reptiles are declining globally, and environmental contamination has been suggested as a contributing factor; however, few studies have investigated the relationship between contamination and reptile populations. We performed a mark-recapture study at ponds near the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP), Kentucky, to determine if heavy metals had an impact on turtle populations. We measured concentrations of cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, and mercury in red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans) tissues and pond sediment and determined the correlation between metal concentrations and red-eared slider density. Metal concentrations measured in the current study were low, and turtle density was not significantly correlated with metal concentrations in tissues or sediment. However, we observed a trend of decreasing turtle density in ponds that had greater metal concentrations. Sex ratio and proportion of juveniles were significantly different among ponds, but it is unclear if these differences are related to contamination associated with the PGDP.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the staff at the WKWMA and the PGDP for their assistance. We also like thank L. Pratt, S.M. Weir, and T. Trimble for field and laboratory assistance. This project was funded by the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection (Grant No. MOA 0600004073). Capture and handling procedures were approved by the Southern Illinois University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (no. A-3078-01).

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  1. Richard S. Halbrook

    Present address: TG&G Wildlife Consulting, 880 N. Norwest Lane, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois University, 251 Life Science II, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA

    Shuangying Yu, Richard S. Halbrook & Donald W. Sparling

  2. The Institute of Environmental and Human Health, Texas Tech University, 1207 Gilbert Dr., Lubbock, TX, 79416, USA

    Shuangying Yu

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  1. Shuangying Yu
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Correspondence to Shuangying Yu.

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Yu, S., Halbrook, R.S. & Sparling, D.W. Correlation Between Heavy Metals and Turtle Abundance in Ponds Near the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Kentucky, USA. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 65, 555–566 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-013-9908-2

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