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Clapper rails as indicators of mercury and PCB bioavailability in a Georgia saltmarsh system

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Abstract

Clapper rails (Rallus longirostris) were used as an indicator species of estuarine marsh habitat quality because of their strong site fidelity and predictable diet consisting of mostly benthic organisms. Mercury (Hg) and the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) Aroclor 1268 concentrations were determined for sediments, crabs, as well as clapper rail adults and chicks collected from salt marshes associated with the LCP Superfund site in Brunswick, Georgia. Home ranges were established for adult rails, and sediment and crab samples were taken from each individual’s range. The study was designed to minimize the spatial variability associated with trophic transfer studies by choosing an endpoint species with a potentially small home range and specifically sampling its foraging range. The mean home range for clapper rails was 1.2 ha with a median of 0.28 ha. Concentrations of Hg and Aroclor 1268 were shown to increase with each trophic level. Transfer factors between media followed the same pattern for both contaminants with the highest between fiddler crabs and clapper rail liver. Hg and PCB transfer factors were similar between sediment to fiddler crab and fiddler crab to muscle, however the PCB transfer factor from fiddler crabs to liver was over twice as large as for Hg. PCB congener profiles did not significantly differ between media types.

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Acknowledgments

We followed an animal welfare protocol approved by the University of Georgia Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (A960205). We thank Greg Masson and Keith Hastie with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Brunswick, Georgia for their support with this project. We thank Heather Brant for laboratory support. Field studies were supported in part by a grant from the M.K. Pentecost, Trust Fund of the Savannah Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (USA). This research was also supported by the Environmental Remediation Sciences Division of the Office of Biological and Environmental Research, U.S. Department of Energy, through Financial Assistance Award No. DE-FC09-96- SR18546 to the University of Georgia Research Foundation. Editorial comments from Cham E. Dallas improved this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, SC, 29802, USA

    J. C. Cumbee Jr., G. L. Mills, N. Garvin, W. L. Stephens Jr. & I. L. Brisbin Jr.

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Eastern Illinois University, 600 Lincoln Ave, Charleston, IL, 61920-3099, USA

    K. F. Gaines & J. M. Novak

Authors
  1. J. C. Cumbee Jr.
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  2. K. F. Gaines
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  3. G. L. Mills
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  4. N. Garvin
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  5. W. L. Stephens Jr.
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  6. J. M. Novak
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  7. I. L. Brisbin Jr.
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Correspondence to K. F. Gaines.

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Cumbee, J.C., Gaines, K.F., Mills, G.L. et al. Clapper rails as indicators of mercury and PCB bioavailability in a Georgia saltmarsh system. Ecotoxicology 17, 485–494 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-008-0202-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-008-0202-4

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