Contaminant evaluation of interior least tern and piping plover eggs and chicks on the Missouri River, South Dakota
The Missouri River in South Dakota is bordered by bluffs containing marine shale. Analyses of shale from these bluffs revealed that they contained maximum concentrations of 13.6 mg/kg dry weight selenium and 9.35 mg/kg dry weight cadmium. Wind and water erode the dry shale bluffs, releasing biologically available selenium to the river. Selenium also is present at relatively high concentrations in Missouri River tributary streams. The waterborne selenium is carried downstream and deposited in slack-water areas near islands and shorelines. Least tern (Sterna antillarum), a federally endangered species, and piping plover (Charadrius melodus), a federally threatened species, nest on Missouri River islands. Addled eggs of both species were collected during the 1988, 1989, and 1990 nesting seasons and were analyzed for selenium and other inorganics. The maximum concentrations (mg/kg dry weight) of selenium detected were 13.0 and 11.1 respectively in piping plover and least tern eggs. Selenium concentrations remained elevated and stable in bird eggs during all three years of the study.
- Research Organization:
- Fish and Wildlife Service, Pierre, SD (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 5895880
- Report Number(s):
- PB-92-106210/XAB
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Characterization and Monitoring Data for Evaluating Constructed Emergent Sandbar Habitat in the Missouri River Mainstem
Characterization and Monitoring Data for Evaluating Constructed Emergent Sandbar Habitat in the Missouri River Mainstem 2004-2009
Related Subjects
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
BIRDS
CONTAMINATION
CADMIUM
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
MISSOURI RIVER
WATER POLLUTION
SELENIUM
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
BIOLOGICAL AVAILABILITY
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
EGGS
ENDANGERED SPECIES
SHALES
SOUTH DAKOTA
ANIMALS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ELEMENTS
FEDERAL REGION VIII
METALS
NORTH AMERICA
POLLUTION
RIVERS
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SEMIMETALS
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
USA
VERTEBRATES
540320* - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
560300 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology