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
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Related Subjects
540320* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
560300 -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ANIMALS
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
BIOLOGICAL AVAILABILITY
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
BIRDS
CADMIUM
CONTAMINATION
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
EGGS
ELEMENTS
ENDANGERED SPECIES
FEDERAL REGION VIII
METALS
MISSOURI RIVER
NORTH AMERICA
POLLUTION
RIVERS
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SELENIUM
SEMIMETALS
SHALES
SOUTH DAKOTA
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
USA
VERTEBRATES
WATER POLLUTION