Temporal trends in metal levels in eggs of the endangered roseate tern (Sterna dougallii) in New York
- UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ (United States). Environmental and Community Medicine
- Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Inst., Piscataway, NJ (United States)
Female birds sequester certain organic and inorganic compounds in their eggs which have been widely used as a bioindicator for examining the body burdens of contaminants and therefore the temporal and spatial trends of the contaminants in the environment. The same analyses can also reflect the status or vulnerability of the indicator species. Extensive bridge deleading activities in the New York Bight (Cape May to Montauk) in the early 1990s coincided with a long-term study of the endangered roseate tern (Sterna dougallii) on Long Island, New York, affording the opportunity to test the utility of such fish-eating species as bioindicators of lead contamination, as well as the potential impact on the bird population itself. In this paper the authors test the null hypothesis that there were no temporal trends between 1989 and 1994 in metal levels in eggs of roseate terns nesting at Cedar Beach, Long Island, where the birds have been declining since the late 1980s. The authors report levels and trends for cadmium, chromium, manganese, mercury, and selenium as well as lead in abandoned eggs collected each year.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC01-95EW55084
- OSTI ID:
- 638283
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Research, Journal Name: Environmental Research Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 77; ISSN ENVRAL; ISSN 0013-9351
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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