The distribution and occurrence of contaminants and the associated biological exposure in ecological systems are driven by complex interactions between contaminant sources and mobilization pathways that are overlaid upon the habitat requirements of at-risk organisms. Moreover, landscape structure and land uses can strongly influence the driving processes of contaminant cycling, as well as the distribution and availability of important habitat for fish and wildlife. Therefore, determining risk patterns and developing robust prediction of the contaminant impacts associated with land-use change rely upon developing and understanding these interactions.
This theme of the Contaminant Ecology Research Program focuses on a combination of carefully designed contaminant-exposure monitoring in biosentinel organisms, paired with focused experimental studies of the direct impacts of various land uses on contaminant bioaccumulation. The ultimate goals are to: 1) address the science needs of resource managers to facilitate a better understanding of how habitat management and land-use change may influence contaminant cycling and risk; 2) support effective decision-making processes for complex natural resource issues involving diverse threats, competing resource needs, and limited resources; and 3) determine exposure profiles across the landscape in order to evaluate the geographic distribution of specific contaminants and to provide baseline estimates of contaminant exposure for retrospective studies.
Active Projects
- Experimental Control of Methylmercury in Rice Wetlands using Alternative Rice Harvest Practices
- Forestry Effects on Mercury Cycling and Bioaccumulation at a Watershed Scale
- Western North America Mercury Synthesis: A Landscape Scale Analysis of Mercury Cycling, Bioaccumulation, and Risk Linking Long-term Datasets
- The Effects of Wetland Restoration on Mercury Bioaccumulation in the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project: Using the Biosentinel Toolbox to Monitor Changes Across Multiple Habitats and Spatial Scales
- Off-channel Habitats in the Willamette River: Implications for Methylmercury Cycling, Bioaccumulation, and Risk
- Mercury Bioaccumulation in Fish from High-Elevation Lakes in National Parks across the Western United States
- Mercury Bioaccumulation in Waterbodies of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
- Mercury Cycling and Ecological Risk Across Habitats in Mount Rainier National Park
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Contaminant Ecology Research Team (FRESC)
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Trask River Watershed Study Area Forestry Bioaccumulation Dataset, 2011-2015
Total Mercury and Methylmercury in Riparian Songbirds and Aquatic Invertebrates from the Willamette Valley, Oregon, 2013-2014
Below are publications associated with this project.
Contaminant concentrations in sediments, aquatic invertebrates, and fish in proximity to rail tracks used for coal transport in the Pacific Northwest: A baseline assessment
Anticoagulant rodenticides in Strix owls indicate widespread exposure in west coast forests
Timber harvest alters mercury bioaccumulation and food web structure in headwater streams
Nutrients mediate the effects of temperature on methylmercury concentrations in freshwater zooplankton
Comparison of mercury mass loading in streams to atmospheric deposition in watersheds of Western North America: Evidence for non-atmospheric mercury sources
Mercury and methylmercury in aquatic sediment across western North America
Reservoirs and water management influence fish mercury concentrations in the western United States and Canada
Spatiotemporal patterns of mercury accumulation in lake sediments of western North America
Mercury risk to avian piscivores across western United States and Canada
Mercury in western North America: A synthesis of environmental contamination, fluxes, bioaccumulation, and risk to fish and wildlife
Spatial and temporal patterns of mercury concentrations in freshwater fish across the Western United States and Canada
Hg concentrations in fish from coastal waters of California and Western North America
- Overview
The distribution and occurrence of contaminants and the associated biological exposure in ecological systems are driven by complex interactions between contaminant sources and mobilization pathways that are overlaid upon the habitat requirements of at-risk organisms. Moreover, landscape structure and land uses can strongly influence the driving processes of contaminant cycling, as well as the distribution and availability of important habitat for fish and wildlife. Therefore, determining risk patterns and developing robust prediction of the contaminant impacts associated with land-use change rely upon developing and understanding these interactions.
This theme of the Contaminant Ecology Research Program focuses on a combination of carefully designed contaminant-exposure monitoring in biosentinel organisms, paired with focused experimental studies of the direct impacts of various land uses on contaminant bioaccumulation. The ultimate goals are to: 1) address the science needs of resource managers to facilitate a better understanding of how habitat management and land-use change may influence contaminant cycling and risk; 2) support effective decision-making processes for complex natural resource issues involving diverse threats, competing resource needs, and limited resources; and 3) determine exposure profiles across the landscape in order to evaluate the geographic distribution of specific contaminants and to provide baseline estimates of contaminant exposure for retrospective studies.
Active Projects
- Experimental Control of Methylmercury in Rice Wetlands using Alternative Rice Harvest Practices
- Forestry Effects on Mercury Cycling and Bioaccumulation at a Watershed Scale
- Western North America Mercury Synthesis: A Landscape Scale Analysis of Mercury Cycling, Bioaccumulation, and Risk Linking Long-term Datasets
- The Effects of Wetland Restoration on Mercury Bioaccumulation in the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project: Using the Biosentinel Toolbox to Monitor Changes Across Multiple Habitats and Spatial Scales
- Off-channel Habitats in the Willamette River: Implications for Methylmercury Cycling, Bioaccumulation, and Risk
- Mercury Bioaccumulation in Fish from High-Elevation Lakes in National Parks across the Western United States
- Mercury Bioaccumulation in Waterbodies of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
- Mercury Cycling and Ecological Risk Across Habitats in Mount Rainier National Park
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Contaminant Ecology Research Team (FRESC)
The FRESC Contaminant Ecology research program evaluates the distribution, movement, and ecological effects of environmental contaminants across the landscape and strives to provide relevant science in support of natural resource conservation, management, and decision making. - Data
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Trask River Watershed Study Area Forestry Bioaccumulation Dataset, 2011-2015
This dataset includes timber harvest treatments; mercury concentrations in aquatic macroinvertebrates, salamanders, and riparian songbirds; carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in aquatic macroinvertebrates and salamanders; and Bayesian estimates of food web length, basal resource diversity, and isotopic niche size for individual feeding guilds.Total Mercury and Methylmercury in Riparian Songbirds and Aquatic Invertebrates from the Willamette Valley, Oregon, 2013-2014
This dataset includes bird species, invertebrate order and family, sample identification codes, capture date, latitude, longitude, habitat, site name, bird age, total mercury concentrations in bird blood, and methylmercury concentrations in whole body aquatic invertebrates. - Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 28Contaminant concentrations in sediments, aquatic invertebrates, and fish in proximity to rail tracks used for coal transport in the Pacific Northwest: A baseline assessment
Railway transport of coal poses an environmental risk because coal dust contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), mercury (Hg), and other trace metals. In the Pacific Northwest, proposed infrastructure projects could result in an increase in coal transport by train through the Columbia River corridor. Baseline information is needed on current distributions, levels, and spatial patterns ofAnticoagulant rodenticides in Strix owls indicate widespread exposure in west coast forests
Exposure of nontarget wildlife to anticoagulant rodenticides (AR) is a global conservation concern typically centered around urban or agricultural areas. Recently, however, the illegal use of ARs in remote forests of California, USA, has exposed sensitive predators, including the federally threatened northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina). We used congeneric barred owls (S. varia) as aTimber harvest alters mercury bioaccumulation and food web structure in headwater streams
Timber harvest has many effects on aquatic ecosystems, including changes in hydrological, biogeochemical, and ecological processes that can influence mercury (Hg) cycling. Although timber harvest’s influence on aqueous Hg transformation and transport are well studied, the effects on Hg bioaccumulation are not. We evaluated Hg bioaccumulation, biomagnification, and food web structure in 10 paired cNutrients mediate the effects of temperature on methylmercury concentrations in freshwater zooplankton
Methylmercury (MeHg) bioaccumulation in freshwater aquatic systems is impacted by anthropogenic stressors, including climate change and nutrient enrichment. The goal of this study was to determine how warmer water temperatures and excess nutrients would alter zooplankton communities and phytoplankton concentrations, and whether those changes would in turn increase or decrease MeHg concentrations iComparison of mercury mass loading in streams to atmospheric deposition in watersheds of Western North America: Evidence for non-atmospheric mercury sources
Annual stream loads of mercury (Hg) and inputs of wet and dry atmospheric Hg deposition to the landscape were investigated in watersheds of the Western United States and the Canadian-Alaskan Arctic. Mercury concentration and discharge data from flow gauging stations were used to compute annual mass loads with regression models. Measured wet and modeled dry deposition were compared to annual streamMercury and methylmercury in aquatic sediment across western North America
Large-scale assessments are valuable in identifying primary factors controlling total mercury (THg) and monomethyl mercury (MeHg) concentrations, and distribution in aquatic ecosystems. Bed sediment THg and MeHg concentrations were compiled for > 16,000 samples collected from aquatic habitats throughout the West between 1965 and 2013. The influence of aquatic feature type (canals, estuaries, lakesByEcosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology, California Water Science Center, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis, Upper Midwest Water Science Center, Mercury Research LaboratoryReservoirs and water management influence fish mercury concentrations in the western United States and Canada
Anthropogenic manipulation of aquatic habitats can profoundly alter mercury (Hg) cycling and bioaccumulation. The impoundment of fluvial systems is among the most common habitat manipulations and is known to increase fish Hg concentrations immediately following impoundment. However, it is not well understood how Hg concentrations differ between reservoirs and lakes at large spatial and temporal scSpatiotemporal patterns of mercury accumulation in lake sediments of western North America
For the Western North America Mercury Synthesis, we compiled mercury records from 165 dated sediment cores from 138 natural lakes across western North America. Lake sediments are accepted as faithful recorders of historical mercury accumulation rates, and regional and sub-regional temporal and spatial trends were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Mercury accumulation rates in sMercury risk to avian piscivores across western United States and Canada
The widespread distribution of mercury (Hg) threatens wildlife health, particularly piscivorous birds. Western North America is a diverse region that provides critical habitat to many piscivorous bird species, and also has a well-documented history of mercury contamination from legacy mining and atmospheric deposition. The diversity of landscapes in the west limits the distribution of avian piscivMercury in western North America: A synthesis of environmental contamination, fluxes, bioaccumulation, and risk to fish and wildlife
Western North America is a region defined by extreme gradients in geomorphology and climate, which support a diverse array of ecological communities and natural resources. The region also has extreme gradients in mercury (Hg) contamination due to a broad distribution of inorganic Hg sources. These diverse Hg sources and a varied landscape create a unique and complex mosaic of ecological risk fromSpatial and temporal patterns of mercury concentrations in freshwater fish across the Western United States and Canada
Methylmercury contamination of fish is a global threat to environmental health. Mercury (Hg) monitoring programs are valuable for generating data that can be compiled for spatially broad syntheses to identify emergent ecosystem properties that influence fish Hg bioaccumulation. Fish total Hg (THg) concentrations were evaluated across the Western United States (US) and Canada, a region defined by eHg concentrations in fish from coastal waters of California and Western North America
The State of California conducted an extensive and systematic survey of mercury (Hg) in fish from the California coast in 2009 and 2010. The California survey sampled 3483 fish representing 46 species at 68 locations, and demonstrated that methylHg in fish presents a widespread exposure risk to fish consumers. Most of the locations sampled (37 of 68) had a species with an average concentration abo