Habitat and Land-Use Influences on Contaminant Bioaccumulation Active
By Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
November 13, 2017
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.
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 28
Dragonfly Mercury Project—A citizen science driven approach to linking surface-water chemistry and landscape characteristics to biosentinels on a national scale
Mercury is a globally distributed pollutant that threatens human and ecosystem health. Even protected areas, such as national parks, are subjected to mercury contamination because it is delivered through atmospheric deposition, often after long-range transport. In aquatic ecosystems, certain environmental conditions can promote microbial processes that convert inorganic mercury to an organic form
Authors
Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Sarah J. Nelson, James J. Willacker,, Colleen M. Flanagan Pritz, David P. Krabbenhoft
Surface-air mercury fluxes across Western North America: A synthesis of spatial trends and controlling variables
Mercury (Hg) emission and deposition can occur to and from soils, and are an important component of the global atmospheric Hg budget. This paper focuses on synthesizing existing surface-air Hg flux data collected throughout the Western North American region and is part of a series of geographically focused Hg synthesis projects. A database of existing Hg flux data collected using the dynamic flux
Authors
Chris S. Eckley, Michael T. Tate, Che-Jen Lin, Mae S. Gustin, Stephen Dent, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Michelle A. Lutz, Kimberly Wickland, Bronwen Wang, John E. Gray, Grant Edwards, David P. Krabbenhoft, David B. Smith
Conifer density within lake catchments predicts fish mercury concentrations in remote subalpine lakes
Remote high-elevation lakes represent unique environments for evaluating the bioaccumulation of atmospherically deposited mercury through freshwater food webs, as well as for evaluating the relative importance of mercury loading versus landscape influences on mercury bioaccumulation. The increase in mercury deposition to these systems over the past century, coupled with their limited exposure to d
Authors
Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Garth Herring, Branden L. Johnson, Rick Graw
Unintended consequences of management actions in salt pond restoration: cascading effects in trophic interactions
Salt evaporation ponds have played an important role as habitat for migratory waterbirds across the world, however, efforts to restore and manage these habitats to maximize their conservation value has proven to be challenging. For example, salinity reduction has been a goal for restoring and managing former salt evaporation ponds to support waterbirds in the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Projec
Authors
John Y. Takekawa, Joshua T. Ackerman, Arriana Brand, Tanya R. Graham, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Mark P. Herzog, Brent R. Topping, Gregory Shellenbarger, James S. Kuwabara, Eric Mruz, Sara L. Piotter, Nicole D. Athearn
Songbirds as sentinels of mercury in terrestrial habitats of eastern North America
Mercury (Hg) is a globally distributed environmental contaminant with a variety of deleterious effects in fish, wildlife, and humans. Breeding songbirds may be useful sentinels for Hg across diverse habitats because they can be effectively sampled, have well-defined and small territories, and can integrate pollutant exposure over time and space. We analyzed blood total Hg concentrations from 8,446
Authors
Allyson K. Jackson, David C. Evers, Evan M. Adams, Daniel A. Cristol, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Samuel T. Edmonds, Carrie E. Gray, Bart Hoskins, Oksana P. Lane, Amy Sauer, Timothy Tear
Wetland management and rice farming strategies to decrease methylmercury bioaccumulation and loads from the Cosumnes River Preserve, California
We evaluated mercury (Hg) concentrations in caged fish (deployed for 30 days) and water from agricultural wetland (rice fields), managed wetland, slough, and river habitats in the Cosumnes River Preserve, California. We also implemented experimental hydrological regimes on managed wetlands and post-harvest rice straw management techniques on rice fields in order to evaluate potential Best Manageme
Authors
Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Joshua T. Ackerman, Jacob Fleck, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Harry McQuillen, Wes Heim
Mercury bioaccumulation in estuarine wetland fishes: Evaluating habitats and risk to coastal wildlife
Estuaries are globally important areas for methylmercury bioaccumulation because of high methylmercury production rates and use by fish and wildlife. We measured total mercury (THg) concentrations in ten fish species from 32 wetland and open bay sites in San Francisco Bay Estuary (2005–2008). Fish THg concentrations (μg/g dry weight ± standard error) differed by up to 7.4× among estuary habitats.
Authors
Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Joshua T. Ackerman
Mercury in the national parks
One thing is certain: Even for trained researchers, predicting mercury’s behavior in the
environment is challenging. Fundamentally it is one of 98 naturally occurring elements, with
natural sources, such as volcanoes, and concentrated ore deposits, such as cinnabar. Yet there
are also human-caused sources, such as emissions from both coal-burning power plants and
mining operations for gold and
Authors
Colleen Flanagan Pritz, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, David Krabbenhoft
Mercury cycling in agricultural and managed wetlands: a synthesis of methylmercury production, hydrologic export, and bioaccumulation from an integrated field study
With seasonal wetting and drying, and high biological productivity, agricultural wetlands (rice paddies) may enhance the conversion of inorganic mercury (Hg(II)) to methylmercury (MeHg), the more toxic, organic form that biomagnifies through food webs. Yet, the net balance of MeHg sources and sinks in seasonal wetland environments is poorly understood because it requires an annual, integrated asse
Authors
Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Jacob A. Fleck, Joshua T. Ackerman, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Craig A. Stricker, Wesley A. Heim, Philip A.M. Bachand, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Gary Gill, Mark Stephenson, Charles N. Alpers
Landscape factors and hydrology influence mercury concentrations in wading birds breeding in the Florida Everglades, USA
The hydrology of wetland ecosystems is a key driver of both mercury (Hg) methylation and waterbird foraging ecology, and hence may play a fundamental role in waterbird exposure and risk to Hg contamination. However, few studies have investigated hydrological factors that influence waterbird Hg exposure. We examined how several landscape-level hydrological variables influenced Hg concentrations in
Authors
Garth Herring, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Joshua T. Ackerman, Dale E. Gawlik, James M. Beerens
Agricultural wetlands as potential hotspots for mercury bioaccumulation: Experimental evidence using caged fish
Wetlands provide numerous ecosystem services, but also can be sources of methylmercury (MeHg) production and export. Rice agricultural wetlands in particular may be important sites for MeHg bioaccumulation due to their worldwide ubiquity, periodic flooding schedules, and high use by wildlife. We assessed MeHg bioaccumulation within agricultural and perennial wetlands common to California’s Central
Authors
Joshua T. Ackerman, Collin A. Eagles-Smith
Invertebrate mercury bioaccumulation in permanent, seasonal, and flooded rice wetlands within California's Central Valley
We examined methylmercury (MeHg) bioavailability in four of the most predominant wetland habitats in California's Central Valley agricultural region during the spring and summer: white rice, wild rice, permanent wetlands, and shallowly-flooded fallow fields. We sampled MeHg and total mercury (THg) concentrations in two aquatic macroinvertebrate taxa at the inlets, centers, and outlets of four repl
Authors
Joshua T. Ackerman, A. Keith Miles, Collin A. Eagles-Smith
- 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.
- Data
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
No Result Found - Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 28Dragonfly Mercury Project—A citizen science driven approach to linking surface-water chemistry and landscape characteristics to biosentinels on a national scale
Mercury is a globally distributed pollutant that threatens human and ecosystem health. Even protected areas, such as national parks, are subjected to mercury contamination because it is delivered through atmospheric deposition, often after long-range transport. In aquatic ecosystems, certain environmental conditions can promote microbial processes that convert inorganic mercury to an organic formAuthorsCollin A. Eagles-Smith, Sarah J. Nelson, James J. Willacker,, Colleen M. Flanagan Pritz, David P. KrabbenhoftSurface-air mercury fluxes across Western North America: A synthesis of spatial trends and controlling variables
Mercury (Hg) emission and deposition can occur to and from soils, and are an important component of the global atmospheric Hg budget. This paper focuses on synthesizing existing surface-air Hg flux data collected throughout the Western North American region and is part of a series of geographically focused Hg synthesis projects. A database of existing Hg flux data collected using the dynamic fluxAuthorsChris S. Eckley, Michael T. Tate, Che-Jen Lin, Mae S. Gustin, Stephen Dent, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Michelle A. Lutz, Kimberly Wickland, Bronwen Wang, John E. Gray, Grant Edwards, David P. Krabbenhoft, David B. SmithConifer density within lake catchments predicts fish mercury concentrations in remote subalpine lakes
Remote high-elevation lakes represent unique environments for evaluating the bioaccumulation of atmospherically deposited mercury through freshwater food webs, as well as for evaluating the relative importance of mercury loading versus landscape influences on mercury bioaccumulation. The increase in mercury deposition to these systems over the past century, coupled with their limited exposure to dAuthorsCollin A. Eagles-Smith, Garth Herring, Branden L. Johnson, Rick GrawUnintended consequences of management actions in salt pond restoration: cascading effects in trophic interactions
Salt evaporation ponds have played an important role as habitat for migratory waterbirds across the world, however, efforts to restore and manage these habitats to maximize their conservation value has proven to be challenging. For example, salinity reduction has been a goal for restoring and managing former salt evaporation ponds to support waterbirds in the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration ProjecAuthorsJohn Y. Takekawa, Joshua T. Ackerman, Arriana Brand, Tanya R. Graham, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Mark P. Herzog, Brent R. Topping, Gregory Shellenbarger, James S. Kuwabara, Eric Mruz, Sara L. Piotter, Nicole D. AthearnSongbirds as sentinels of mercury in terrestrial habitats of eastern North America
Mercury (Hg) is a globally distributed environmental contaminant with a variety of deleterious effects in fish, wildlife, and humans. Breeding songbirds may be useful sentinels for Hg across diverse habitats because they can be effectively sampled, have well-defined and small territories, and can integrate pollutant exposure over time and space. We analyzed blood total Hg concentrations from 8,446AuthorsAllyson K. Jackson, David C. Evers, Evan M. Adams, Daniel A. Cristol, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Samuel T. Edmonds, Carrie E. Gray, Bart Hoskins, Oksana P. Lane, Amy Sauer, Timothy TearWetland management and rice farming strategies to decrease methylmercury bioaccumulation and loads from the Cosumnes River Preserve, California
We evaluated mercury (Hg) concentrations in caged fish (deployed for 30 days) and water from agricultural wetland (rice fields), managed wetland, slough, and river habitats in the Cosumnes River Preserve, California. We also implemented experimental hydrological regimes on managed wetlands and post-harvest rice straw management techniques on rice fields in order to evaluate potential Best ManagemeAuthorsCollin A. Eagles-Smith, Joshua T. Ackerman, Jacob Fleck, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Harry McQuillen, Wes HeimMercury bioaccumulation in estuarine wetland fishes: Evaluating habitats and risk to coastal wildlife
Estuaries are globally important areas for methylmercury bioaccumulation because of high methylmercury production rates and use by fish and wildlife. We measured total mercury (THg) concentrations in ten fish species from 32 wetland and open bay sites in San Francisco Bay Estuary (2005–2008). Fish THg concentrations (μg/g dry weight ± standard error) differed by up to 7.4× among estuary habitats.AuthorsCollin A. Eagles-Smith, Joshua T. AckermanMercury in the national parks
One thing is certain: Even for trained researchers, predicting mercury’s behavior in the environment is challenging. Fundamentally it is one of 98 naturally occurring elements, with natural sources, such as volcanoes, and concentrated ore deposits, such as cinnabar. Yet there are also human-caused sources, such as emissions from both coal-burning power plants and mining operations for gold andAuthorsColleen Flanagan Pritz, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, David KrabbenhoftMercury cycling in agricultural and managed wetlands: a synthesis of methylmercury production, hydrologic export, and bioaccumulation from an integrated field study
With seasonal wetting and drying, and high biological productivity, agricultural wetlands (rice paddies) may enhance the conversion of inorganic mercury (Hg(II)) to methylmercury (MeHg), the more toxic, organic form that biomagnifies through food webs. Yet, the net balance of MeHg sources and sinks in seasonal wetland environments is poorly understood because it requires an annual, integrated asseAuthorsLisamarie Windham-Myers, Jacob A. Fleck, Joshua T. Ackerman, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Craig A. Stricker, Wesley A. Heim, Philip A.M. Bachand, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Gary Gill, Mark Stephenson, Charles N. AlpersLandscape factors and hydrology influence mercury concentrations in wading birds breeding in the Florida Everglades, USA
The hydrology of wetland ecosystems is a key driver of both mercury (Hg) methylation and waterbird foraging ecology, and hence may play a fundamental role in waterbird exposure and risk to Hg contamination. However, few studies have investigated hydrological factors that influence waterbird Hg exposure. We examined how several landscape-level hydrological variables influenced Hg concentrations inAuthorsGarth Herring, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Joshua T. Ackerman, Dale E. Gawlik, James M. BeerensAgricultural wetlands as potential hotspots for mercury bioaccumulation: Experimental evidence using caged fish
Wetlands provide numerous ecosystem services, but also can be sources of methylmercury (MeHg) production and export. Rice agricultural wetlands in particular may be important sites for MeHg bioaccumulation due to their worldwide ubiquity, periodic flooding schedules, and high use by wildlife. We assessed MeHg bioaccumulation within agricultural and perennial wetlands common to California’s CentralAuthorsJoshua T. Ackerman, Collin A. Eagles-SmithInvertebrate mercury bioaccumulation in permanent, seasonal, and flooded rice wetlands within California's Central Valley
We examined methylmercury (MeHg) bioavailability in four of the most predominant wetland habitats in California's Central Valley agricultural region during the spring and summer: white rice, wild rice, permanent wetlands, and shallowly-flooded fallow fields. We sampled MeHg and total mercury (THg) concentrations in two aquatic macroinvertebrate taxa at the inlets, centers, and outlets of four replAuthorsJoshua T. Ackerman, A. Keith Miles, Collin A. Eagles-Smith