Publications

Twelve adult and 25 larval Yosemite toad (Bufo canorus) specimens from the eastern Sierra Nevada of California were examined histologically for evidence of infectious, toxicological, and degenerative diseases. The preserved toads were selected from 21 that had been salvaged or collected during a die-off in 1976-1979 that immediately preceded a population decline. Causes of death of four...

Lead poisoning from the ingestion of spent shotgun pellets has been recognized as an important disease of North American waterfowl since Bellrose's (1959) research >40 years ago. Nation-wide regulations banning the use of lead shot for waterfowl hunting were established in 1991. We compared the prevalence of lead exposure in American black ducks (Anas rubripes) wintering on 2 areas in...

The ‘Alala (Corvus hawaiiensis) is the most endangered corvid in the world, and intensive efforts are being made to reintroduce it to its former native range in Hawaii. We diagnosed Toxoplasma gondii infection in five free-ranging ‘Alala. One ‘Alala, recaptured from the wild because it was underweight and depressed, was treated with diclazuril (10 mg/kg) orally for 10 days. Antibodies...

No abstract available.

We sampled Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima) at five locations near coastal Finland in 1997 and 1998 for evidence of exposure to arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, mercury, magnesium, molybdenum, lead, selenium, and zinc. Livers and kidneys were collected from adult males and females found dead and hunter-killed males, and livers were collected from ducklings. Two adult females...

As part of a study to determine the cause(s) of population decline and low survival of pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) neonates on Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge (HMNAR), Oregon (USA), 55 of 104 neonates captured during May 1996 and 1997 were necropsied (n = 28, 1996; n = 27, 1997) to determine cause of death. Necropsies were conducted on fawns that died during May, June, or...

The Mississippi Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis pulla) reintroduction program is the largest crane reintroduction effort in the world. Here we report on a 4-year experiment in which we compared post-release survival rates of 56 hand-reared and 76 parent-reared Mississippi Sandhill Cranes. First-year survival was 80%. Surprisingly, hand-reared cranes survived better than parent-reared...

Sediment ingestion is sometimes the principal route by which waterfowl are exposed to environmental contaminants, and at severely contaminated sites waterfowl have been killed by ingesting sediment. Mute swans (Cygnus olor) were fed a diet for 6 weeks with a high but environmentally realistic concentration (24%) of sediment from the moderately polluted Anacostia River in the District of...

The national distribution of information on the discovery of malformations in Minnesota frogs in 1995 stimulated collection and examination of newly metamorphosed frogs during 1996. By late summer and early fall of 1996, malformed frogs and toads were reported on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) lands in Vermont (Northeast, Region 5) and Minnesota (Midwest, Region 3). In response...

No abstract available.

Notes are given on a project to create a database of bibliographic information, abstracts and keywords for publications on the biological effects of gaseous and heavy metal air pollution on plants and lichens.

Seven immature green turtles, Chelonia mydas, captured from Kaneohe Bay on the island of Oahu were used to evaluate methods for assessing their immune response. Two turtles each were immunized intramuscularly with egg white lysozyme (EWL) in Freund’s complete adjuvant, Gerbu, or ISA-70; a seventh turtle was immunized with saline only and served as a control. Humoral immune response was...