Ecologically-Driven Exposure Pathways Science Team Active
The Team Determines Factors That Influence Fish and Wildlife Exposure
to toxicants such as mercury in the environment
Scientists Can Sample Tissues and Blood in Small Birds Without Harm
to understand factors such as maternal transfer of contaminants to offspring
The Team Studies Factors that Influence Exposure Risk in Mammals
such as foraging and fasting behavior in elephant seals
Factors that Influence Pathogen Transmission are Identified
Advanced Techniques are used to Understand Contaminant Sources
The Ecologically-Driven Exposure Pathways Integrated Science Team identifies how ecological pathways and physiological processes within a single organism can alter exposure and toxicity of contaminants and pathogens and seek to understand outcomes at different scales from individuals to populations and ecosystems.
Contaminant and pathogen exposure alone does not necessarily result in adverse health outcomes in fish, wildlife, or humans. There are numerous pathways and processes that can alter the toxicity of naturally occurring and human-made contaminants in the environment.
The team uses their broad scientific expertise in hydrology, geochemistry, biology, and ecotoxicology to understand the complexities associated with the movement of toxicants and pathogens through the environment and within individual organisms. That information is used to determine how, where, and when exposure occurs and if exposure results in health risks to wildlife and humans.
Current Science Questions and Activities
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What are the various ecological factors, such as habitats and foraging strategies, that influence the pathways of contaminant exposure, health risks to fish and wildlife?
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What are the pathways of antimicrobial resistance in the environment?
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What are the major intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of mercury exposure and risk to humans, fish, and wildlife at a global scale?
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What are the internal physiological determinants such as metababolism, transfer of mercury to offspring, changes in body mass, and molting that influence exposure and health risks in fish and wildlife?
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How do the internal factors differ among species and life stages?
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What are the Influences of landscape alterations, perturbations, and restoration on pathways and movement of contaminants through ecosystems and bioaccumulation into the food web of aquatic biota?
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Do multiple types and chemical mixtures have additive, synergistic, or antagonistic effects that influence the health of fish and wildlife?
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What are the internal and external drivers and regulators of human exposure to mercury?
- What is the risk of pathogen exposure and transmission among wildlife, livestock, and humans?
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What are the key environmental factors that control the viability of avian influenza virus shed by wild birds and what are the key environmental pathways of exposure and transmission of the virus?
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What is the role of soil, water, and vegetation in disease transmission such as Chronic Wasting Disease?
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How do invasive species influence the timing of contaminant uptake and bioaccumulation in fish and wildlife?
USGS science related to this science team’s activities.
The following are the data releases from this science team’s research activities.
Elk GPS collar data from National Elk Refuge (2006-2015)
2003 Blood Corticosterone Common Loons: Data
Below are publications associated with this science team.
Isotope fractionation from In Vivo methylmercury detoxification in waterbirds
Surface-air mercury fluxes and a watershed mass balance in forested and harvested catchments
Temporal influences on selenium partitioning, trophic transfer, and exposure in a major U.S. river
Long-term trends in regional wet mercury deposition and lacustrine mercury concentrations in four lakes in Voyageurs National Park
Why Lyme disease is common in the northern US, but rare in the south: The roles of host choice, host-seeking behavior, and tick density
Linking field and laboratory studies: Reproductive effects of perfluorinated substances on avian populations
Age‐ and sex‐related dietary specialization facilitate seasonal resource partitioning in a migratory shorebird
Variation in metal concentrations across a large contamination gradient is reflected in stream but not linked riparian food webs
Evidence for continental-scale dispersal of antimicrobial resistant bacteria by landfill-foraging gulls
From forests to fish: Mercury in mountain lake food webs influenced by factors at multiple scales
Mercury exposure in mammalian mesopredators inhabiting a brackish marsh
The influence of legacy contamination on the transport and bioaccumulation of mercury within the Mobile River Basin
- Overview
The Ecologically-Driven Exposure Pathways Integrated Science Team identifies how ecological pathways and physiological processes within a single organism can alter exposure and toxicity of contaminants and pathogens and seek to understand outcomes at different scales from individuals to populations and ecosystems.
Contaminant and pathogen exposure alone does not necessarily result in adverse health outcomes in fish, wildlife, or humans. There are numerous pathways and processes that can alter the toxicity of naturally occurring and human-made contaminants in the environment.
The team uses their broad scientific expertise in hydrology, geochemistry, biology, and ecotoxicology to understand the complexities associated with the movement of toxicants and pathogens through the environment and within individual organisms. That information is used to determine how, where, and when exposure occurs and if exposure results in health risks to wildlife and humans.
Current Science Questions and Activities
-
What are the various ecological factors, such as habitats and foraging strategies, that influence the pathways of contaminant exposure, health risks to fish and wildlife?
-
What are the pathways of antimicrobial resistance in the environment?
-
What are the major intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of mercury exposure and risk to humans, fish, and wildlife at a global scale?
-
What are the internal physiological determinants such as metababolism, transfer of mercury to offspring, changes in body mass, and molting that influence exposure and health risks in fish and wildlife?
-
How do the internal factors differ among species and life stages?
-
What are the Influences of landscape alterations, perturbations, and restoration on pathways and movement of contaminants through ecosystems and bioaccumulation into the food web of aquatic biota?
-
Do multiple types and chemical mixtures have additive, synergistic, or antagonistic effects that influence the health of fish and wildlife?
-
What are the internal and external drivers and regulators of human exposure to mercury?
- What is the risk of pathogen exposure and transmission among wildlife, livestock, and humans?
-
What are the key environmental factors that control the viability of avian influenza virus shed by wild birds and what are the key environmental pathways of exposure and transmission of the virus?
-
What is the role of soil, water, and vegetation in disease transmission such as Chronic Wasting Disease?
-
How do invasive species influence the timing of contaminant uptake and bioaccumulation in fish and wildlife?
-
- Science
USGS science related to this science team’s activities.
Filter Total Items: 25 - Data
The following are the data releases from this science team’s research activities.
Filter Total Items: 38Elk GPS collar data from National Elk Refuge (2006-2015)
17 adult female elk were captured on or around the National Elk Refuge and monitored with GPS collars from 2006 to 2015. Each of these elk were monitored for 1 to 2 years and migrated from the National Elk Refuge to Yellowstone National Park during the spring. Here we provide the unique identifier for each individual elk, the date/time stamp of each GPS location, the GPS location of the elk in UTM2003 Blood Corticosterone Common Loons: Data
To help determine whether Hg had a causal effect on corticosterone, we investigated the impact of experimental Hg intake on the corticosterone stress response in captive juvenile loons. Juveniles were subjected to three different feeding regimes: 0, 0.4 and 1.2 µg Hg (as MeHgCL)/g wet weight (ww) fish. We then measured baseline and 30 min post-solitary confinement stressor corticosterone concent - Publications
Below are publications associated with this science team.
Filter Total Items: 135Isotope fractionation from In Vivo methylmercury detoxification in waterbirds
The robust application of stable mercury (Hg) isotopes for mercury source apportionment and risk assessment necessitates the understanding of mass-dependent fractionation (MDF) due to internal transformations within organisms. Here, we used high energy-resolution XANES spectroscopy and isotope ratios of total mercury (δ202THg) and methylmercury (δ202MeHg) to elucidate the chemical speciation of HgAuthorsBrett Poulin, Sarah Elizabeth Janssen, Tylor Rosera, David P. Krabbenhoft, Collin Eagles-Smith, Josh T. Ackerman, Robin Stewart, Eunhee Kim, Zofia Baumann, Jeong-Hoon Kim, Alain ManceauSurface-air mercury fluxes and a watershed mass balance in forested and harvested catchments
Forest soils are among the world’s largest repositories for long-term accumulation of atmospherically deposited mercury (Hg), and understanding the potential for remobilization through gaseous emissions, aqueous dissolution and runoff, or erosive particulate transport to down-gradient aquatic ecosystems is critically important for projecting ecosystem recovery. Forestry operations, especially cleaAuthorsChris S. Eckley, Collin Eagles-Smith, Michael T. Tate, David P. KrabbenhoftTemporal influences on selenium partitioning, trophic transfer, and exposure in a major U.S. river
Hydrologic and irrigation regimes mediate the timing of selenium (Se) mobilization to rivers, but the extent to which patterns in Se uptake and trophic transfer through recipient food webs reflect the temporal variation in Se delivery is unknown. We investigated Se mobilization, partitioning, and trophic transfer along approximately 60 river miles of the selenium-impaired segment of the Lower GunnAuthorsJessica E Brandt, James Roberts, Craig A. Stricker, Holly Rogers, Patricia Nease, Travis S. SchmidtLong-term trends in regional wet mercury deposition and lacustrine mercury concentrations in four lakes in Voyageurs National Park
Although anthropogenic mercury (Hg) releases to the environment have been substantially lowered in the United States and Canada since 1990, concerns remain for contamination in fish from remote lakes and rivers where atmospheric deposition is the predominant source of mercury. How have aquatic ecosystems responded? We report on one of the longest known multimedia data sets for mercury in atmospherAuthorsMark E. Brigham, David D. VanderMeulen, Collin Eagles-Smith, David P. Krabbenhoft, Ryan P. Maki, John F. DeWildWhy Lyme disease is common in the northern US, but rare in the south: The roles of host choice, host-seeking behavior, and tick density
Lyme disease is common in the northeastern United States, but rare in the southeast, even though the tick vector is found in both regions. Infection prevalence of Lyme spirochetes in host-seeking ticks, an important component to the risk of Lyme disease, is also high in the northeast and northern midwest, but declines sharply in the south. As ticks must acquire Lyme spirochetes from infected verteAuthorsHoward Ginsberg, Graham J. Hickling, Russell L. Burke, Nicholas H. Ogden, Lorenza Beati, Roger A. LeBrun, Isis M. Arsnoe, Rick Gerhold, Seungeun Han, Kaetlyn Jackson, Lauren Maestas, Teresa Moody, Genevieve Pang, Breann Ross, Eric L. Rulison, Jean I. TsaoLinking field and laboratory studies: Reproductive effects of perfluorinated substances on avian populations
Although both laboratory and field studies are needed to effectively assess effects and risk of contaminants to free-living organisms, the limitations of each must be understood. The objectives of this paper are to examine information on field studies of reproductive effects of perfluorinated substances (PFASs) on bird populations, discuss the differences among field studies, and then place thoseAuthorsChristine M. CusterAge‐ and sex‐related dietary specialization facilitate seasonal resource partitioning in a migratory shorebird
Dietary specialization is common in animals and has important implications for individual fitness, inter‐ and intraspecific competition, and the adaptive potential of a species. Diet composition can be influenced by age‐ and sex‐related factors including an individual's morphology, social status, and acquired skills; however, specialization may only be necessary when competition is intensified byAuthorsLaurie Anne Hall, Susan E. W. De La Cruz, Isa Woo, Tomohiro Kuwae, John Y. TakekawaVariation in metal concentrations across a large contamination gradient is reflected in stream but not linked riparian food webs
Aquatic insects link food web dynamics across freshwater-terrestrial boundaries and subsidize terrestrial consumer populations. Contaminants that accumulate in larval aquatic insects and are retained across metamorphosis can increase dietary exposure for riparian insectivores. To better understand potential exposure of terrestrial insectivores to aquatically-derived trace metals, metal concentratiAuthorsJohanna M. Kraus, Richard Wanty, Travis S. Schmidt, David Walters, Ruth E. WolfEvidence for continental-scale dispersal of antimicrobial resistant bacteria by landfill-foraging gulls
Anthropogenic inputs into the environment may serve as sources of antimicrobial resistant bacteria and alter the ecology and population dynamics of synanthropic wild animals by providing supplemental forage. In this study, we used a combination of phenotypic and genomic approaches to characterize antimicrobial resistant indicator bacteria, animal telemetry to describe host movement patterns, and aAuthorsChristina Ahlstrom, Mariëlle L. van Toor, Hanna Woksepp, Jeffrey C Chandler, John Reed, Andrew B. Reeves, Jonas Waldenström, Alan B. Franklin, David C. Douglas, Jonas Bonnedahl, Andrew M. RameyFrom forests to fish: Mercury in mountain lake food webs influenced by factors at multiple scales
Mountain lakes, while seemingly pristine, have been subjected to historical fish stocking practices and exposure to atmospherically deposited contaminants like mercury. Mercury bioaccumulation in these ecosystems varies widely due to strong environmental gradients, and there are complex, hierarchical factors that affect mercury transport and loading, methylmercury production, and food web biomagniAuthorsAriana M. Chiapella, Collin Eagles-Smith, Angela L StreckerMercury exposure in mammalian mesopredators inhabiting a brackish marsh
Bioaccumulation of environmental contaminants in mammalian predators can serve as an indicator of ecosystem health. We examined mercury concentrations of raccoons (Procyon lotor; n = 37 individuals) and striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis; n = 87 individuals) in Suisun Marsh, California, a large brackish marsh that is characterized by contiguous tracts of tidal marsh and seasonally impounded wetlandAuthorsSarah H. Peterson, Josh T. Ackerman, C. Alex Hartman, Michael L. Casazza, Cliff L. Feldheim, Mark P. HerzogThe influence of legacy contamination on the transport and bioaccumulation of mercury within the Mobile River Basin
Past industrial use and subsequent release of mercury (Hg) into the environment have resulted in severe cases of legacy contamination that still influence contemporary Hg levels in biota. While the bioaccumulation of legacy Hg is commonly assessed via concentration measurements within fish tissue, this practice becomes difficult in regions of high productivity and methylmercury (MeHg) production,AuthorsSarah E. Janssen, Michael T. Tate, David P. Krabbenhoft, John F. DeWild, Jacob M. Ogorek, Christopher L. Babiarz, Anthony Sowers, Peter L. Tuttle - Web Tools
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