Preliminary use of uric acid as a biomarker for wading birds on Everglades Tree Islands, Florida, United States
Concentrations of organic biomarkers and concentrations of phosphorus in soil cores can potentially be used as proxies for historic population densities of wading birds on tree islands in the Florida Everglades. This report focuses on establishing a link between the organic biomarker uric acid found in wading bird guano and the high phosphorus concentrations in tree island soils in the Florida Everglades. Uric acid was determined in soil core sections, in surface samples, and in bird guano by using a method of high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) developed for this purpose. Preliminary results show an overall correlation between uric acid and total phosphorus in three soil cores, with a general trend of decreasing concentrations of both uric acid and phosphorus with depth. However, we have also found no uric acid in a soil core having high concentrations of phosphorus. We believe that this result may be explained by different geochemical circumstances at that site.
Citation Information
Publication Year | 2010 |
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Title | Preliminary use of uric acid as a biomarker for wading birds on Everglades Tree Islands, Florida, United States |
DOI | 10.3133/ofr20091203 |
Authors | Anne L. Bates, William H. Orem, Susan Newman, Dale E. Gawlik, Harry E. Lerch, M.D. Corum, Monica Van Winkle |
Publication Type | Report |
Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
Series Title | Open-File Report |
Series Number | 2009-1203 |
Index ID | ofr20091203 |
Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
USGS Organization | Eastern Energy Resources Science Center |