Wading birds as bioindicators of mercury contamination in florida, USA: annual and geographic variation

摘要

Mercury contamination in wetland biota is often dynamic, difficult to predict, and costly to track. In this paper, we present results from a six-year study of growing feathers of piscivorous birds as monitors of wetland Hg exposure in Florida, USA, wetlands. Between 1994 and 2000, we collected feathers of growing great egret(Ardea alba) nestlings from colonies in the freshwater Everglades of southern Florida, and during 1998, feathers were collected from chicks of both great egrets and white ibises(Eudocimus albus) at a variety of colonies throughout peninsular Florida.