(PDF) Mercury in Feathers of Little Egret Egretta garzetta and Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax Chicks and in Their Prey in the Axios Delta, Greece (1997) | Vassilis Goutner

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Journal Article•DOI•

Analyzing trophic transfer of heavy metals for food webs in the newly-formed wetlands of the Yellow River Delta, China.

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Baoshan Cui¹, Qijun Zhang¹, Kejiang Zhang², Xinhui Liu¹, Honggang Zhang¹ - Show less +1 more•Institutions (2)

Beijing Normal University¹, University of Calgary²

01 May 2011-Environmental Pollution

TL;DR: Results show that most of heavy metals detected in water and sediments are lower than that in Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta, and the biomagnification of the selected nine heavy metals in the food webs is not significant.

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186 citations

Cites background or methods from "Mercury in Feathers of Little Egret..."

...Food sources were determined by d13C and the preyepredatory relation was described by literature (Gounter and Furness, 1997; Montesinos et al., 2008)....
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...The diet of Little Egret mainly includesanimals suchas smallfishes, shrimps, and frogs, but theyalso eat a small amountof plant suchas grain (Gounter and Furness,1997)....
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Book Chapter•DOI•

Ranking terrestrial vertebrate species for utility in biomonitoring and vulnerability to environmental contaminants.

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N. H. Golden¹, Barnett A. Rattner²•Institutions (2)

University of Maryland, College Park¹, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center²

01 Jan 2003-Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology

TL;DR: A Utility Index that ranks terrestrial vertebrate species as potential sentinels of contaminants in a region and a Vulnerability Index that assesses the threat of specific groups of contaminants to these species, have been developed to assist decision makers in risk assessments of persistent organic pollutants, cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides, petroleum crude oil, mercury, and lead shot.

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Abstract: It has long been recognized that biota can be good indicators of environmental health and pollution. From the ancient Greek maxim “a bad crow lays a bad egg” to the coal miners’ caged canary as a sentinel of noxious gas, the link between contaminants in the environment and their effect on its inhabitants has been acknowledged. However, as the severity of man’s impact on the environment worsened, it became clear that more sophisticated efforts were needed to systematically monitor the extent and effects of this input. In the modern era, widespread recognition of the effects of contaminants upon wildlife can be traced back to the beginning of the twentieth century, as oil spills resulting from the oceanic transport of large quantities of crude oil claimed the lives of seabirds and other marine species (Albers 1995). In the early 1950s, anthropogenic contaminants were first linked to population-level effects, as ingestion of spent lead shot from hunting was found to be a contributing factor in annual declines in North American waterfowl populations (Bellrose 1959; Sanderson and Bellrose 1986). Although isolated efforts to monitor lead shot ingestion in waterfowl began during this time, it was not until the realization of the devastating effects of DDT on avian reproduction (most notably the bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus) that large-scale monitoring efforts were undertaken by government natural resource management agencies.

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101 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Egrets as Monitors of Trace-Metal Contamination in Wetlands of Pakistan

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Eleonora Boncompagni, Abubakr Muhammad, R. Jabeen¹, E. Orvini, C. Gandini, Carolina Sanpera², Xavier Ruiz², Mauro Fasola - Show less +4 more•Institutions (2)

World Wide Fund for Nature¹, University of Barcelona²

01 Oct 2003-Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology

TL;DR: Assessment of trace element contamination at three wetlands in Pakistan used as indicators the eggs and the feathers of colonial waterbirds, particularly Little Egrets, their prey, and the sediments collected within their foraging areas found feathers of predatory birds such as the egrets are the best indicators of environmental contamination.

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Abstract: Environments in Pakistan are subject to increasing pollution, but previous studies were very scanty. During 1999 and 2000, we assessed trace element contamination at three wetlands, Karachi Harbour (with presumed industrial-urban pollution), Taunsa Barrage (agricultural pollution), and Haleji Lake (relatively unpolluted), using as indicators the eggs and the feathers of colonial waterbirds, particularly Little Egrets, their prey, and the sediments collected within their foraging areas. The concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Pb, Hg, Mn, Se, and Zn were generally within the normal background level, and mostly below the threshold that may affect bird survival or reproduction. However, somewhat high concentrations were found in fish from Karachi, for Pb that was at levels that may harm fish reproduction, and for Hg that was at limit concentration for human consumption. Alarming concentrations were found for Cr and Se in sediments from Karachi, that were above the critical levels for contaminated soil, and Se in eggs, that may affect egret reproduction. The differences among the three wetlands were less marked than hypothesized. The egret species within the same area differed in the concentration of certain elements in their eggs, possibly because females may have foraged in different habitats before breeding, whereas no interspecies difference was found in chick feathers, presumably because their food had been collected in similar habitats around the colony. High bioaccumulation from sediments to organic samples occurred for Hg, while Cd, Se, and Zn exhibited low accumulation; for all these elements, feathers of predatory birds such as the egrets are the best indicators of environmental contamination. On the other hand, As and Cr did not bioaccumulate, and the sediments, or the organisms low in the food chain, like fish or crustaceans, are better indicators of their presence in the environment than predatory birds.

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88 citations

Cites background or result from "Mercury in Feathers of Little Egret..."

...In feathers, the levels we found were well below the concentration that may affect birds, and were lower than those found elsewhere in egrets and in other water birds (Honda et al. 1986; Goutner and Furness 1997; Fasola et al. 1998; Burger et al. 1992; Burger and Gochfeld 1993, 1997; Goutner et al. 2000; Connel et al. 2002; Frederick et al. 2002)....
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...Indeed, when similar bird species were compared, their contamination levels usually differed (Furness and Greenwood 1993; Burger and Gochfeld 1993, 1995; Goutner and Furness 1997; Mattig et al. 2000)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Review of effects of water pollution on the breeding success of waterbirds, with particular reference to ardeids in Hong Kong.

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Sharon B. De Luca-Abbott¹, Bryan S.F. Wong¹, David B. Peakall, Paul K.S. Lam¹, Leonie S. Young², Michael H.W. Lam¹, Bruce J. Richardson¹ - Show less +3 more•Institutions (2)

City University of Hong Kong¹, World Wide Fund for Nature²

01 Dec 2001-Ecotoxicology

TL;DR: This review is a synthesis of pertinent literature on this topic, with specific reference to contaminant residues in various tissue types, relationship between body burden and reproductive success, and the use of biomarkers to predict more serious adverse affects.

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Abstract: Predatory waterbirds, such as ardeids, are susceptible to bioaccumulation of pollutants through the ingestion of contaminated food sources. High body burdens of contaminants, including PCBs, PAHs, cadmium, mercury, lead, copper, zinc and arsenic have been detected in many bird species worldwide. There is a paucity of literature, however, linking contaminant body burden and effects on reproductive success in waterbirds. This review is a synthesis of pertinent literature on this topic, with specific reference to contaminant residues in various tissue types, relationship between body burden and reproductive success, and the use of biomarkers to predict more serious adverse affects. The impetus for this review was the development of a conservation strategy and management plan (commissioned by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR)) for an important wetland in Hong Kong that supports many threatened waterbirds, including ardeids.

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65 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Risk to breeding success of Ardeids by contaminants in Hong Kong: evidence from trace metals in feathers.

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Des Connell¹, Bryan S.F. Wong¹, Paul K.S. Lam¹, K.F. Poon¹, Michael H.W. Lam¹, R.S.S. Wu¹, Bruce J. Richardson¹, Y.F. Yen² - Show less +4 more•Institutions (2)

City University of Hong Kong¹, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology²

01 Feb 2002-Ecotoxicology

TL;DR: A probabilistic risk assessment of the possible adverse effects of mercury on the breeding success of the Little Egret and the Black-crowned Night Heron was carried out, finding there was no evidence of adverse effects at other egretries, but there may possibly be adverse effects with lead but not cadmium.

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Abstract: The feathers of two Ardeid species, the Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) and the Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) were collected from six egretries and two egretries respectively, located in different areas in the New Territories of Hong Kong, including the Mai Po Marshes (within a Ramsar site). These feathers were digested and concentrations (µg/g dry weight) of copper (4.6–19.4), iron (8.1–641.3), manganese (0.4–19.4), zinc (51.3–183.5), lead (0.1–5.1), cadmium (0.01–0.15), chromium (0.06–1.7) and mercury (0.0–7.1) were determined by ICP-AES, ICP-MS and CVAAS. The levels of manganese, mercury and lead found were equal to or less than the concentrations found in previous investigations, reflecting a slight downward trend most apparent with lead. As a general rule, the levels of lead and mercury were higher in the egretries close to the polluted Deep Bay. A probabilistic risk assessment of the possible adverse effects on the breeding success of the Little Egret was carried out with respect to mercury, lead and cadmium. It was concluded that mercury (0.5–7.1 µg/g dry weight feathers) probably has had adverse effects at the Au Tau egretry of the Little Egrets, but there was no evidence of adverse effects at other egretries. The probabilistic analysis also indicated a low likelihood of adverse effects of mercury on the breeding of the Black-crowned Night Herons at A Chau (0.3–1.2 µg/g) and Mai Po Village (0.0–1.4 µg/g). The evidence for the effects of lead and cadmium was limited but suggested there may possibly be adverse effects with lead but not cadmium.

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64 citations

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Mercury in Feathers of Little Egret Egretta garzetta and Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax Chicks and in Their Prey in the Axios Delta, Greece

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