WP5 Wildlife Ecotoxicology
203 Oregon Ballroom
1:20 PM - 4:40 PM, Wednesday
(587A) Contaminants in American woodcock collected in Connecticut.
Hiller, B.1, Barclay, J.1, 1 Wildlife Conservation Research Center, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
ABSTRACT- American woodcock population indices indicate breeding numbers have been declining >30 years. Contaminants have been implicated as possible contributors to this decline. A project was initiated fall 2002 to investigate concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb, and Se in pectoral muscle, livers, and kidneys, Pb in woodcock wing-bones, and POPs in abdominal fat pads, thus providing measures of body burden. POPs included 20 congeners of PCBs, DDT and metabolites, chlordanes and metabolites, endrin, dieldrin, aldrin, mirex, and hexachlorobenzenes. During the Connecticut hunting seasons of 2002 and 2003 volunteer hunters, using steel shot, donated 62 and 57 woodcock respectively, for contaminant analysis. Soil and earthworms were collected where birds were harvested both seasons. Metals data are presented as geometric means in dry weight ppm; organics data in wet weight ppm. Mean soil Cd concentrations in 2002 were 2.8 vs. 0.3 in 2003. Corresponding earthworm samples in 2002 mean was 4.3 Cd, in 2003 worms were 6.5. Liver Cd exceeding 3.0ppm dry wt is considered indicative of elevated environmental exposure. In woodcock from 2002, 100% were elevated, with a mean of 10.9 and a range from 4.9 to 37.8. In 2003, mean liver Cd increased to 11.6 with a range of 2.5 to 42.0, 95% elevated. Pb concentrations in soils were 33.7 in 2002 and 27.8 in 2003. Earthworm Pb was 101 in 2002 vs. 172 in 2003. Wing-bone Pb concentrations exceeding 20.0 overall were 33% for 2002 and 48% for 2003. Adults were more likely than juveniles to exceed 20.0, 45% vs. 25% in 2002 and 81% vs. 21% in 2003. In 2002 DDT (including metabolites) had a 98% detection rate, a mean of 8.62ppm and a range from 0 to158ppm. 42% of juveniles and 36% of adults exceeded 1.0ppm. Metals data indicate possible bio-magnification; organics data suggest elevated environmental exposure.
Key words: contaminants, American woodcock , heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants(POPs)