Elevated mercury concentrations in failed eggs of Snowy Plovers at Point Reyes National Seashore
Schwarzbach SE, Stephenson M, Ruhlen T, Abbott S, Page GW, Adams D. 2005. Elevated mercury concentrations in failed eggs of Snowy Plovers at Point Reyes National Seashore. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 50:1444-1447
We monitored Snowy Plover nests and their young on Point Reyes Beach and Limantour Spit at Point Reyes National Seashore during the 1999 and 2000 breeding seasons in an effort to quantify the impacts of predation and human disturbance on chick loss and to evaluate the success of enclosures designed to protect nesting plovers. Eggs that failed to hatch were opportunistically collected for eventual determination of Hg concentration. We report here on elevated Hg concentrations found in the plover eggs at Point Reyes Beach from the 2000 field season, and discuss the potential toxicological significance of the observed Hg concentrations to embryo and chick survival as well as possible sources of Hg to Snowy Plovers at Point Reyes Beach.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Schwarzbach, Steven; Stephenson, Mark; Ruhlen, Tamiko; Abbott, Sue; Page, Gary; Adams, Dawn
- Units
- PORE
- Keywords
- Mercury, Western Snowy Plover