Mercury contamination and effects on survival of American avocet and black-necked stilt chicks in San Francisco Bay.

摘要: We evaluated whether mercury influenced survival of free-ranging American avocet (Recurvirostra americana) and black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) chicks in San Francisco Bay, California. Using radio telemetry, we radio-marked 158 79 at hatching tracked them daily until their fate was determined. did not find strong support for an influence ovo exposure on chick survival, despite observing a wide range concentrations down feathers (0.40–44.31 μg g−1 fw). estimated that rates were reduced by ≤3% over the observed during 28-day period from to fledging. also salvaged newly-hatched found dead routine nest monitoring. In contrast telemetry results, higher than those randomly-sampled live similar age. However, capture site most important variable influencing concentrations, followed year, species, date. Although laboratory studies have demonstrated negative effects environmentally relevant our results concur with small number previous field been able detect wild.