Ecologically-Driven Exposure Pathways Science Team
The Team Determines Factors That Influence Fish and Wildlife Exposure
to toxicants such as mercury in the environment
Scientists Can Sample Tissues and Blood in Small Birds Without Harm
to understand factors such as maternal transfer of contaminants to offspring
The Team Studies Factors that Influence Exposure Risk in Mammals
such as foraging and fasting behavior in elephant seals
Factors that Influence Pathogen Transmission are Identified
Advanced Techniques are used to Understand Contaminant Sources
The Ecologically-Driven Exposure Pathways Integrated Science Team identifies how ecological pathways and physiological processes within a single organism can alter exposure and toxicity of contaminants and pathogens and seek to understand outcomes at different scales from individuals to populations and ecosystems.
Contaminant and pathogen exposure alone does not necessarily result in adverse health outcomes in fish, wildlife, or humans. There are numerous pathways and processes that can alter the toxicity of naturally occurring and human-made contaminants in the environment.
The team uses their broad scientific expertise in hydrology, geochemistry, biology, and ecotoxicology to understand the complexities associated with the movement of toxicants and pathogens through the environment and within individual organisms. That information is used to determine how, where, and when exposure occurs and if exposure results in health risks to wildlife and humans.
Current Science Questions and Activities
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What are the various ecological factors, such as habitats and foraging strategies, that influence the pathways of contaminant exposure, health risks to fish and wildlife?
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What are the pathways of antimicrobial resistance in the environment?
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What are the major intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of mercury exposure and risk to humans, fish, and wildlife at a global scale?
-
What are the internal physiological determinants such as metababolism, transfer of mercury to offspring, changes in body mass, and molting that influence exposure and health risks in fish and wildlife?
-
How do the internal factors differ among species and life stages?
-
What are the Influences of landscape alterations, perturbations, and restoration on pathways and movement of contaminants through ecosystems and bioaccumulation into the food web of aquatic biota?
-
Do multiple types and chemical mixtures have additive, synergistic, or antagonistic effects that influence the health of fish and wildlife?
-
What are the internal and external drivers and regulators of human exposure to mercury?
- What is the risk of pathogen exposure and transmission among wildlife, livestock, and humans?
-
What are the key environmental factors that control the viability of avian influenza virus shed by wild birds and what are the key environmental pathways of exposure and transmission of the virus?
-
What is the role of soil, water, and vegetation in disease transmission such as Chronic Wasting Disease?
-
How do invasive species influence the timing of contaminant uptake and bioaccumulation in fish and wildlife?
USGS science related to this science team’s activities.
New Method Can Measure Naturally Occurring Element Exposure in Hummingbirds Without Harm
Body Symmetry in Forster's Terns Related to Mercury Exposure
Efficacy of Eggshell Analyses as a Nonlethal Method to Estimate Mercury Exposure in Bird Embryos
New Method Improves Measurement of Bullet Fragments in Culled Varmints
Low Levels of Contaminants Found in Great Lakes Tree Swallow Nestlings
Frequent Fliers—Web-Based Tool Aids in Understanding the Role of Wild Birds in Transmission of Avian Influenza
Organic Contaminant Levels and the Reproductive Success of Ospreys in Chesapeake Bay
Synthesis of Mercury Distribution and Bioaccumulation Across Western North America
Low Levels of Contaminants Found in Great Lakes Tree Swallow Eggs
Winter Eagle Deaths at Great Salt Lake due to West Nile Virus
Human Influenza Virus Infects Sea Otters
Mercury in Fish from 21 National Parks in the West
The following are the data releases from this science team’s research activities.
Mercury source identification in the Mobile and Tombigbee Rivers
Mercury and Methylmercury Stable Isotope Measurements in Giant Petrels
Mercury Concentrations in Western Gulls along the West Coast, USA, 2015-2017
Hair and blood total mercury concentrations in raccoons and striped skunks from Suisun Marsh 2016 to 2019
Mercury Concentrations and Stable Isotopes in Riparian Songbirds and Invertebrates from the Willamette River, Oregon, 2013
Mercury Concentrations and Mercury Isotopes in Salmonid fishes from the Snake River and tributaries in Idaho and Oregon, 2015 and 2019 (ver. 2.0, February 2021)
Trace metals in water and biota in and near headwater streams in the Colorado Mineral Belt
Total Mercury Concentrations in Smallmouth Bass from Chesapeake Bay Tributaries, USA Dataset, 2013-2017
Soil sample locations for chronic wasting disease prion surveillance in Grand Teton National Park and National Elk Refuge 2019
Trask River Watershed Study Area Forestry Bioaccumulation Dataset, 2011-2015
Incubation Constancy, Number of Incubation Recesses, Recess Duration and Mercury Concentrations for Tree Swallows at the Cosumnes River Preserve 2014
Pore water chemistry of wetlands in Interior and Southcentral Alaska, 2015 and 2016
Below are publications associated with this science team.
Exposure and effects of bioaccumulative contaminants of emerging concern in tree swallows nesting across the Laurentian Great Lakes
Mercury contamination and potential health risks to Arctic seabirds and shorebirds
Assessment of mercury in sediments and waters of Grubers Grove Bay, Wisconsin
Methylmercury stable isotopes: New insights on assessing aquatic food web bioaccumulation in legacy impacted regions
Increased mercury and reduced insect diversity in linked stream-riparian food webs downstream of a historical mercury mine
Using carbon, nitrogen, and mercury isotope values to distinguish mercury sources to Alaskan lake trout
Contaminant fluxes across ecosystems mediated by aquatic insects
Genomically diverse carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae from wild birds provide insight into global patterns of spatiotemporal dissemination
Quantitative meta-analysis reveals no association between mercury contamination and body condition in birds
Epidemiological differences between sexes affect management efficacy in simulated chronic wasting disease systems
Use of riparian spiders as sentinels of persistent and bioavailable chemical contaminants in aquatic ecosystems: A review
Examination of the interaction between age-specific predation and chronic disease in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
The Ecologically-Driven Exposure Pathways Integrated Science Team identifies how ecological pathways and physiological processes within a single organism can alter exposure and toxicity of contaminants and pathogens and seek to understand outcomes at different scales from individuals to populations and ecosystems.
Contaminant and pathogen exposure alone does not necessarily result in adverse health outcomes in fish, wildlife, or humans. There are numerous pathways and processes that can alter the toxicity of naturally occurring and human-made contaminants in the environment.
The team uses their broad scientific expertise in hydrology, geochemistry, biology, and ecotoxicology to understand the complexities associated with the movement of toxicants and pathogens through the environment and within individual organisms. That information is used to determine how, where, and when exposure occurs and if exposure results in health risks to wildlife and humans.
Current Science Questions and Activities
-
What are the various ecological factors, such as habitats and foraging strategies, that influence the pathways of contaminant exposure, health risks to fish and wildlife?
-
What are the pathways of antimicrobial resistance in the environment?
-
What are the major intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of mercury exposure and risk to humans, fish, and wildlife at a global scale?
-
What are the internal physiological determinants such as metababolism, transfer of mercury to offspring, changes in body mass, and molting that influence exposure and health risks in fish and wildlife?
-
How do the internal factors differ among species and life stages?
-
What are the Influences of landscape alterations, perturbations, and restoration on pathways and movement of contaminants through ecosystems and bioaccumulation into the food web of aquatic biota?
-
Do multiple types and chemical mixtures have additive, synergistic, or antagonistic effects that influence the health of fish and wildlife?
-
What are the internal and external drivers and regulators of human exposure to mercury?
- What is the risk of pathogen exposure and transmission among wildlife, livestock, and humans?
-
What are the key environmental factors that control the viability of avian influenza virus shed by wild birds and what are the key environmental pathways of exposure and transmission of the virus?
-
What is the role of soil, water, and vegetation in disease transmission such as Chronic Wasting Disease?
-
How do invasive species influence the timing of contaminant uptake and bioaccumulation in fish and wildlife?
USGS science related to this science team’s activities.
New Method Can Measure Naturally Occurring Element Exposure in Hummingbirds Without Harm
Body Symmetry in Forster's Terns Related to Mercury Exposure
Efficacy of Eggshell Analyses as a Nonlethal Method to Estimate Mercury Exposure in Bird Embryos
New Method Improves Measurement of Bullet Fragments in Culled Varmints
Low Levels of Contaminants Found in Great Lakes Tree Swallow Nestlings
Frequent Fliers—Web-Based Tool Aids in Understanding the Role of Wild Birds in Transmission of Avian Influenza
Organic Contaminant Levels and the Reproductive Success of Ospreys in Chesapeake Bay
Synthesis of Mercury Distribution and Bioaccumulation Across Western North America
Low Levels of Contaminants Found in Great Lakes Tree Swallow Eggs
Winter Eagle Deaths at Great Salt Lake due to West Nile Virus
Human Influenza Virus Infects Sea Otters
Mercury in Fish from 21 National Parks in the West
The following are the data releases from this science team’s research activities.
Mercury source identification in the Mobile and Tombigbee Rivers
Mercury and Methylmercury Stable Isotope Measurements in Giant Petrels
Mercury Concentrations in Western Gulls along the West Coast, USA, 2015-2017
Hair and blood total mercury concentrations in raccoons and striped skunks from Suisun Marsh 2016 to 2019
Mercury Concentrations and Stable Isotopes in Riparian Songbirds and Invertebrates from the Willamette River, Oregon, 2013
Mercury Concentrations and Mercury Isotopes in Salmonid fishes from the Snake River and tributaries in Idaho and Oregon, 2015 and 2019 (ver. 2.0, February 2021)
Trace metals in water and biota in and near headwater streams in the Colorado Mineral Belt
Total Mercury Concentrations in Smallmouth Bass from Chesapeake Bay Tributaries, USA Dataset, 2013-2017
Soil sample locations for chronic wasting disease prion surveillance in Grand Teton National Park and National Elk Refuge 2019
Trask River Watershed Study Area Forestry Bioaccumulation Dataset, 2011-2015
Incubation Constancy, Number of Incubation Recesses, Recess Duration and Mercury Concentrations for Tree Swallows at the Cosumnes River Preserve 2014
Pore water chemistry of wetlands in Interior and Southcentral Alaska, 2015 and 2016
Below are publications associated with this science team.