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?
-
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.
Satellite Tracking of Birds in Alaska Points to Distant Sources of Lead and Mercury Exposure
The following are the data releases from this science team’s research activities.
Mercury concentrations in songbird feathers and tissues
Total Mercury and Methylmercury in Riparian Songbirds and Aquatic Invertebrates from the Willamette Valley, Oregon, 2013-2014
Feather mercury concentrations in North American raptors sampled at migration monitoring stations
Variability of mercury concentrations among whole bird feathers, feather homogenates, and feather components quantified in California in 2017-2018
Polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations in adult walleye from the Fox River (Wisconsin) population, 2014
Fox River walleye mercury isotope data
Annual winter elk movements in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem 2001-2015
Geochemistry of shallow sediment including mercury, methylmercury and other constituents in the Cache Creek Settling Basin, Yolo County, California, 2010-16
Pacific Northwest Avian Scavenger Lead and Mercury Dataset, 2012-2016
Wetland water-management may influence mercury bioaccumulation in songbirds and ducks at a mercury hotspot data release
Mercury speciation and other constituent data from deep sediment cores in Alviso Slough, South San Francisco Bay, California, 2006-16
Polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations and lipid content in riparian spiders at the Ashtabula River Area of Concern, USA
Below are publications associated with this science team.
Host correlates of avian influenza virus infection in wild waterfowl of the Sacramento Valley, California
Mercury exposure of tidal marsh songbirds in the northeastern United States and its association with nest survival
Sustaining transmission in different host species: The emblematic case of Sarcoptes scabiei
Antimicrobial resistance: Wildlife as indicators of anthropogenic environmental contamination across space and through time
Small mammal shooting as a conduit for lead exposure in avian scavengers
Insect-mediated contaminant flux at the land–water interface: Are ecological subsidies driving exposure or is exposure driving subsidies?
Metal accumulation varies with life history, size, and development of larval amphibians
Using tree swallows to assess reductions in PCB exposure as a result of dredging at Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) sites in the Upper Midwest, USA
Cross-ecosystem fluxes of pesticides from prairie wetlands mediated by aquatic insect emergence: Implications for terrestrial insectivores
Differential reliance on aquatic prey subsidies influences mercury exposure in riparian arachnids and songbirds
Demethylation of methylmercury in bird, fish, and earthworm
Foraging in marine habitats increases mercury concentrations in a generalist seabird
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.
Satellite Tracking of Birds in Alaska Points to Distant Sources of Lead and Mercury Exposure
The following are the data releases from this science team’s research activities.
Mercury concentrations in songbird feathers and tissues
Total Mercury and Methylmercury in Riparian Songbirds and Aquatic Invertebrates from the Willamette Valley, Oregon, 2013-2014
Feather mercury concentrations in North American raptors sampled at migration monitoring stations
Variability of mercury concentrations among whole bird feathers, feather homogenates, and feather components quantified in California in 2017-2018
Polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations in adult walleye from the Fox River (Wisconsin) population, 2014
Fox River walleye mercury isotope data
Annual winter elk movements in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem 2001-2015
Geochemistry of shallow sediment including mercury, methylmercury and other constituents in the Cache Creek Settling Basin, Yolo County, California, 2010-16
Pacific Northwest Avian Scavenger Lead and Mercury Dataset, 2012-2016
Wetland water-management may influence mercury bioaccumulation in songbirds and ducks at a mercury hotspot data release
Mercury speciation and other constituent data from deep sediment cores in Alviso Slough, South San Francisco Bay, California, 2006-16
Polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations and lipid content in riparian spiders at the Ashtabula River Area of Concern, USA
Below are publications associated with this science team.