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Mercury in Terrestrial Environments: Patterns of Bioaccumulation and Food
Web Transfer Along a Forested Elevational Gradient

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EPA Grant Number:
FP916937
Title: Mercury in Terrestrial Environments: Patterns of
Bioaccumulation and Food Web Transfer Along a Forested Elevational
Gradient
Investigators: Townsend,
Jason Michael
Institution: SUNY
College of Environmental Science and Forestry
EPA Project
Officer: Just,
Theodore J.
Project Period: September 1, 2008 through August 31,
2011
RFA: STAR
Graduate Fellowships (2008)
Research Category: Academic
Fellowships

Description:
Objective:

The purpose of this research is to understand the extent to which mercury and
its neurotoxic form, methylmercury, is accumulating in the leaf litter and
organisms of terrestrial forests in northeastern North America. The three main
objectives of this research are to: 1) identify the food web pathways of mercury
transfer and bioaccumulation in each of three forest types arrayed along an
elevational gradient: low-elevation deciduous forest, mid-elevation mixed
hardwood-coniferous forest, and high-elevation spruce-fir forest; 2) identify
the degree to which mercury is methylated and therefore biologically available
as a neurotoxin in the leaf-litter of these three focal forest types; 3) in
collaboration with other mercury-focused research teams in the
Northeast, identify broad-scale terrestrial patterns of biotic mercury
accumulation in northeastern North America.

Approach:

This research will focus on three avian species that will serve as
bioindicators of mercury accumulation in each of the three forest types.
Bicknell’s Thrush (Catharus bicknelli), Hermit Thrush (C.
guttatus) and Veery (C. fuscescens) are strictly terrestrial,
insectivorous, song birds. They are similarly sized, are closely related
taxonomically, and their geographic ranges overlap. However, their preferred
breeding habitats in the Northeast are divided along an elevational gradient. By
measuring the three species’ mercury and methylmercury levels within the same
watershed, I will be able to compare relative contamination pressures along this
elevational gradient. In addition, I will initiate novel investigations into the
methylation of leaf litter and into the food web transfer of methylmercury at
each site. My research will focus on the Esopus Creek Watershed in the Catskill
Mountains of New York, a catchment area encompassing 40% of the drinking water
for 9 million people in New York City. This research will also have a strong
collaborative component: currently there are ongoing studies of mercury
accumulation in Catharus populations of Canada and Vermont, and these
will provide valuable data to compare with the findings of this study.

Expected Results:

This study will expand mercury monitoring efforts to terrestrial environments
where the patterns of accumulation are poorly understood, and it will identify
biological hotspots where contamination risk to humans and wildlife is greatest.
This information will help to inform the critical policy debate over the
necessity and magnitude of mercury emissions reductions during the coming
century.

Supplemental Keywords:

Mercury, Methylmercury, Bioindicator, Biomagnification, Bioaccumulation,
Thrushes, Terrestrial Ecology, Upland Forests,

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in
research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts
and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and
may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by
the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.

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Last updated on Friday, September 12,
2008.
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/8881
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