BIOLOGICAL AND ECOTOXICOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF TERRESTRIAL VERTEBRATE
SPECIES RESIDING IN ESTUARIES
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The Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends (BEST) program is designed to assess and monitor the effects of environmental contaminants on biological resources, particularly those under the stewardship of the Department of the Interior. BEST examines contaminant issues at national, regional, and local scales, and uses field monitoring techniques and information assessment tools tailored to each scale. As part of this program, the threat of contaminants and other anthropogenic activities to terrestrial vertebrates residing in or near to Atlantic coast estuarine ecosystems is being evaluated by data synthesis and field activities. One of the objectives of this project is to evaluate the relative sensitivity and suitability of various wildlife species for regional contaminant monitoring of estuaries and ecological risk assessment.
Biomonitoring Environmental Contamination with Terrestrial Vertebrates
Living organisms have long been used to monitor environmental contamination. The value of biota in monitoring programs is often related to their characteristic of integrating contaminant exposure and effects over time and space. In addition, deleterious contaminant effects may be of concern in some species because they are a highly valued natural resource (e.g., a National Symbol - American Eagle; Prized Game - Black Duck; Treasured Species for Bird Watchers - Great Blue Heron).
Species Characterizations
Written summaries of biological characteristics, and contaminant exposure and effects data have been undertaken for terrestrial vertebrates residing in estuaries. Species were selected arbitrarily, based principally on the belief that they are valued natural resources. The purposes of this undertaking are at least twofold. First, as a handy reference guide, these species characterizations will assist biologists that routinely evaluate environmental contaminant issues. For example, upon receipt of results from a monitoring study, a natural resource manager might ask, "What is the biological significance of 1 ug/g PCB in the heron egg, and how does this value compare to concentrations historically reported in this species?". Information in our species characterizations would help address such questions. Secondly, the species characterizations are being used as a "base data set" to qualitatively and quantitatively rank the relative suitability and sensitivity of various species for their utility in regional biomonitoring of estuaries and wetlands (e.g., waterfowl for lead poisoning; herons for pesticides used in mosquito abatement programs; top level predatory birds for DDT; furbearers for PCBs). The characterizations range from 3 to 46 pages in length, and were compiled from over 700 references obtained from a computerized literature searches of Fish and Wildlife Reviews, BIOSIS, AGRICOLA, Biological Abstracts, TOXLINE and Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts. We believe this information will be of interest to natural resource managers and scientists in the field of ecotoxicology. An outline for these species characterizations follows:
| Species | Scientific nomenclature, common name, and physical description (length: tip of bill or snout to end of tail; mass: grams or kilograms). |
| Status in Estuaries | Phase of life cycle spent in the estuary (resident, migrant, breeder). Degree of development of birds at hatching is defined as precocial (mobile at birth, follow parents and feed themselves), semiprecocial (capable of mobility but remain at nest and are fed by parents), or altricial (immobile and fed by parents). |
| Abundance and Range | Population estimates and range along the Atlantic Coast of North America. |
| Site Fidelity | Qualitative description of the likelihood that an individual annually returns to same location, based upon availability from the literature. |
| Ease of Census | "Simple", if conspicuous, a colonial nester, and nesting locations are in accessible areas. "Moderate", if species exhibits at least one of the characteristics listed under "simple". "Difficult", if species exhibits none of the characteristics listed under "simple". Qualitative information is given when available. |
| Feeding Habits | Description of diet and foraging behavior. |
