Reproductive outcomes in colonial fish-eating birds: A biomarker for developmental toxicants in Great Lakes food chains: I. Historical and ecotoxicological perspectives

Glen Fox; D. V. Weseloh; Timothy J. Kubiak; Thomas C. Erdman

doi:10.1016/s0380-1330(91)71352-x

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Reproductive outcomes in colonial fish-eating birds: A biomarker for developmental toxicants in Great Lakes food chains: I. Historical and ecotoxicological perspectives

Glen Fox·D. V. Weseloh·Timothy J. Kubiak·Thomas C. Erdman

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Abstract

Colonial fish-eating birds have been used as convenient model populations in which to study the impact of chronic exposure to complex mixtures of persistent lipophilic environmental contaminants within the Great Lakes ecosystem. To date, published reports of contaminant-induced adverse reproductive outcomes exist for six species. We briefly review the studies of the herring gull ( Larus argentatu s), Forster's tern ( Sterna forsteri ), and the double-crested cormorant ( Phalacrocorax auritus ) to illustrate the use of reproductive outcomes in fish-eating birds as a biomarkerfor developmental toxicants in Great Lakes food chains. We discuss the management implications of using various species for such purposes. We recommend that cormorants be used more extensively in biomonitoring programs to measure exposure and effects of polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons and other contaminants in aquatic food chains in the Great Lakes.

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Journal of Great Lakes Research Article

Source-reported bounding extent: 41.376808565702355° to 48.98742700601184° latitude; -92.16430664062499° to -75.9814453125° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

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Glen Fox, D. V. Weseloh, Timothy J. Kubiak, Thomas C. Erdman. 1991. Reproductive outcomes in colonial fish-eating birds: A biomarker for developmental toxicants in Great Lakes food chains: I. Historical and ecotoxicological perspectives. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0380-1330(91)71352-x

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