Metal Levels in Blood of Three Species of Shorebirds during Stopover on Delaware Bay Reflect Levels in Their Food, Horseshoe Crab Eggs
Understanding the relationship between metal level in predators and their prey is an important issue, and is usually difficult to determine because animals eat a variety of organisms. However, shorebirds that stop over during spring migration along Delaware Bay (New Jersey) stay for only 2–3 weeks,...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics5030020 https://doaj.org/article/470a4b17c2b4457fbee72e9b9d1b2810 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:470a4b17c2b4457fbee72e9b9d1b2810 2023-05-15T15:48:10+02:00 Metal Levels in Blood of Three Species of Shorebirds during Stopover on Delaware Bay Reflect Levels in Their Food, Horseshoe Crab Eggs Joanna Burger Nellie Tsipoura Michael Gochfeld 2017-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics5030020 https://doaj.org/article/470a4b17c2b4457fbee72e9b9d1b2810 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/5/3/20 https://doaj.org/toc/2305-6304 2305-6304 doi:10.3390/toxics5030020 https://doaj.org/article/470a4b17c2b4457fbee72e9b9d1b2810 Toxics, Vol 5, Iss 3, p 20 (2017) arsenic cadmium chromium lead mercury shorebirds red knot sanderling sempalmated sandpiper blood feathers horseshoe crab eggs Limulus polyphemus Chemical technology TP1-1185 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics5030020 2022-12-31T13:02:27Z Understanding the relationship between metal level in predators and their prey is an important issue, and is usually difficult to determine because animals eat a variety of organisms. However, shorebirds that stop over during spring migration along Delaware Bay (New Jersey) stay for only 2–3 weeks, and eat mainly horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) eggs. In this paper, we examine the relationship between metal levels in horseshoe crab eggs, and blood and feather levels of metals in red knot (Calidris canutus rufa; n = 30), sanderling (Calidris alba; n = 20) and semipalmated sandpiper (Calidris pusilla; n = 38) from Delaware Bay. There is a rich literature on metal levels in feathers. For all three species, the levels of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and mercury in blood were highly correlated with the levels of metals in the eggs of horseshoe crab (17 pooled samples). This indicates that the levels in the blood of these shorebirds quickly reflect levels in their prey (horseshoe crab eggs), while metals in the feathers were not correlated with the levels in eggs. Semipalmated sandpipers had the lowest levels of arsenic in blood and the highest levels of arsenic in feathers, compared to the other species. At Delaware Bay, semipalmated sandpipers have a diet higher in marsh invertebrates than the other species, which may account for the differences. The levels of cadmium and chromium in blood were significantly higher in knots than other species; knots only ate horseshoe crab eggs. For all of the metals except arsenic, the ratio of levels in blood/feathers was similar among species. For arsenic, the ratio of levels in blood/feathers were significantly lower in semipalmated sandpipers than in the other species, by an order of magnitude. Article in Journal/Newspaper Calidris alba Calidris canutus Red Knot Sanderling Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Toxics 5 3 20 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
arsenic cadmium chromium lead mercury shorebirds red knot sanderling sempalmated sandpiper blood feathers horseshoe crab eggs Limulus polyphemus Chemical technology TP1-1185 |
spellingShingle |
arsenic cadmium chromium lead mercury shorebirds red knot sanderling sempalmated sandpiper blood feathers horseshoe crab eggs Limulus polyphemus Chemical technology TP1-1185 Joanna Burger Nellie Tsipoura Michael Gochfeld Metal Levels in Blood of Three Species of Shorebirds during Stopover on Delaware Bay Reflect Levels in Their Food, Horseshoe Crab Eggs |
topic_facet |
arsenic cadmium chromium lead mercury shorebirds red knot sanderling sempalmated sandpiper blood feathers horseshoe crab eggs Limulus polyphemus Chemical technology TP1-1185 |
description |
Understanding the relationship between metal level in predators and their prey is an important issue, and is usually difficult to determine because animals eat a variety of organisms. However, shorebirds that stop over during spring migration along Delaware Bay (New Jersey) stay for only 2–3 weeks, and eat mainly horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) eggs. In this paper, we examine the relationship between metal levels in horseshoe crab eggs, and blood and feather levels of metals in red knot (Calidris canutus rufa; n = 30), sanderling (Calidris alba; n = 20) and semipalmated sandpiper (Calidris pusilla; n = 38) from Delaware Bay. There is a rich literature on metal levels in feathers. For all three species, the levels of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and mercury in blood were highly correlated with the levels of metals in the eggs of horseshoe crab (17 pooled samples). This indicates that the levels in the blood of these shorebirds quickly reflect levels in their prey (horseshoe crab eggs), while metals in the feathers were not correlated with the levels in eggs. Semipalmated sandpipers had the lowest levels of arsenic in blood and the highest levels of arsenic in feathers, compared to the other species. At Delaware Bay, semipalmated sandpipers have a diet higher in marsh invertebrates than the other species, which may account for the differences. The levels of cadmium and chromium in blood were significantly higher in knots than other species; knots only ate horseshoe crab eggs. For all of the metals except arsenic, the ratio of levels in blood/feathers was similar among species. For arsenic, the ratio of levels in blood/feathers were significantly lower in semipalmated sandpipers than in the other species, by an order of magnitude. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Joanna Burger Nellie Tsipoura Michael Gochfeld |
author_facet |
Joanna Burger Nellie Tsipoura Michael Gochfeld |
author_sort |
Joanna Burger |
title |
Metal Levels in Blood of Three Species of Shorebirds during Stopover on Delaware Bay Reflect Levels in Their Food, Horseshoe Crab Eggs |
title_short |
Metal Levels in Blood of Three Species of Shorebirds during Stopover on Delaware Bay Reflect Levels in Their Food, Horseshoe Crab Eggs |
title_full |
Metal Levels in Blood of Three Species of Shorebirds during Stopover on Delaware Bay Reflect Levels in Their Food, Horseshoe Crab Eggs |
title_fullStr |
Metal Levels in Blood of Three Species of Shorebirds during Stopover on Delaware Bay Reflect Levels in Their Food, Horseshoe Crab Eggs |
title_full_unstemmed |
Metal Levels in Blood of Three Species of Shorebirds during Stopover on Delaware Bay Reflect Levels in Their Food, Horseshoe Crab Eggs |
title_sort |
metal levels in blood of three species of shorebirds during stopover on delaware bay reflect levels in their food, horseshoe crab eggs |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics5030020 https://doaj.org/article/470a4b17c2b4457fbee72e9b9d1b2810 |
genre |
Calidris alba Calidris canutus Red Knot Sanderling |
genre_facet |
Calidris alba Calidris canutus Red Knot Sanderling |
op_source |
Toxics, Vol 5, Iss 3, p 20 (2017) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/5/3/20 https://doaj.org/toc/2305-6304 2305-6304 doi:10.3390/toxics5030020 https://doaj.org/article/470a4b17c2b4457fbee72e9b9d1b2810 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics5030020 |
container_title |
Toxics |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
20 |
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1766383167236734976 |