Supervisory Research Ecologist
Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Email:
ceagles-smith@usgs.gov
Office Phone:
541-750-0949
ORCID:
0000-0003-1329-5285
Location
Corvallis Research Group CFSL - IAA
3200 S.W. Jefferson Way
Corvallis
, OR
97331
US
Supervisor:
Maureen K Purcell
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San Francisco Bay, California is considered a mercury-impaired watershed. Elevated concentrations of mercury are found in water and sediment as well as fish and estuarine birds. Sources of mercury to the watershed since 1845 include sediment-associated mercury from mercury mining, mercury losses from gold amalgamation activities in mines of the Sierra Nevada, aerial deposition of mercury from global and regional emissions to air, and the direct discharge of mercury to Bay waters associated with the urbanization and industrialization of the estuary. We assessed historical trends in mercury bioaccumulation by measuring mercury concentrations in feathers of the endangered California Ridgway’s rail (formerly California...
Categories: Data;
Tags: California Ridgway's Rail,
Feathers,
Ice Cores,
Lake Tahoe,
Mercury, All tags...
San Francisco Bay,
Sediment,
Structural Equation Model,
USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC),
Wyoming, Fewer tags
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Western North America is a region defined by extreme gradients in geomorphology and climate, which support a diverse array of ecological communities and natural resources. The region also has extreme gradients in mercury (Hg) contamination due to a broad distribution of inorganic Hg sources. These diverse Hg sources and a varied landscape create a unique and complex mosaic of ecological risk from Hg impairment associated with differential methylmercury (MeHg) production and bioaccumulation. Understanding the landscape-scale variation in the magnitude and relative importance of processes associated with Hg transport, methylation, and MeHg bioaccumulation requires a multidisciplinary synthesis that transcends small-scale...
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These data were compiled to study mercury and selenium concentrations in fish species and assemblages in lotic waterbodies across the Upper Colorado River Basin. Data were compiled from State and Federal agencies. This data table contains raw concentration data, as well as standardized concentrations corrected for differences based on sample type (i.e., tissue type), species-specific bioaccumulation rates (Table S1), and fish size (Table S2). The data were used in linear mixed effects models to estimate average mercury and selenium concentration in fish species and in fish assemblages, including fish total length (cm), sampling location (Sub basin name and GPS coordinates), and sampling year (Figures 2,3, and 4...
Categories: Data;
Tags: Arizona,
Colorado,
Colorado Headwaters,
Colorado River,
Dirty Devil River, All tags...
Dolores River,
Great Divide-Upper Green River,
Green River,
Gunnison,
Gunnison River,
Lower Green,
New Mexico,
San Juan,
San Juan River,
USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC),
Upper Colorado River Basin,
Upper Colorado-Dirty Devil,
Upper Colorado-Dolores,
Utah,
White River,
White-Yampa,
Yampa River,
bioaccumulation,
biota,
endangered species,
environment,
fish,
fish samples,
fish tissue,
fishes,
mercury,
mercury,
mercury contamination,
selenium,
selenium,
selenium concentration, Fewer tags
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The widespread distribution of mercury (Hg) threatens wildlife health, particularly piscivorous birds. Western North America is a diverse region that provides critical habitat to many piscivorous bird species, and also has a well-documented history of mercury contamination from legacy mining and atmospheric deposition. The diversity of landscapes in the west limits the distribution of avian piscivore species, complicating broad comparisons across the region. Mercury risk to avian piscivores was evaluated across the western United States and Canada using a suite of avian piscivore species representing a variety of foraging strategies that together occur broadly across the region. Prey fish Hg concentrations were...
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Annual stream loads of mercury (Hg) and inputs of wet and dry atmospheric Hg deposition to the landscape were investigated in watersheds of the Western United States and the Canadian-Alaskan Arctic. Mercury concentration and discharge data from flow gauging stations were used to compute annual mass loads with regression models. Measured wet and modeled dry deposition were compared to annual stream loads to compute ratios of Hg stream load to total Hg atmospheric deposition. Watershed land uses or cover included mining, undeveloped, urbanized, and mixed. Of 27 watersheds that were investigated, 15 had some degree of mining, either of Hg or precious metals (gold or silver), where Hg was used in the amalgamation process....
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