Geographical distribution of contaminants and productivity measures of herring gulls in the Great Lakes: Lake Erie and connecting channels 1978/79

Abstract

The distribution and size of colonies, residue levels of DDE, DDT, HCB, dieldrin, mirex and PCBs in eggs, productivity and eggshell thickness were determined for herring gulls at 14 sites in Lake Erie and connecting channels. The centre of distribution for breeding herring gulls was the Western Basin where approximately 90% of the 6200 nests in the study area were located. Seven of 22 colonies showed an average annual population increase of 48.3%. Most of the increase in breeding herring gulls on Lake Erie is directly associated with sites that have undergone habitat modification by man. Levels of PCBs and DDE ranged from 35 to 140 ppm (wet weight) and from 2.8 to 9.4 ppm, respectively; all other residues were less than 0.49 ppm. Most organochlorine residue levels were highest in eggs from colonies in or near the Niagara or Detroit Rivers. Mirex residues were greatest in the Niagara River and decreased significantly to the west. PCB residues were greatest in the Detroit River and decreased significantly to the east. The lowest levels generally came from colonies in the Sandusky Basin and near Pelee Island in western Lake Erie. Discriminant function analysis of six organochlorine contaminants correctly classified 90% or more of the eggs from up to four colonies in one or more years. Levels of PCBs and HCB appeared to have the greatest discriminating power. Herring gull productivity at all colonies (1-1.7 young gulls/pair) was normal and showed no significant geographical variation. Eggshell thickness was greatest in colonies in the Sandusky Basin and least in colonies in the Detroit River and extreme west end of the lake; mean eggshell thickness was 0.350 +/- 0.02 mm (6.7% thinning), which was weakly, but significantly correlated to DDE concentration. The variation in contaminants in herring gull eggs on a Basin basis (i.e., Western, Eastern, Sandusky, etc.) paralleled those known for sediments, water and fish. Thus, we suggest that in addition to its role as an indicator of lake-wide contamination of the Great Lakes, the herring gull, under some circumstances, may function as an indicator of "regional" contamination. This is an important distinction as it improves the geographical specificity of the herring gull as an indicator species on the Great Lakes, where it is a non-migratory species.