Abstract
This study was conducted to determine selenium (Se) concentrations in tissues of birds collected during the 1983–1985 nesting seasons at Kesterson Reservoir (an area receiving high-Se irrigation drainage water), compare them with birds from reference sites within California's Central Valley, and relate them to food-chain Se concentrations at the study sites. Within years, Se in livers of adult birds collected early and late in the nesting season changed significantly at both Kesterson and the primary reference site (Volta Wildlife Area). These changes were related to the length of time birds had been present at the study sites and the associated accumulation (at Kesterson) or depuration (at Volta) of Se. All species showed significant location differences, which were greatest in species that occurred at Kesterson throughout the year or fed more consistently within the reservoir. There were few species differences in Se for birds at the reference sites (where food-chain Se levels were “normal” [⩽2 μg/g, dry wt]). At Kesterson (where bird foods generally contained >50 μg Se/g), species patterns varied by year, probably because of varying periods of residence and other factors. Se concentrations in kidneys and livers of American coots (Fulica americana) were significantly correlated (r=0.9845); Se concentrations in breast muscles and livers of juvenile ducks (Anas spp.) also were correlated (r=0.8280). Body weights of adult coots were negatively correlated with liver Se concentration. Lateseason resident breeding birds or pre-fledging juvenile birds reared at a site usually provided the best indication of sitespecific Se bioaccumulation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adrian WJ, Stevens ML (1979) Wet versus dry weights for heavy metal toxicity determinations in duck liver. J Wildl Dis 15:125–126
Alisauskas RT, Ankney CD (1985) Nutrient reserves and the energetics of reproduction in American coots. Auk 102:133–144
Chappell WA, Titman RD (1983) Estimating reserve lipids in greater scaup (Aythya marila) and lesser scaup (A. affinis). Can J Zool 61:35–38
Custer TW, Hill EF, Ohlendorf HM (1985) Effects on wildlife of ethyl and methyl parathion applied to California rice fields. Calif Fish Game 71:220–224
Deason JP (1989) Irrigation-induced contamination: How real a problem? J Irrigat Drainage Engin 115:9–20
Fan AM, Book SA, Neutra RR, Epstein DM (1988) Selenium and human health implications in California's San Joaquin Valley. J Toxicol Environ Health 23:539–559
Furness R, Hutton M (1979) Pollutant levels in the great skuaCatharacta skua. Environ Pollut 19:261–268
Gilmer DS, Miller MR, Bauer RD, LeDonne JR (1982) California's Central Valley wintering waterfowl: Concerns and challenges. Trans N Am Wildl Nat Resour Conf 47:441–452
Goede AA (1985) Mercury, selenium, arsenic and zinc in waders from the Dutch Wadden Sea. Environ Pollut (SerA) 37:287–309
Goede AA, de Bruin M (1985) Selenium in a shore bird, the dunlin, from the Dutch Waddenzee. Mar Pollut Bull 16:115–117
Heinz GH, Hoffman DJ, Gold LG (1988) Toxicity of organic and inorganic selenium to mallard ducklings. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 17:561–568
— (1989) Impaired reproduction of mallards fed an organic form of selenium. J Wild Manage 53:418–428
Heinz GH, Hoffman DJ, Krynitsky AJ, Weller DMG (1987) Reproduction in mallards fed selenium. Environ Toxicol Chem 6:423–433
Heinz GH, Pendleton GW, Krynitsky AJ, Gold LG (1990) Selenium accumulation and elimination in mallards. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 19:374–379
Hoffman DJ, Heinz GH (1988) Embryotoxic and teratogenic effects of selenium in the diet of mallards. J Toxicol Environ Health 24:477–490
Hoffman DJ, Ohlendorf HM, Aldrich TW (1988) Selenium teratogenesis in natural populations of aquatic birds in Central California. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 17:519–525
Hothem RL, Ohlendorf HM (1989) Contaminants in foods of aquatic birds at Kesterson Reservoir, California, 1985. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 18:773–786
Koranda JJ, Stuart M, Thompson S, Conrado C (1979) Biogeochemical studies of wintering waterfowl in the Imperial and Sacramento valleys. Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Report UCID-18288, Univ Calif, Livermore
Moksnes K (1983) Selenium deposition in tissues and eggs of laying hens given surplus of selenium as selenomethionine. Acta Vet Scand 24:34–44
Moxon AL, Poley WE (1938) The relation of selenium content of grains in the ration to the selenium content of poultry carcass and eggs. Poult Sci 17:77–80
Neter J, Wasserman W (1974) Applied linear statistical models. Richard D. Irwin, Inc, Homewood, IL
NRC (1976) Selenium. Committee on medical and biologic effects of environmental pollutants, Assembly of life sciences, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, Washington DC
Ohlendorf HM (1989) Bioaccumulation and effects of selenium in wildlife. In: Jacobs LW (ed) Selenium in agriculture and the environment. SSSA Special Publ No. 23, Amer Soc Agronomy and Soil Sci Soc Amer, Madison, WI, pp 133–177
Ohlendorf HM, Fleming WJ (1988) Birds and environmental contaminants in San Francisco and Chesapeake bays. Mar Pollut Bull 19:487–495
Ohlendorf HM, Hoffman DJ, Saiki MK, Aldrich TW (1986a) Embryonic mortality and abnormalities of aquatic birds: Apparent impacts of selenium from irrigation drainwater. Sci Total Environ 52:49–63
Ohlendorf HM, Hothem RL, Bunck CM, Aldrich TW, Moore JF (1986b) Relationships between selenium concentrations and avian reproduction. Trans N Am Wildl Nat Resour Conf 51:330–342
Ohlendorf HM, Lowe RW, Kelly PR, Harvey TE (1986c) Selenium and heavy metals in San Francisco Bay diving ducks. J Wildl Manage 50:64–71
Ohlendorf HM, Hothem RL, Aldrich TW, Krynitsky AJ (1987) Selenium contamination of the Grasslands, a major California waterfowl area. Sci Total Environ 66:169–183
Ohlendorf HM, Kilness AW, Simmons JL, Stroud RK, Hoffman DJ, Moore JF (1988) Selenium toxicosis in wild aquatic birds. J Toxicol Environ Health 24:67–92
Ohlendorf HM, Marois KC, Lowe RW, Harvey TE, Kelly PR (1989) Environmental contaminants and diving ducks in San Francisco Bay. In: Howard AQ (ed) Selenium and agricultural drainage: Implications for San Francisco Bay and the California environment. The Bay Institute of San Francisco, Sausalito, CA, pp 60–69
Ohlendorf HM, Skorupa JP (in press) Selenium in relation to wildlife and agricultural drainage water. Proc 4th Int Symposium on Uses of Selenium and Tellurium, Banff, Alberta May 7–10, 1989. Selenium-Tellurium Development Assoc, Darien, CT
Ort JF, Latshaw JD (1978) The toxic level of sodium selenite in the diet of laying chickens. J Nutr 108:1114–1120
Saiki MK (1986a) A field example of selenium contamination in an aquatic food chain. In: Symposium on selenium in the environment. Publ No CATI/860201, California Agricultural Technology Institute, California State Univ, Fresno, CA, pp 67–76
— (1986b) Concentrations of selenium in aquatic food-chain organisms and fish exposed to agricultural tile drainage water. In: Howard AQ (ed) Selenium and agricultural drainage: Implications for San Francisco Bay and the California environment. The Bay Institute of San Francisco, Tiburon, CA, pp 25–33
Saiki MK, Lowe TP (1987) Selenium in aquatic organisms from subsurface agricultural drainage water, San Joaquin Valley, California. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 16:657–670
SAS Institute Inc (1982) SAS user's guide: Statistics, 1982 edition. SAS Institute Inc, Cary, NC
Schuler CA (1987) Impacts of agricultural drainwater and contaminants on wetlands at Kesterson Reservoir, California. MS Thesis, Oregon State Univ, Corvallis, 136 pp
Serie JR, Sharp DE (1989) Body weight and composition dynamics of fall migrating canvasbacks. J Wildl Manage 53:431–441
Turner JC, Solly SRB, Mol-Krijnen JCM, Shanks V (1978) Organochlorine, fluorine, and heavy-metal levels in some birds from New Zealand estuaries. New Zealand J Sci 21:99–102
USBR (1986) Final Environmental Impact Statement: Kesterson Program. US Bur Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region, in cooperation with US Fish Wildl Serv and US Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento, CA
White DH, Cromartie E (1985) Bird use and heavy metal accumulation in waterbirds at dredge disposal impoundments, Corpus Christi, Texas. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 34:295–300
White DH, King KA, Mitchell CA, Mulhern BM (1986) Trace elements in sediments, water, and American coots (Fulica americana) at a coal-fired power plant in Texas, 1979–1982. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 36:376–383
White DH, King KA, Prouty RM (1980) Significance of organochlorine and heavy metal residues in wintering shorebirds at Corpus Christi, Texas, 1976-77. Pest Monit J 14:58–63
White JR, Hofmann PS, Hammond D, Baumgartner S (1987) Selenium verifi cation study, 1986: A report to the California State Water Resources Control Board. Calif Dep Fish Game, Sacramento
— (1988) Selenium verification study, 1986–1987: A report to the California State Water Resources Control Board. Calif Dep Fish Game, Sacramento
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ohlendorf, H.M., Hothem, R.L., Bunck, C.M. et al. Bioaccumulation of selenium in birds at Kesterson Reservoir, California. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 19, 495–507 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01059067
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01059067