Contaminant Concentrations in Eggs of Double-crested Cormorants and Forster’s Terns from San Francisco Bay: 2002-2012
John R.M. Ross, Jay A. Davis, Philip Trowbridge, Jennifer Sun, Joshua T. Ackerman, Terrence Adelsbach, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, C. Alex Hartman, Mark P. Herzog, David B. Crane, G. Brooks, C. Navaroli, L. Phillips | May 2nd, 2016
The Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (RMP) conducted an Exposure and Effects Pilot Study (EEPS) to monitor contaminant exposure and effects in Bay wildlife. Avian egg monitoring is one tool that was piloted in the EEPS and retained as an element of RMP Status and Trends monitoring. Avian eggs from two species have been monitored: Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus), a sentinel species for the open waters of the Bay, and Forster’s Terns (Sterna forsteri), a sentinel species for shallow-water habitats on the Bay margins, including managed ponds.
Keywords
ecosystem management, monitoring, pollutants, Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, water quality