ScienceScope: Mercury Rising
April 17, 2013Leaves are unfurling, insects are starting to emerge, and our summer birds are flocking back to North America. But they may be carrying a toxic cargo from their tropical wintering grounds, according to an unexpected finding by researchers from the Cornell Lab, Vermont Center for Ecostudies, and Syracuse University. Read more at Living Bird magazine »
Vermont Center for Ecostudies Discovers Toxic Mercury in Caribbean Songbirds
April 13, 2013A VCE-led research team detected elevated levels of mercury in the bloodstreams of nine forest bird species on the island of Hispaniola, the first such evidence of mercury in Caribbean land birds. Although the study did not identify sources of the mercury, VCE’s findings support growing evidence that the toxin is more pervasive than scientists once believed. “We’ve now established mercury as a potential danger to tropical landbirds,” said Chris Rimmer, VCE’s executive director and leader of the research team, which published its finding in the journal Ecotoxicology. “And we believe that the danger, at least in part, originates in industrialized nations far from the Caribbean.” Read more at Repeating Islands »
