Publications

trace elements in king eiders and common eiders in the canadian arctic.	we determined concentrations of selected trace elements in tissues of king and common eiders at three locations in the canadian arctic. renal and hepatic cadmium concentrations in king eiders at a location in the eastern arctic were among the highest ever recorded in eider ducks: there, they were higher in king eiders than in common eiders. cadmium concentrations were lower in king eiders from the western arctic than in those from the east. in the western arctic, cadmium concentrations did not d ...	2001	11598787
environmental contaminants in four eider species from alaska and arctic russia.	population declines in four species of eider; common (somateria mollissima), king (somateria spectabilis), spectacled (somateria fischeri) and steller's (polysticta stelleri), have raised concerns about exposure to contaminants. livers and kidney tissues were collected from eiders in alaska and russia for organic and elemental analyses. results showed that organochlorine and many elemental levels were below toxic thresholds; however, in many cases, cadmium, copper, lead and serenium appeared hig ...	2002	12152828
cadmium, zinc, copper, arsenic, selenium and mercury in seabirds from the barents sea: levels, inter-specific and geographical differences.	trace elements cd, zn, cu, as, se and hg were analysed in muscle and liver of brünnich's guillemot, common guillemot, puffin, black guillemot, little auk, razorbill, common eider, king eider, glaucous gull, herring gull, black-legged kittiwake, northern fulmar and arctic tern collected in 1991-1992 at the main breeding colonies in the barents sea. the highest levels of the most toxic elements cd and hg were found in birds nesting north of spitsbergen. extremely high levels of as were detected in ...	2003	12699923
concentrations of metals and trace elements in blood of spectacled and king eiders in northern alaska, usa.	in 1996, we measured concentrations of arsenic, barium, cadmium, lead, mercury, and selenium in blood of adult king (somateria spectabilis) and spectacled (somateria fischeri) eiders and duckling spectacled eiders from northern alaska, usa. concentrations of selenium exceeded background levels in all adults sampled and 9 of 12 ducklings. mercury was detected in all adult spectacled eiders and 5 of 12 ducklings. lead concentrations were above the clinical toxicity threshold in one duckling (0.64 ...	2004	14982389
human exposure to contaminants in the traditional greenland diet.	the traditional diet is a significant source of contaminants to people in greenland, although contaminant levels vary widely among species and tissue from very low in many to very high in a few. our study has included cadmium, mercury, selenium, polychlorinated biphenyls (pcb), dichlorophenyltrichloroethane (ddt), chlordane, hexachlorocyclohexanes (hch), chlorobenzenes, dieldrin and toxaphene in the major species and tissues consumed by greenlanders. in general, the levels of these are very low ...	2004	15325149
mercury and selenium in livers of waterfowl harvested in northern canada.	total mercury and selenium were measured in livers of green-winged teal, northern pintails, buffleheads, king eiders, barrow's and common goldeneyes, surf and white-winged scoters collected from 12 sites across northern canada between 1988 and 1994. hepatic mercury concentrations were <1.0 mg x kg(-1) ww in 80% of the birds analyzed. mercury levels did not vary much among species, with green-winged teal, northern pintails, and white-winged scoters, in particular, generally having quite low level ...	2006	16170446
year-to-year correlations in blood metal levels among individuals of two species of north american sea ducks.	sea duck populations have declined in north america. contaminants, especially metals, have been listed as possible contributing factors. sea ducks are long-lived. thus, individuals chronically exposed to elevated metal levels may be at greatest risk. information about long-term exposure (> or =1year) of individuals to metals is absent. to address this information gap, we examined year-to-year correlations among individual white-winged scoters and king eiders in levels of blood cadmium, lead, mer ...	2007	17376567
notes on the food of a king eider.		1910	17834780
survival rates and blood metal concentrations in two species of free-ranging north american sea ducks.	populations of several species of north american sea ducks have declined in the past few decades. exposure to environmental contaminants, particularly metals, has been proposed as one of many possible factors contributing to these declines. population dynamics are influenced by survival rates and breeding effort. in the present study, we examined the relationships between blood metal concentrations (cd, pb, se, and hg) and apparent annual survival and recapture probabilities (the latter as a sur ...	2008	17973562
trace element concentrations in blood of nesting king eiders in the canadian arctic.	the king eider (somateria spectabilis) is a migratory species of sea duck whose north american population is thought to be declining. we determined levels of cadmium, lead, selenium, and mercury in blood from female king eiders nesting in the central canadian arctic from 2001 to 2003. year-to-year repeatability estimates were calculated from birds sampled in 2 or 3 years. repeatability coefficients were 0.45, 0.35, 0.58, and 0.25 for cadmium, lead, selenium, and mercury, respectively. the first ...	2008	18288517
using an algorithmic model to reveal individually variable movement decisions in a wintering sea duck.	1. many migratory birds are assumed to remain fairly stationary during winter. however, recent research indicates that mid-winter movements are evident in a variety of bird species, and the factors causing individuals to move are poorly understood. 2. we examined the winter movements of 95 individual king eiders (somateria spectabilis, l.) tracked with satellite transmitters in the bering sea between 2002 and 2006 to explore whether environmental factors such as day length, location, sea ice, an ...	2009	19191943
king eiders use an income strategy for egg production: a case study for incorporating individual dietary variation into nutrient allocation research.	the use of stored nutrients for reproduction represents an important component of life-history variation. recent studies from several species have used stable isotopes to estimate the reliance on stored body reserves in reproduction. such approaches rely on population-level dietary endpoints to characterize stored reserves ("capital") and current diet ("income"). individual variation in diet choice has so far not been incorporated in such approaches, but is crucial for assessing variation in nut ...	2010	20364389
health evaluation of western arctic king eiders (somateria spectabilis).	the western arctic population of king eiders (somateria spectabilis) has declined by >50% in recent years. a health assessment was conducted for adult king eiders breeding on the north slope of alaska, usa, to evaluate body condition (n=90, 2002-2006) and baseline biochemical and hematologic values (n=20-30, 2005-2006). body condition for males and females was excellent. total protein, calcium, alkaline phosphatase, amylase, and globulin were significantly higher in females than in males, likely ...	2010	20966282
the body size-dependent diet composition of north american sea ducks in winter.	daily food requirements scale with body mass and activity in animals. while small species of birds have higher mass-specific field metabolic rates than larger species, larger species have higher absolute energy costs. under energy balance, we thus expect the small species to have a higher energy value diet. also the weight and time constraints for flighted and diurnal foragers should set a maximum to the amount of prey items taken in one meal and to the daily number of meals, respectively. furth ...	2013	23755266
trace elements in sea ducks of the alaskan arctic coast: patterns of variation among species, sexes, and ages.	climate change and increasing industrialization in the arctic call for the collection of reference data for assessing changes in contaminant levels. for migratory birds, measuring and interpreting changes in trace element burdens on arctic breeding areas require insights into factors such as sex, body size, or wintering area that may modify patterns independently of local exposure. in the alaskan arctic, we determined levels of trace elements in liver and kidney of common eiders (somateria molli ...	2016	27272534