| prey fish returned to forster's tern colonies suggest spatial and temporal differences in fish composition and availability. | predators sample the available prey community when foraging; thus, changes in the environment may be reflected by changes in predator diet and foraging preferences. we examined forster's tern (sterna forsteri) prey species over an 11-year period by sampling approximately 10,000 prey fish returned to 17 breeding colonies in south san francisco bay, california. we compared the species composition among repeatedly-sampled colonies (≥ 4 years), using both relative species abundance and the compositi ... | 2018 | 29543811 |
| mercury bioaccumulation in estuarine wetland fishes: evaluating habitats and risk to coastal wildlife. | estuaries are globally important areas for methylmercury bioaccumulation because of high methylmercury production rates and use by fish and wildlife. we measured total mercury (thg) concentrations in ten fish species from 32 wetland and open bay sites in san francisco bay estuary (2005-2008). fish thg concentrations (μg/g dry weight ± standard error) differed by up to 7.4× among estuary habitats. concentrations were lowest in open bay (0.17 ± 0.02) and tidal wetlands (0.42 ± 0.02), and highest i ... | 2014 | 25019587 |
| predictors of mercury spatial patterns in san francisco bay forage fish. | pollution reduction efforts should be targeted toward those sources that result in the highest bioaccumulation. for mercury (hg) in estuaries and other complex water bodies, carefully designed biosentinel monitoring programs can help identify predictors of bioaccumulation and inform management priorities for source reduction. this study employed a probabilistic forage fish hg survey with hypothesis testing in san francisco bay (california, usa). the goal was to determine what pollution sources, ... | 2013 | 23893557 |
| seasonal and annual trends in forage fish mercury concentrations, san francisco bay. | san francisco bay is contaminated by mercury (hg) due to historic and ongoing sources, and has elevated hg concentrations throughout the aquatic food web. we monitored hg in forage fish to indicate seasonal and interannual variations and trends. interannual variation and long-term trends were determined by monitoring hg bioaccumulation during september-november, for topsmelt (atherinops affinis) and mississippi silverside (menidia audens) at six sites, over six years (2005 to 2010). seasonal var ... | 2013 | 23314313 |
| polychlorinated biphenyl spatial patterns in san francisco bay forage fish. | industrialized waterways frequently contain nearshore hotspots of legacy polychlorinated biphenyl (pcb) contamination, with uncertain contribution to aquatic food web contamination. we evaluated the utility of estuarine forage fish as biosentinel indicators of local pcb contamination across multiple nearshore sites in san francisco bay. topsmelt (atherinops affinis) or mississippi silverside (menidia audens) contamination was compared between 12 targeted sites near historically polluted location ... | 2013 | 23123115 |