| | Accession Number | 5001827 |
| | Title | Assessing terrestrial PCB contamination in the Eastern Region using shrews and other |
| | small mammals. |
| | Project Description | The overall goal for the study is to develop a method to assess biotic harm from PCB |
| | contamination in terrestrial habitats, and the strategy is to focus on indicator organisms that are |
| | likely to have relatively high exposure in polluted terrestrial habitats. The project will focus on |
| | shrews because they feed at a high trophic-level hence exposure to PCBs is likely to be high, and |
| | thus effects are likely to be seen most easily in this species. Field investigations consist of |
| | comparing the communities of trappable small mammals (including three shrew species) found on |
| | study plots within a highly polluted area, to the mammals found at a reference plot nearby. For |
| | the more abundant species, population parameters from mark and recapture data will be |
| | compared between the sites. The polluted site is an area surrounding the pump station on a |
| | petroleum pipeline, which has regularly released PCBs in the past. Data on general levels of soil |
| | contamination has been obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. |
| | Along with assaying dead animals for PCB contamination, a laboratory portion of the study will |
| | develop a method to measure P450 induction in live short-tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda) by the |
| | measuring the amount of sleep induced by a standardized dose of pentobarbital. By using this in |
| | vivo technique in our field study, we hope to gather data on exposure without killing the animals, |
| | and reduce the interference with population and community level investigations. |
| | Keywords | community ecology, mammals, parasites, pcbs, peromyscus, population biology, shrews, |
| | Principal | John B French, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center: John_B_French@usgs.gov; |
| | Investigators |
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