Reproductive outcomes in colonial fish-eating birds: A biomarker for developmental toxicants in Great Lakes food chains. I. Historical and ecotoxicological perspectives

Colonial fish-eating birds have been used as convenient model populations in which to study the impact of chronic exposure to complex mixtures of persistent lipophilic environmental contaminants within the Great Lakes ecosystem. To date, published reports of contaminant-induced adverse reproductive outcomes exist for six species. We briefly review the studies of the herring gull (Larus argentatus ), Forster's tern (Sterna forsteri ), and the double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus ) to illustrate the use of reproductive outcomes in fish-eating birds as a biomarker for developmental toxicants in Great Lakes food chains. We discuss the management implications of using various species for such purposes. We recommended that cormorants be used more extensively in biomonitoring programs to measure exposure and effects of polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons and other contaminants in aquatic food chains in the Great Lakes.