In 1997, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) completed a report entitled "A Strategic Environmental Quality Monitoring Program for Michigan's Surface Waters" (Strategy).  This Strategy describes the monitoring activities that are necessary for a comprehensive assessment of water quality in Michigan 's surface waters.  One component of the Strategy is wildlife contaminant monitoring.

Many persistent contaminants occur in the Great Lakes ecosystem at biologically relevant concentrations, but may not be quantifiable in water using cost- or time-effective techniques.  Concentrations of contaminants in wildlife tissues may be quantified more readily.   Wildlife can serve as a ‘first alert' biological tool to detect changes in environmental quality and the potential for adverse health effects.  Wildlife play an important role in monitoring water quality and ecosystem health and can be used to monitor for spatial and temporal trends in contaminant concentrations.  Specific life stages may be sampled to provide discrete time units for determination of temporal trends.  Specific geographic regions or watersheds may be targeted for the determination of spatial trends.

The wildlife contaminant activities are consistent with existing DEQ programs and activities.  For example, the DEQ uses the existing 5-year basin units defined by the NPDES permitting program, which includes 45 watershed units based on drainage to the four Great Lakes.  Monitoring activities in each watershed include not only wildlife contaminants, but also macroinvertebrate and fish community evaluations, water chemistry, fish contaminants, and sediment chemistry.  Integrating the wildlife contaminant monitoring with the other activities, within the framework of the five-year permitting cycle, will ensure that it is closely linked with other DEQ programs and contributes to resource management decisions.

The specific objectives of the wildlife contaminant monitoring are to:

1.  Determine contaminant levels in piscivorous wildlife.
2.  Assist in the identification of waters that may exceed standards and target additional monitoring activities.
3.  Evaluate the overall effectiveness of DEQ programs in protecting wildlife from toxic contaminants.
4.  Determine whether new chemicals are bioaccumulating in wildlife.

The wildlife contaminant monitoring element currently consists of two components that provide the data necessary to achieve these objectives.  These include:

·         Bald eagles; and

·         Herring gull eggs.

The bald eagle project has been in effect since 1999.  Sample collection and analysis of herring gull eggs will begin in 2002.  Samples from wildlife are analyzed for bioaccumulative contaminants of concern, including mercury, PCBs, and chlorinated pesticides (e.g. DDT/DDE/DDD).  The projects will be reassessed periodically to determine whether samples should be analyzed for additional contaminants of concern.

All wildlife contaminant data will be maintained in a database currently under development.  The bald eagle data are summarized in an annual report written by staff of Clemson University .  Reports summarizing the herring gull data will be available soon.

Related Links

• 2003 Bald Eagle Monitoring Report
• 2002 Bald Eagle Monitoring Report
• 2001 Bald Eagle Monitoring Report
• 2000 Bald Eagle Monitoring Report
• 1999 Bald Eagle Monitoring Report
• Map:  Herring Gull Sampling Locations

For more information about the Wildlife Contaminant program element, contact Dennis Bush at (517) 335-3308 or bushd6@michigan.gov