Demographic implications of lead poisoning for eagles across North America

Vincent A. Slabe; James T. Anderson; Brian A. Millsap; Jeffrey L. Cooper; Alan R. Harmata; Marco Restani; Ross H. Crandall; Barbara Bodenstein; Peter H. Bloom; Travis L. Booms; John Buchweitz; Renee C. E. Culver; Kim Dickerson; Robert Domenech; Ernesto Dominguez-Villegas; Daniel Driscoll; Brian W. Smith; Michael J. Lockhart; David McRuer; Tricia A. Miller; Patricia Ortiz; Krysta Rogers; Matt Schwarz; Natalie Turley; Brian Woodbridge; Myra E. Finkelstein; Christian A. Triana; Christopher R. DeSorbo; Todd E. Katzner

doi:10.1126/science.abj3068

Demographic implications of lead poisoning for eagles across North America

Science

By: Vincent A. Slabe, James T. Anderson, Brian A. Millsap, Jeffrey L. Cooper, Alan R. Harmata, Marco Restani, Ross H. Crandall, Barbara Bodenstein, Peter H. Bloom, Travis L. Booms, John Buchweitz, Renee C. E. Culver, Kim Dickerson, Robert Domenech, Ernesto Dominguez-Villegas, Daniel Driscoll, Brian W. Smith, Michael J. Lockhart, David McRuer, Tricia A. Miller, Patricia Ortiz, Krysta Rogers, Matt Schwarz, Natalie Turley, Brian Woodbridge, Myra E. Finkelstein, Christian A. Triana, Christopher R. DeSorbo, and Todd E. Katzner

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj3068

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More information: Publisher Index Page (via DOI)
Data Release: USGS data release Lead (Pb) in Bald and Golden Eagles from 38 United States, USA, 2010-2018
Open Access Version: Publisher Index Page
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Abstract

Lead poisoning occurs worldwide in populations of predatory birds, but exposure rates and population impacts are known only from regional studies. We evaluated the lead exposure of 1210 bald and golden eagles from 38 US states across North America, including 620 live eagles. We detected unexpectedly high frequencies of lead poisoning of eagles, both chronic (46 to 47% of bald and golden eagles, as measured in bone) and acute (27 to 33% of bald eagles and 7 to 35% of golden eagles, as measured in liver, blood, and feathers). Frequency of lead poisoning was influenced by age and, for bald eagles, by region and season. Continent-wide demographic modeling suggests that poisoning at this level suppresses population growth rates for bald eagles by 3.8% (95% confidence interval: 2.5%, 5.4%) and for golden eagles by 0.8% (0.7%, 0.9%). Lead poisoning is an underappreciated but important constraint on continent-wide populations of these iconic protected species.

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Additional publication details
Publication type	Article
Publication Subtype	Journal Article
Title	Demographic implications of lead poisoning for eagles across North America
Series title	Science
DOI	10.1126/science.abj3068
Volume	375
Issue	6582
Year Published	2022
Language	English
Publisher	AAAS
Contributing office(s)	Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, National Wildlife Health Center
Description	4 p.
First page	779
Last page	782
Country	United States
Google Analytic Metrics	Metrics page