Birds as Indicators of the World Around Us: Case Study on Mercury
David Evers, Biodiversity Research Institute
Birds are exceptional indicators of the natural environment surrounding us. The quintessential concept
of the “Canary in the Coal Mine” is still as relevant today for alerting us to dangers as it was in the days
before instruments could measure methane or carbon monoxide levels in mine shafts. The dangers
today often have broad origins, occur as “multiple stressors”, and have increasing socio-economic
complexities that create great challenges for policy-making. One example of an environmental stressor
having ramifications for both ecological and human health is mercury. Mercury is a natural element that
has unique properties for a metal, such as occurring in a liquid form at ambient temperatures. Because
of its many uses, it is being mined, used, and redistributed into the environment at rates that Nature
never intended. The major drawback of mercury, however, is that it becomes very toxic in the
environment when converted by bacteria to an organic form called methylmercury. This form of
mercury can biomagnify through the food web and bioaccumulate within an individual animal over time,
causing neurological and physiological impacts. These impacts can quickly threaten the health,
reproduction and even survival of birds and other wildlife. People are not excluded from the toxic
impact of mercury; exposure occurs through consumption of fish or inhalation during gold mining
activities at levels that can be quite unhealthy.
As indicators of ecological health, birds can help us understand the potential adverse impacts of
methylmercury and better define conservation strategies. As indicators of human health, healthy bird
populations can be related to clean air and water. Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) is a nonprofit,
research organization dedicated to “assess emerging threats to wildlife and ecosystems through
collaborative research, and to use scientific findings to advance environmental awareness and inform
decision makers”. In the case of mercury pollution, BRI is fully engaged in this mission by collecting new
scientific information from field studies (with an emphasis on birds), relaying that information through
scientific publications and lay reports, and engaging with decision-makers at the national and
international stage. Through this presentation, I will detail early studies with Common Loons in the
Great Lakes Region that lead to loons becoming a national indicator of mercury, how those early studies
served as a beginning for BRI, and how after 20 years of wildlife research and conservation, BRI is now
the lead coordinating organization for designing and operating a biotic mercury monitoring program
with the United Nations Environment Programme for its recently accepted Global Mercury Treaty.