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Cadmium toxicity among wildlife in the Colorado Rocky Mountains

Nature volume 406, pages 181–183 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

Cadmium is known to be both extremely toxic and ubiquitous in natural environments. It occurs in almost all soils, surface waters and plants1,2,3, and it is readily mobilized by human activities such as mining4. As a result, cadmium has been named as a potential health threat to wildlife species5; however, because it exists most commonly in the environment as a trace constituent, reported incidences of cadmium toxicity are rare. Here we have measured trace metals in the food web and tissues of white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucurus) in Colorado. Our results suggest that cadmium toxicity may be more common among natural populations of vertebrates than has been appreciated to date and that cadmium toxicity may often go undetected or unrecognized. In addition, our research shows that ingestion of even trace quantities of cadmium can influence not only the physiology and health of individual organisms, but also the demographics and the distribution of species.

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Figure 1
Figure 2: Kidney cadmium accumulations in Colorado white-tailed ptarmigan of known age. (Toxic threshold taken from ref.
Figure 3: Kidney cadmium and liver cadmium are correlated in two populations of white-tailed ptarmigan.
Figure 4

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the National Geographic Society, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the American Museum of Natural History (Chapman Memorial Fund), the American Ornithologists’ Union, Sigma Xi, Cornell University, and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Multi-metal analyses were done at the UC Davis Veterinary Diagnostics Laboratory, the US Geological Survey, Denver Center, and the Cornell University School of Agriculture and Life Sciences. We thank C. E. Braun, W. Taylor and L. Woods for assistance.

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Author notes

  1. J. G. Crock

    Present address: US Geological Survey, Mail Stop 973, Denver Federal Center, Denver, 80225 , Colarado, USA

  2. James R. Larison

    Present address: 138 Strand Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, 97331, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, 14853, New York, USA

    James R. Larison

  2. Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, 12545, New York, USA

    Gene E. Likens

  3. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology , Ithaca, 14850, New York, USA

    John W. Fitzpatrick

  4. US Geological Survey, Mail Stop 973, Denver Federal Center, Denver, 80225 , Colarado, USA

    James R. Larison

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  1. James R. Larison
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  4. J. G. Crock
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Correspondence to James R. Larison.

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Larison, J., Likens, G., Fitzpatrick, J. et al. Cadmium toxicity among wildlife in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Nature 406, 181–183 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35018068

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