Notice of Intent to Award Methylmercury Exposure of Songbirds

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NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD: This funding announcement is not a request for applications. This announcement is to provide public notice of the National Park Service's intention to fund, "The Great Lakes Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit." The purpose of this project entitled, "Methylmercury exposure of songbirds in mercury-sensitive landscapes of Voyageurs National Park," is to provide park managers and the scientific community information on methylmercury in eggs of two passerine birds in VOYA and an assessment of the potential toxicological significance of in ovo exposure to methylmercury on breeding songbirds in the park, and to disseminate information to park visitors and the public on methylmercury exposure of two passerine birds and its potential toxicological significance. This task agreement will implement a three-year study of the effects of methylmercury on songbirds in mercury-sensitive landscapes. Specifically mercury in breeding songbirds inhabiting mercury-methylating environments in VOYA will be sampled and analyzed in two avian species that forage in wetland and aquatic habitats and that are reliable biosentinels of methylmercury bioaccumulation and in ovo exposure. This study will provide the first assessment of mercury in nesting songbirds foraging in mercury-sensitive landscapes in Voyageurs National Park.

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