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<br />17. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />c: (u;il) <br /> <br />tratioDa of ..1.aiuI ar. pr...at in <br />aquatic ....iro_u (tellly aDd Saith, <br />US7). Dead.1Id d.forMCI organil.. do <br />aot per.ilt ia tbl .avirODalat II they <br />ar. food lourc.. for aaay leav.nger.. <br />Benc., oba.rvaUon of .ick or defomed <br />iadividuI1I r.quir.. a conc.atrated <br />.ffort for d.t.ction. In vat.rbird., <br />Al.~._itl.. typically involve .i..ing <br />.y.., curl.d lov.r b.ak., .bortea.d <br />l.g. oft.n vith no clav., and .x.nce- <br />pbaly (lnC01lPl.t.ly foraed braincaHI. <br />Th... t~'of ..for.iti.. v.r. .110- <br />ciated-witb IIlea1ua CODCIDtrltion.-ar <br />19-130 .icrogr... par gra. (ug/g dTy <br />.eight) ia livers of birds fro. Ke- <br />.t.r.oa RWR (Ohl.ndorf and others, <br />1986). Conc.ntrations of s.l.nium in <br />the drain vat.r which enters Kelterson <br />RWR frol 85,000 .cres ranged from 140 <br />to 1,400 ug/L (Pr....r and Ohl.ndorf. <br />1987). <br />A large nu.ber of species of <br />vaterbird. have been collected from <br />the middle Green River ar.a during the <br />pr..eat .tudy but not all species are <br />present at all sites. It is, there- <br />fore, difficult to compare tissue data <br />from different species among sites. <br />In addition. most birds are very <br />mobile when feeding. utilizing both <br />contaminated and non-contaminated <br />sites. American coots ('ulica aaeri- <br />eana), while not important game birds. <br />are somewhat ubiquitous. not very <br />mobile, and are useful indieators of <br />contamination at most sites. Summary <br />data for coneentrations of selenium in <br />coot livers from the middle Green <br />River area are shown in figure 6. <br />Deformed eoot eabryos and eggs con- <br />taining selenium concentrations rang- <br />ing from 63 to 120 ug/g dry weight <br />(6.5 to 15 ug/g wet weight) have been <br />found in a section of Ouray NWR. <br />Studies done on mallard ducks (Anas <br />platgrbgneboo) by Heinz and others <br />H987, 1988) sbowed that reprOductive <br />impairment may be possible when wet- <br />weight eoneentrations of selenium in <br />I9gs exceeds 1 ug/g. At 5 ug/g, <br />impairment wa. much more likely to <br />oCcur. <br /> <br />Sel.aiu. can cau.e .ubltantial <br />.art.lity of fi.b I9g. aDd d.for.itie. <br />and direct aort.lity of juvenile. and <br />adultl. At .ubleth.l concentrationl, <br />adver.. .ffect. .ay slovly r..ove <br />upp.r trophie-lev.l fi.h (pr.dators) <br />froa tbe lye tea. A .u...ry of ..l...i- <br />ua concentr.tion. in fi.b eollected <br />frol .ite. in the middle Gr..n River <br />.re. is .hovn in figure 7. <br />Pish .a.ple. fro. the middle <br />Gre.n River gen.r.lly con.i.t.d of a <br />co.po.ite of five vbole fi.b p.r <br />...ple. .nd repre..nted .speci.. of <br />carp (Cgprinis carpio), black bull- <br />he.ds (Ietalurus aelas), suek.rs <br />(Catostoaus spp.), ehannel eatfish <br />(Ietalurus pUlletatus) and green sun- <br />filh (Lepoais eganellus). Pish saa- <br />ples frol Stewart Lake WMA and Ouray <br />NWR were coaposed prim.rily of carp, <br />blaek bullheads, catfish, and very fe.. <br />green sunfish, a predatory speeies <br />occupying a niche similar to blue- <br />gills. <br />Gillespie and Baumann (1986) <br />reported that populations of bluegills <br />(LellOJllis aacroebirus) disappeared from <br />ponds receiving fly ash containing <br />large concentrations of selenium. <br />Female bluegills produeed larvae witb <br />abnormalities vhen the whole-body <br />burden of selenium reacbed 25 ug/g <br />(dry weight). Lealy (1985) found that <br />contaaination of a power-plant reser- <br />voir hy selenium in fly ash. whieh <br />averaged 10 ug/L, eliminated 16 of 20 <br />speeies of fish present prior to <br />contamination of the water. Of the <br />four remaining species, two were <br />rendered sterile, but persisted as <br />adults. and one was eliminated but <br />managed to recolonize as sterile <br />adults froa another reservoir. Only <br />carp, blaek bullheads, and mosquito- <br />fish were present throughout the <br />study. <br />~he only wildlife samples col~ <br />lected froa 1986 to 1988 in the middle <br />Green River area (Brovns Park WMA to <br />Desert Lake WMA) whieh bad se~enium <br />centaaination and .howed d.formities <br />were froa St....rt Lake liMA end a s..ll <br />part of Ouray NWR. Dowever, data for <br />