Application of a Spatially Explicit Bioaccumulation Model for Sport Fish in the Detroit River AOC

Session: 07. - Effects of Environmental Contamination on Fish Communities

Jingyuan Li, University of Windsor Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER), [email protected]
Ken Drouillard, University of Windsor, Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, [email protected]
Alice Grgicak-Mannion, University of Windsor, [email protected]
Jason Demers, University of Michigan, Earth and Environmental Science, [email protected]

Abstract

Despite being banned for more than 40 years, Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are still predominant contributors to fish consumption advisories in the Great Lakes. This study applied and validated a bioenergetic-based, steady state food web bioaccumulation model to predict PCB exposures in sport fish species from the Detroit River, a Great Lakes Area of Concern (AOC). The model was initially calibrated to paired benthos and sediment samples taken from the river to ensure realistic predictions at the base of the food web in the study area. Following calibration, the model was validated against an extensive fish contamination database. Multiple simulations were performed and compared against the validation dataset across simulations applied to different spatial scales (river scale, 2 zones, 4 zones and 6 zones) to uncover how species specific movements contribute to variation in fish exposures. Simulation contrasts demonstrate that 2 and 4 zone models provided more accurate prediction of fish contamination than the other scale models.  However, the improvements were not equally observed for all species.  Deviations in model performance for individual fish species are contrasted against their literature derived ecological profiles and physiological attributes to uncover drivers of between sample variation and PCB exposure risk in the system.

1. Keyword
bioaccumulation

2. Keyword
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)

3. Keyword
PCBs