DDE in a Resident Aleutian Island Peregrine Population

Abstract

The chlorinated hydrocarbons, especially DDT and its derivatives, are responsible for some of the perturbations we are witnessing today in bird populations (Anderson et al. 1969; Porter and Wiemeyer 1969; Heath et al. 1969; Enderson and Berger 1970). In an effort to record the cosmopolitan occurrence of these chemical compounds in the world's ecosystems, biologists have sampled in many remote areas. Continued sampling from specific localities suggests that the chlorinated hydrocarbons are indeed accumulating at top trophic levels in food webs, but that concentrations vary greatly from region to region depending on remoteness from areas of major application of these chemicals and on their patterns of dispersal. The scope of the global contamination by the DDT compounds is indicated by the fact that small amounts are found in the Ad6lie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) and the Skua (Catharacta skua) in Antarctica (Tatton and Ruzicka 1967), and by the small amounts in resident Gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus) and the dangerously high amounts in migratory Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) in arctic Alaska (Cade et al. 1971). Because Peregrines are top predators in food webs, preying primarily on birds, they readily accumulate persistent pesticides and are therefore particularly good indicators of the biological magnification of chemicals in an ecosystem. This report presents data on the accumulation of DDE (a major metabolite of DDT) in an essentially resident Peregrine population (White et al. 1971) and their prey, in a relatively remote habitat, Amchitka Island (approx. 510 N and 179' E) in the central North Pacific Ocean. METHODS