Geographic variation of metal concentrations in wolverine of western North America

Through collaborations with a network of territorial government biologists, existing sample collections from carcass retrieval programs administered by territorial governments were analyzed mainly for total mercury, but also in a subset of samples for methylmercury and a suite of metals including lead and cadmium. This study examined spatial variation in mercury bioaccumulation across Arctic regions using muscle samples from a large number of animals (419 wolverines). For a subset of animals, the distribution of metals among tissues (brain, liver, kidney, muscle, hair) was investigated. The datasets generated from this study provide a baseline from which to further investigate potential long-term impacts of atmospheric mercury deposition to the terrestrial environment.