Estimating Spatial Distribution of Exposure by Integrating Radiotelemetry, Computer Simulation, and GIS. K. R. Dixon, W. D. Henriques, and S. R. Anderson, The Institute of Wildlife and Environmental Toxicology, Clemson University, One TIWET Drive, PO Box 709, Pendleton, SC, USA 29670
The presence of native wildlife species at a hazardous waste site provides an interesting opportunity to assess the movement, uptake, and potential impact of pollutants in the environment. Representatives of selected species at different trophic levels are captured and radio collared to determine their home range by telemetry, while concentration data from remediation records are used to provide contaminant levels that serve as the basis for calculations to estimate exposure. Computer simulation models are then used to predict the spatial distribution of exposure through ingestion in members of the food web. These concentration and telemetry data are then mapped spatially using satellite data in a geographic information system (GIS) to predict study areas that may be of an ecological concern and warrant further investigation for potential adverse effects in wildlife populations at other contaminated sites.