Assessing the Ecological Risk of a Municipal Solid Waste Landfill to Surrounding Wildlife: a Case Study in Florida

Abstract

To assess the ecological risk of siting a new municipal solid waste landfill near a National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, we carried out a retrospective assessment at a large waterbird colony located near an existing active landfill. Monitoring data collected over twenty years, including flight-line counts both at dawn and midday, shows the mixed-species, communal roost was active continuously from 1987 through 2007. The largest number of birds counted in any single flight-line count was 14,750 birds recorded in July 2007. The numerically dominant species recorded during flight-line counts were, in approximate order of abundance: White Ibis, (Eudocimus albus), Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis), Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerules), Great Egret (Ardea alba), and Tricolor Heron (E. tricolor). Breeding bird censuses revealed this site served also as a nesting colony each year since 1987; annual total nest numbers peaked in 1987 at 5,127 nests. Taxa richness increased over the monitoring period with new species nesting or roosting in the colony; in particular, the endangered Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) began nesting at this site in 1995 and eventually became one of the numerically important species.Nest success at the landfill colony was similar to or higher than success probabilities reported at other colonies in south Florida. Fidelity to this colony site was likely related to the area's environmental predictability in terms of: 1) food supply and, 2) the low, temporally constant level of predation. In general, resident waterbird populations at the colony were sustainable over the monitoring period, i.e., maintained abundance, survived and reproduced at rates comparable to other colonies. Therefore, although there was evidence of organism-level impacts, there was no evidence that landfill-related stresses propagated up and had population-or community-level consequences.

Impact of land cover and landfills on the breeding effect and nest occupancy of the white stork in Poland

“…Birds foraging on landfills have been widely studied in many parts of the world 9 , 10 . Foraging at landfills has many advantages for birds, including spatiotemporal predictability of food sources 7 and the high energetic value of the relevant food 11 , which may enhance breeding success 9 , 12 , 13 . Food wastes available at landfills, however, pose threats to foraging birds, such as the ingestion of solid waste, e.g.…”

White‐faced and Black‐faced ibises foraging on predictable anthropogenic food subsidies in Patagonia, Argentina

“…For example, the Australian White ibis ( Threskiornis molucca ) have learned to forage at dumps, in addition to public areas and farms (Martin et al, 2010; Murray & Shaw, 2009). The White ibis ( Eudocimus albus ) in North America increased its use of urban terrestrial food, such as urban garbage, due to changes in hydrological conditions and an increase of urbanized areas (Dorn et al, 2011; Rumbold et al, 2009). The use of urban dumps is also frequent in the Sacred ibis ( Threskiornis aethiopicus ), both in its native habitat in Africa (Clark, 1979; Hibste, 2007) and in invaded areas in Europe (Clergeau & Yésou, 2006) and North America (Calle & Gawlik, 2011; Yésou & Clergeau, 2005).…”

Salmonella Surveillance Among Great-Tailed Grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus) and Other Urban Bird Species in Eastern Texas

“…The size and location of these roosts vary throughout the year, likely due to breeding activities and hazing practices to disrupt the large aggregations of birds. One technique to census communal roosting birds is to station multiple observers around the roost to count birds as they arrive (Rumbold et al 2009). As great-tailed grackles arrive at their communal roost, however, they stage in large numbers and are prone to flight when disturbed.…”