Award Date

Fall 1998

Degree Type

Thesis

Department

Environmental Science

Advisor 1

Dr. Shawn Gerstenberger Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Studies

Number of Pages

27

Abstract

During the spring of 1998, soil samples were collected from two areas at the Overton Wildlife Management Area (OWMA), located in the Moapa Valley of Clark County, Nevada. Lead shot has been banned for the hunting of waterfowl since 1986 but is still legal for upland game hunting. Both types of hunting occur at OWMA. One area sampled is a cultivated field and serves primarily as a dove hunting area. The other area is primarily a waterfowl hunting area and is flooded during the waterfowl-hunting season. Lead shot was recovered from 83% of the samples from the dove hunting area, and the estimated concentration was 741,557 pellets per hectare. In the waterfowl hunting area, lead shot was recovered from 13.9% of the samples, and the estimated concentration was 73,231 pellets per hectare. Comparison was made to studies from 14 areas around the world, and OWMA ranked fifth highest in lead shot soil concentrations. The estimated concentrations found here approach or supersede those done prior to the ban of lead in 1986. The years of the other studies ranged from 1959 to 1992. Although lead shot has been banned for use hunting waterfowl, it is still available and continuously being added to the area. This situation permits the availability and not the mitigation of lead shot for ingestion by wildlife.

Keywords

Habitat (Ecology); Lead poisoning in animals; Moapa Valley (Nev.); Nevada; Overton Wildlife Management Area (Nev.); Shot (Pellets); Soil pollution; Soils lead content; Waterfowl shooting

Disciplines

Environmental Health and Protection | Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment | Environmental Sciences | Natural Resources and Conservation | Natural Resources Management and Policy

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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