Metal Concentrations in Wolverine Muscle Across Arctic Regions, 419 Animals

419 wolverine muscle samples were analyzed for total mercury and other metals to examine spatial variation in bioaccumulation across Arctic regions. The dataset, generated by Environment and Climate Change Canada, provides a baseline for investigating long-term impacts of atmospheric mercury deposition. A subset of animals also had metals measured in brain, liver, kidney, and hair tissues.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatial variation in mercury bioaccumulation based on muscle samples from 419 wolverines.
• Investigate the distribution of metals among different tissues based on the subset of animals with multi-tissue data.
• Establish a baseline for monitoring long-term impacts of atmospheric mercury deposition on the terrestrial environment.
• Study correlations between lead and cadmium concentrations and geographic location across western North America.

Strengths

• Includes 419 wolverine muscle samples, providing a substantial sample size for spatial analysis.
• Analyzes a suite of metals including total mercury, methylmercury, lead, and cadmium.
• Examines tissue distribution of metals in a subset of animals across brain, liver, kidney, muscle, and hair.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the carcass retrieval programs in western North America.

Provenance

Source

Environment and Climate Change Canada

Collection Method

Analysis of existing sample collections from territorial government carcass retrieval programs.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-05 14:02:01.797804; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Western North America, Arctic regions